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KORNEGAY AT THE QUARTER

By Mitchell Blair
For Riderville.com

Tad Kornegay didn’t know coming into Riders training camp who would replace Anton McKenzie at weak-side linebacker, but he didn’t think it would be him. The 3^rd year Rider was as surprised as anyone when defensive co-ordinator Gary Etcheverry informed him that he would get a shot at becoming what Etcheverry calls the “quarter” in his new defence.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said Kornegay after Wednesday’s practice had come to an end at Mosaic Stadium. “I didn’t know what to think at first. I thought maybe I should start gaining some weight, but after we got out here and I saw exactly what I was supposed to be doing, I got pretty comfortable with it. It’s a position that is designed more for a defensive back than a linebacker.”

So why did Etcheverry decide on Kornegay to play the quarter?

“He’s got the skills we are looking for at that position,” said Etcheverry. “It’s a position that has been re-defined. The media and everyone else will term that spot as a linebacker position, but there are elements of it that we don’t look at it that way. He’s competed well since we put him in that spot and he has looked good.”

One question that immediately pops up in the head of Rider fans is whether Kornegay is big enough to be a quarter and stop the run as he takes on big offensive linemen. It’s something that doesn’t bother the soon to be 27-year-old.

“I’m a pretty slick guy,” says Kornegay. “I can squeeze in holes and I can come up and hit some guys pretty hard. I’m very comfortable with where I’m at, so I think I can do what is being asked of me. It puts me in a spot where I can make plays. It allows me to show my full capability of being a defensive back that can come up and support the run and be one of the top guys out there. As for those big 300 pound o-linemen, they don’t scare me, they move slow. They gotta catch me.”

Etcheverry isn’t concerned about Kornegay’s size or lack of it either.

“I think size is the most over-rated thing in football,” Etcheverry said. “Tad has all the abilities from both a height-weight standpoint and from a speed, strength and intelligence standpoint. Speed is what matters here, and I think he’s one of the five fastest guys on this team so he is fast enough.”

Kornegay will get his first taste of being a quarter in game action on Wednesday night when the Riders head to Commonwealth Stadium to take on the Eskimos in what will be both teams first pre-season game of the year.