{"id":858170,"date":"2026-08-14T19:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/858170\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T19:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:44:16","slug":"hogan-argos-special-teams-shaping-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/858170\/","title":{"rendered":"Hogan: Argos Special Teams Shaping Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the kind of punt that makes a returner\u2019s eyes light up.<\/p>\n

Calgary Stampeders punter Mark Vassett didn\u2019t hit the ball cleanly and launched a low spiral toward Toronto Argonauts returner Janarion Grant. It bounced directly to the Rutgers product who caught it at his 46-yard line and sprinted down the left sideline before cutting back to the numbers. After Derek Slywka annihilated Vassett with an enormous block, a diving defender got a hand on Grant at the 35-yard line but had no chance to pull down the veteran returner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was Grant\u2019s 12th career punt return TD, moving him into sole possession of second place on the CFL\u2019s all-time list. He also moved into a tie with former Argo Bashir Levingston with 15 total kick return touchdowns, how deadlocked for second all-time, and trailing just the immortal Henry \u201cGizmo\u201d Williams in both categories.<\/p>\n

Grant seems painfully shy at times, perhaps best exemplified by his speech when awarded the CFL\u2019s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player Award in 2024 when he looked like he would rather be anywhere but on the stage in front of the crowd and the cameras.<\/p>\n

The soft-spoken Floridian is much more comfortable on the field, and when asked by Argonauts.ca if a return touchdown boosts his confidence, he showed a rare sign of bravado.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already boosted, it just boosts it even more,\u201d said Grant. \u201cIt just lets me know that there\u2019s more to come, and if we keep doing what we\u2019re doing everything will fall into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good news for the Argos, maybe not so much for the rest of the CFL. Grant already leads the league with an average punt return of 17.1 yards and is the only player with more than one punt return touchdown this year, accounting for two of the CFL\u2019s five PR TDs scored.<\/p>\n

Argo special teams captain Brian Harelimana has been Grant\u2019s teammate for the last three seasons. He knows what the returner\u2019s greatest superpower is.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so deceptively fast,\u201d the U-Montreal product told Argonauts.ca. \u201cHe looks like he\u2019s jogging every time, but he\u2019ll take three strides and he gets away from every angle. He\u2019s been doing this for a long time, and he makes our job way easier. We\u2019re glad to have him on our team, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Special teams coordinator Mickey Donovan has all his groups humming right now. They lead the league in punting, net punting, co-lead the league with six punts inside the 10-yard line, are third in kickoff return average, and have improved to third in punt coverage.<\/p>\n

Harelimana says there\u2019s nothing really new about what they\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just guys buying in,\u201d he said. \u201cMickey is doing a great job every week preparing us and giving us great schemes. Like I said, the most important thing is that guys are buying in, getting our philosophy down, and having the attitude to run downfield and make a play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s talent on special teams is also top notch. Harelimana is joined by players like Adarius Pickett and Slywka, that trio co-leading the team with eight special teams tackles each. Veterans like Jack Cassar, Cameron Judge, and Isaac Darkangelo are also key contributors, as are newcomers like L-P Gauthier and Darius McKenzie.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Everyone will be counted on to do their job against the Elks, as the game shapes up to be a close one, with special teams perhaps being the deciding factor. Grant doesn\u2019t feel any added pressure knowing one of his returns may be the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel pressure,\u201d he said matter-of-factly. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to go into the game the same way and take it one play at a time. The ultimate goal is to get into the end zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the kind of punt that makes a returner\u2019s eyes light up. Calgary Stampeders punter Mark Vassett…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-858170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}