Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
Ah yes the old “dime-a-dozen” argument. If it was true, every team would have great backs like Ouellette and Oliviera. But not coincidentally, the two best teams had the two best backs.
I don't know who said dime a dozen, but it wasn't me. But I do believe there are lots of good backs available every year. If memory serves, every CFL team had at least one decent one last year; some had two or even three of them. They're obviously not all at the level of Oliveira, but they don't have to be for a team to win a championship.

I would bet that the number of times the league's top two or three teams were also the top two or three rushing teams over the past 40 years is pretty low. Last year might have been the outlier.

And I do believe that of all positions on a football team, RB (along with long snapper and maybe punter) is probably the easiest to transition to from American football. Receivers and DBs have to adjust to the waggle and the wider spacing, linemen on both sides have to adapt to a yard off the ball, LBs have different coverage responsibilities in Canada, place-kickers have wider hashmarks, and of course QBs have all kinds of differences to get used to. I believe a new RB can be plugged in more easily than any other position.