DRESSLER WILL BE A FACTOR

Weston Dressler — one of the CFL’s premier game-breakers — missed last year’s final as a result of injuries sustained in the Riders’ 14th game of the regular season. He was rendered a bystander after suffering a broken right fibula and a severely sprained right ankle.
Photograph by: Troy Fleece, Leader-Post files

EDMONTON — Disregard the unceasing lament about the 13th man. If anything, the Saskatchewan Roughriders could have used another player in the 2009 Grey Cup.

Namely, Weston Dressler.

Dressler — one of the CFL's premier game-breakers — missed last year's final as a result of injuries sustained in the Riders' 14th game of the regular season. He was rendered a bystander after suffering a broken right fibula and a severely sprained right ankle.

Sans Dressler, the Roughriders lost 28-27 to the Montreal Alouettes in last year's championship game. It can be argued that Saskatchewan was not only one point, but also one player, shy of a championship.

"I try not to think about the 'what ifs' because I'm a guy who lives in the moment, but we're all human and you think about, 'If we'd had one of our big guns out there, he definitely could have made a difference in that game,' '' quarterback Darian Durant mused after the Roughriders practised Wednesday at Commonwealth Stadium.

"You can't change that. Injuries are part of the game and you have to move on.''

The Roughriders have moved on. After an excruciating loss in the 2009 Grey Cup, they are champions of the West Division for the second straight year. They are to oppose Montreal once again in the league final, which is to be played Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium.

This time, Dressler will be more than a spectator.

"Weston certainly makes them a completely different team — and a better team,'' Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman said. "When he's on the field, they're a better football team.

"He's one of the best players in our league and he can do it all. He can run every type of route offensively. He's a terrific route-runner. He can return when they want him to return. He's involved in running the football as well. He gives us all we can handle. He has always played very, very well against us. That's why this game is different this year than it was a year ago — because they're going to be a different team with Weston Dressler.''

Durant was quick to concur when asked about the importance of having Dressler in the arsenal for the Grey Cup.

"It means a lot,'' the Riders' quarterback said. "Weston's our guy and he does so much for our offence. He's very versatile in what he does. We missed having him last year, because we didn't have certain packages. Now we can have every single package for him in (the game plan), and everything we need him to do in. Now defences have to guess when he's getting the ball and how he's going to get it.''

Dressler is coming off a regular season in which he caught 81 passes for 1,189 yards. He had a team-high 941 yards despite missing four-plus games last season. The year before, he had 56 receptions for 1,123 yards — an average of 20.1 yards per catch — en route to capturing CFL rookie-of-the-year honours.

A Roughriders receiver will again be called to the podium Thursday night, when Andy Fantuz is decorated as the most outstanding Canadian during the CFL Player Awards. Fantuz will assuredly win the trophy after catching 87 passes for a league-high 1,380 yards in 2010.

Given all the attention Fantuz has commanded from fans, media types, opposing defences and cereal manufacturers, Dressler's splendid season is occasionally overshadowed. But it is hardly a coincidence that

Fantuz's finest season has coincided with Dressler's return to the lineup.
As a slotback tandem, Fantuz and Dressler rival Joey Walters and Chris DeFrance, or Ray Elgaard and Jeff Fairholm. If you are preoccupied with shutting down one elite slotback, the other one will burn you.
In the West semifinal, for example, Dressler caught eight passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-38, double-overtime victory over the visiting B.C. Lions. Fantuz was held to two receptions for 11 yards.

Fantuz was blanked in the West final, and he can expect his every step to be closely monitored by the Alouettes.

If that scenario unfolds, Dressler could enjoy a most auspicious Grey Cup debut. As Trestman suggested, Dressler will make a difference. In fact, he could very well be thee difference.

rvanstone@leaderpost.com
Leader-Post sportswriter Murray McCormick will be tweeting Roughrider news this week from Edmonton. You can follow him at twitter.com/McCormickMurray
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