Edmonton Elks’ Justin Rankin off to best CFL rushing start since Kory Sheets

Photo: Edmonton Elks

Edmonton Elks’ running back Justin Rankin hasn’t just been the CFL’s most explosive offensive weapon through the first four weeks of the season. He’s also off to the best rushing start the league has seen in a decade.

The 29-year-old has carried the ball 46 times for 387 yards and four touchdowns amidst Edmonton’s surprising 3-0 start. That has included 100-yard performances in all three outings: 102 yards against Ottawa, 179 yards against Montreal, and 106 yards this week against Winnipeg.

According to CFL Stats, that marks the first time that a player has recorded three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances since 2013. That was accomplished by Saskatchewan Roughriders’ running back Kory Sheets, who managed to extend his century streak to a whopping six games. He would have nine total 100-yard outings that year.

Sheets had 442 rushing yards through his first three outings in 2013, and would ultimately finish with 1,598 yards. That placed him second in the CFL behind Jon Cornish, who claimed the rushing crown with 1,813 yards. However, the Riders’ star got the last laugh thanks to a dominant playoff run, in which he set a Grey Cup record with 197 rushing yards.

Rankin may be slightly behind that pace currently, but he’s a more dynamic weapon in other areas than Sheets. He’s added 13 catches for 154 yards thus far — already 58.3 percent of the Saskatchewan back’s 2013 receiving total.

Now in his third CFL season, Rankin has professed a desire to become the first player to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. He’ll need to average 55.6 yards per game in each category to achieve the feat. As it stands now, he’s averaging 129 yards on the ground and 51.3 yards through the air —  on pace for 2,322 yards rushing and 924 yards receiving.

Those lofty numbers are sure to adjust as the sample size grows, but Rankin will attempt to pump them up further when the undefeated Elks face the winless B.C. Lions on Saturday, July 4, in Kelowna. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT.