Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ playbook is about to get a little fatter and — Doug Berry has his fingers crossed — the offence a whole lot more difficult to defend.

The Bombers finally made official on Tuesday what has been speculated for days when they announced the additions of quarterbacks Bryan Randall and Cleve McCoy, both Canadian Football League neophytes. But what’s intriguing about the two transactions isn’t just the addition of QB depth behind incumbents Kevin Glenn and Ryan Dinwiddie, it’s about the skill set they will both begin showcasing with the opening of rookie camp next Wednesday.

Simply put, both Randall and McCoy tore it up in college by using their legs to help open up the pass — McCoy rushed for 823 yards last year for South Carolina State; Randall had 511 yards along the ground as a senior at Virginia Tech in 2004.

By comparison, the Bombers haven’t truly had a ground threat lining up behind centre since Matt Dunigan rushed for 517 yards and 11 TDs in 1993. Kevin Glenn managed just 132 yard rushing last year and it’s been four years since a Bomber pivot managed better than 300 yards along the ground (Khari Jones, 350 in 2003).

“We will definitely be adding some things for when these guys get in a game,” said Berry, the Bomber head coach. “We might become a little more play-action, maybe run some option football… you have to adapt to their talents. What we have with Dinwiddie and Glenn is they’re very similar and we don’t have to change very much when either one of those guys are in the game.

“But if we have a guy who is Kerry-Joseph like, you try to take advantage of some of those skills in the things you call.”

It could be said the Randall-McCoy signings are, in part, a by-product of watching other CFL QBs buy time and space against the Bomber defence on the wider field. Case in point: in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ two wins over the Bombers in ‘07 — including the Grey Cup game — Joseph ran 19 times for 175 yards and a TD. That’s why Bomber brass spent the off-season trying to find QB candidates who could offer a different wrinkle to their attack.

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