By Joel Gasson

Taj Smith shines in loss to Argos

Oct 28, 2012 | 12:11 PM

The up and down year continues for Taj Smith.

The Riders first year receiver has been through a lot off the field, but he's been through a lot on the field this season too. His season started on the practice roster, before getting his shot against Hamilton in July. He made the most of his one catch, as it was a 74 yard touchdown pass, he followed that up with a 57 yard pass against Edmonton.

Smith's roster spot appeared to be solidified at that point, but then he went quiet for a while, and struggled with drops for a few games. Now, Smith appears to have re-found his game. The last four weeks he's wracked up 328 yards receiving, or 82 yards a game. He even flirted with 100 yards twice, including a career high 99 yards in Saturday's loss to the Argos.

“I think I did pretty good, but for the most part that doesn't really count because we didn't win,” said Smith.

Durant's comfort level with Smith appears to be growing too, not only did he go to him a season high seven times against Toronto, at least four of those were second down conversions.

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“I just tried to concentrate more on catching the ball,” said Smith. “Just doing what I need to do to help the team out.”

Last week head coach Corey Chamblin had an interesting comment when he said said some of his players need to figure out if they want to be good football players or average. We don't know if Smith was considered a part of that group, but he seems to be making the decision anyway.

“He's picked it up, I'm proud of what he fights through, and he's catching the ball at clutch times,” said Chamblin. “I think he's becoming one of those guys you can count on.”

It was certainly good timing by Smith to have a big game, with the struggles of the usual dependable Weston Dressler, who dropped a couple of key balls, but did keep his touchdown streak alive.

“When you don't make those plays, you just feel like you're letting your team down,” said Dressler. “They're counting on me to catch both of those balls.”

We know Dressler will bounce back, but if Smith can keep doing what he's doing, it would certainly add another dimension to the offense heading into the playoffs.

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