Ottawa Redblacks’ Davion Taylor excited for chance at redemption

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Here’s the thing about the facemask foul Ottawa backup linebacker Davion Taylor committed with a minute and a half left last week in Winnipeg to effectively end any chance of a Redblacks comeback:

It’s only because he’s as good as he is that the 25-year rookie was in position to take that penalty against Blue Bombers quarterback Chris Streveler.

Taylor gets his chance at redemption Sunday night in Edmonton, where he’ll make his first Canadian Football League start at the weakside linebacker spot for a banged-up Frankie Griffin.

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Some background on Taylor:

A 6-1, 230-pounder from Magnolia, Mo., he played for the Colorado Buffaloes before they were made famous by Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders.

In 2020, Taylor was a third-round pick (103rd overall) of the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles and became a starter in his second year — until his career hit a major roadblock with a serious knee injury that required MCL surgery.

“It was off the bone,” Taylor said Saturday before the Redblacks flew to Alberta. “When I came back in my third year, it was more of a confidence thing, like I didn’t feel comfortable on the knee anymore. I felt I kind of took a step back instead of getting better every single year.”

Not being 100 per cent led to Taylor putting “some bad stuff on film,” which caused him to fall out of favour with the staff of Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.

After spending a year on the Eagles’ practice squad, he was released. Following looks from the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, his NFL options expired.

That was when the Redblacks came calling.

“Just playing again, even here in the CFL, it started giving me that confidence,” said Taylor. “I need to just continue to play, if it’s here for five or 10 years, or back in the NFL. I’m excited to be playing football again.”

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Taylor believes his first start couldn’t come at a better time.

“I’m not glad that another linebacker got injured, but I’m glad I was able to sit back and kind of watch for a minute because the CFL is totally different from the NFL,” he said. “I was glad I was able to kind of observe the first couple of games and just play special teams, get a feel for the game and actually watching from the sidelines.

“Now being able to get this start I feel way more comfortable, playing a game in the CFL, knowing the rules, knowing the situations, I’m very excited for this first game.”

The Redblacks were trailing 23-16 and Taylor was in for Griffin, who had hobbled off the field with a sore hip, when he stopped Streveler short of the marker on a second-and-eight run at Ottawa’s 49-yard line.

Rather than getting the ball back with more than a minute left, though, the facemask penalty against Taylor allowed Winnipeg to retain possession and get into position for a victory-clinching field goal.

“For one, I should have just lowered my target,” Taylor said when asked what he’d do differently. “I trust my speed. That wasn’t something I was worried about. I knew I was going to get to the quarterback. It’s just being a smart football player. Getting him down before the first-down mark, and just making sure I don’t get called for a penalty, a horse-collar, facemask … as a professional player, I just can’t make those type of mistakes.

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“After that play, I was down on myself. I feel like it didn’t really show who I am because I’m a very good player. So I don’t want that that one play to define me. This is an opportunity to redeem myself and just show what I really can do. Play a whole game and make some big plays.”

The Redblacks defensive line will also be looking for vindication against the Elks after the Blue Bombers, led by 2023 rushing king Brady Oliveira, churned up 212 yards along the ground.

Edmonton running back Kevin Brown, who was second in league rushing last season, has yet to run for more than 50 yards in a game this season and you know he’s going to bust out at some point.

“We had the intensity and came out physical, but we didn’t have gap presence and that led to some of those runs,” Ottawa defensive end Bryce Carter said of the Bombers game before looking ahead to this week’s matchup against Hunter Steward, a former Redblacks backup who is now starting right guard for the Elks. “When you get those reps against those certain guys, you get a feel for what their strengths and weaknesses are. I think playing against him (in practice) for two years, I’ll definitely have keys to have success.”

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The Elks also have a veteran quarterback in McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has them top four in the league in passing stats.

“They’re going to air the ball, definitely,” Redblacks safety Alonzo Addae said. “They’re going to put the ball in their quarterback’s hands and let him do what he does best. He has a lot of snaps under his belt and knows where to go with the ball, and he’s accurate. We’ve got to make sure we’re all taking care of our assignments.”

Like the Bombers were last week, the Elks own an 0-4 record, but their last three losses were by a field goal and their first was by eight points.

The combined record of Edmonton’s four opponents to date is 16-4, and the Elks are well-rested, coming off a bye.

Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce says it’s important for his team to stay in the moment.

“You can’t focus on the win, you’ve got to focus on doing the things right that put you in a situation to win,” he said, referring to taking care of the ball, starting fast and playing aggressively. “What we do is going to determine our future. We want to define or dictate our future. We do that by making sure we’ve got everything handled and we’re locked in for six seconds at a time, every single play.

“They’re a talented team,” Dyce added, “from a veteran, Grey Cup-winning quarterback, to a great coaching staff with Coach (Chris) Jones, to a physical defense. We don’t focus on their record because the record is the past. It’s a team that’s going to be on the field that we play. We don’t play the team that lost. We play the team that wants to win. They’re going to come out determined to win. I know they don’t like the idea of being 0-4. They want to do everything they can in front of their home fans. It’s our job to stop that.”

dbrennan@postmedia.com

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