There have been
many changes to the Als this offseason, all of which make me rather impatient
for training camp to get started.
Here’s a quick look, from a fan’s perspective, of how our
team shapes up heading towards training camp:
- Coaching
Staff
Well, big changes here, and I am guardedly optimistic. It was a very good move to remove the
head coaching responsibilities from Jim Popp. Mr. Popp has been, in my opinion, a talent recruiter beyond
compare, and I am very happy to see him back doing what he does best.
Marc Trestman as head coach was a surprise; I personally was
expecting the job to go to either Greg Marshall or Richie Hall, either of whom
in my opinion is ready to take the next step up to a head coaching
position. Good points about the
hiring? Well, first of all, we
have to give the team credit for doing their due diligence this time. Many qualified candidates were
interviewed, which is a refreshing change from what happened last time. If the team’s brain trust selected
Trestman as the best man, I cannot argue as I was not present at those
interviews. So at this point I am
prepared to give the management the benefit of the doubt. Trestman comes to our team with a
reputation of being an offensive guru, so here’s hoping that, working with our
new offensive coordinator, Scott Milanovich, the Als have a more exciting and
less predictable offence this year (not that it could get any more boring and
predictable than it was last season). The fact that Trestman is not familiar with CFL
football could actually be a plus, in that he may bring in new ideas that (a)
others haven’t thought of before and (b) will catch opposing defences
off-guard. Tim Burke replacing
Chris Jones as defensive coordinator may be cause for concern, Calgary’s
defence was certainly nothing to write home about last year, however Burke only
took the reins of that defence half way through the season, and will all due
respect to the Stampeders, I think that overall our defensive personnel is
superior, so time will tell how this move works out.
- Offence
(a)
Our big problem here is the offensive line. We gave up far too many sacks last
year. Was it personnel or
scheme? Or a bit of both? I do not know, but I anticipate this
being fixed this year, with a new scheme and perhaps a new body or two.
(b)
The receiving corps needs tweaking. Cahoon and Thurmon are solid at the slots, but we need a
speed merchant outside; will Jamel Richardson provide this? Hopefully so; Watkins is fairly
dependable at the other wideout spot, but a consistent deep threat he is
not. I will be interested to see
if Eric Deslauriers develops into a deep threat or if he simply becomes another
Sylvain Girard, great wheels but generally ignored or injured. Dave Stala is another one on the
bubble; initially I had thought he was our next Ben Cahoon, but the past two
seasons have been a write off for him, this has to be his make it or break it
year. Ashlan Davis, Brian Bratton,
and Danny Desriveaux all showed flashes at different times last season, but all
are eminently replaceable if Jim Popp has recruited some speedy young
receivers. A real speedy wideout
is needed to stretch the opposing defences, which will open up Cahoon and
Thurmon more on the intermediate routes, and also open up a passing game to one
of the backs coming out of the backfield on a delayed route.
(c)
Running game should be improved this year, even with no
personnel changes. Payton can
carry the load, Carter looks like a solid fullback, and Diedrick, Imoh, and
Cobourne are available for spot duty.
Rather than tinkering with personnel here, what we need is a more
imaginative running game than what we saw last year, and improved play from the
offensive line.
(d)
At quarterback, I think we have now the best stable of
quarterbacks that we have had in many many years. AC is still AC, and while he may be on the downside of his
career, I don’t think he’s ready for retirement just yet. But even if he were to retire, we are
set with Marcus Brady, who last year showed that he is ready to be a starter
(and with his scrambling ability adds another dimension to our attack). Behind him we now have Joshua Harris, a
QB who really impressed me in the past.
He was in Calgary a couple of seasons ago, and when Henry Burris went
down, the Stamps went to their then #2 guy, Gesser, who then promptly got
injured himself. The next game
they had to start their #3 guy (someone called Wimprine, who demonstrated why
he was #3…he was dreadful), and he got yanked fairly early in the game, and was
replaced by Harris who had just been signed. With minimal practice reps, Harris was darned impressive to
this observer; good size, strong arm, quick release, mobile, good at reading
defenses. I think Harris is the
real deal and has a good future in the CFL. Brad Banks, here’s your ticket out of town.
- Defence
(a)
The defensive line was a concern last year, and is more so
now. It’s a bit thinner with the
loss of Dario Romero, and we were close to the bottom of the league in terms of
sacks, a category at which we formerly excelled. Anwar Stewart, great as he has been, is clearly on the
downside of his career, and neither John Bowman nor Alain Kashama strike fear
in the hearts of opposing quarterbacks along the lines of a Fred Perry or a
Cameron Wake. We need a much
stronger pass rush; without a strong rush, I don’t care how good your secondary
is, you are going to get burned.
Starting quarterbacks in the CFL are just too good; give them time,
they’ll pick apart a good secondary, so this season, to be successful, we have
to cut down drastically on the amount of time we are giving them. To do that, we need an upgrade in
talent on the defensive line, and possibly a change in scheme, which leads me
to the next category.
(b)
Linebacking corps.
Unlike the defensive line, here we have almost an embarrassment of
riches, even with the departure of Timothy Strickland. We have Diamond Ferri, T.J. Hill, Louis Mackey, Kai Ellis, D’wayne Taylor, and Reggie Hunt. Could a 3/4 alignment be in the works? It’s a possibility, it is not a scheme
with which Tim Burke is unfamiliar, being that he has come to us from
Calgary…..however, be it noted that when he replaced Creehan as DC in Calgary,
he promptly switched their defence back to a 4/3 from a 3/4. That may have been, however, just a
function of the talent that the Stamps had, which was no longer suited to a
3/4. Well, it seems to me that we
are understrength on the line, and have an overabundance of LBs; a 3/4 just
might work here. I can see Hunt on
one side with either Hill or Ferri on the other, thus allowing both Mackey and
Ellis to play the middle. It’s an
intriguing possibility. The
weakness of this squad is in the middle, especially if we stay with a 4/3. Mackey has showed flashes here and
there, but nothing to make any Als’ fan forget Kevin Johnson. Ellis has been generally mediocre, but
for his monster game in the Grey Cup 2 seasons back. An upgrade here (allowing Ellis to move back to defensive
end where he might be more effective) is desireable, and both Scott Coe and
Brian Clark are out there, I hope Mr Popp is considering bringing in one or
both of them for a shot at it; nothing ventured nothing gained.
(c)
Our secondary has one gaping hole, and that is at safety, with
the departure of Etienne Boulay to the NFL. On the corners we are sound with Estelle and Sanchez. Estelle got burned a few times last
season, but read above what I said about the lack of pressure from the D
line. Sanchez I think was off to
his best season ever last year until he went down injured. When we lost him, in came Jesse Hendrix,
and he was paid the ultimate compliment a defensive back can ever get….he was
hardly mentioned during games.
That means you are doing your job superbly, covering the opposing
receiver so well that they never throw to him. At halfback, with Chip Cox and Randee Drew, we are in very
good shape, as long as Cox can keep his cool; I admire his reckless abandon
(ditto for Diamond Ferri on this one), but he could use a little more
control. The wild card in the
secondary is Tay Cody, a player I have really liked. He did not have a particularly good year last year, but that
is because he was being played out of position. If there is one thing that drives me to distraction in the
CFL (aside from players not giving 5 yards to punt returners….okay I know you’re
new to the CFL kid but come on, by game 10 SURELY the rule’s been drilled into
your head by now??), it is trying to force square pegs into round holes, and
that is what the Tiger Cats did last year. They took a former allstar safety in Richard Karikari and
tried to play him on the corner (bad move), and they took an allstar HB, Cody,
and tried to play him at safety.
Both bonehead moves in my opinion.
Cody is a great hitter, playing him at safety is not maximizing his
talent. But we’ve got Drew and Cox
ahead of him at HB, so I really do not know how the staff is planning on using
him; this should be very interesting, since I doubt that they signed Cody to
sit on the bench.
So, for me, the major upgrades we need are along the two
lines and the addition of a deep threat in the receiving corps.
Seeing if we have fixed those areas, and seeing how our new
coaching staff performs, and what schemes they bring in on both sides of the
ball, will make this year’s pre-season very interesting indeed.