The CFL is back, and we’re looking at a team a day leading up to regular-season kickoff on June 23. Today, the Ottawa Redblacks.
Two days prior to the Ottawa Redblacks’ final pre-season game, the team was visited by a few UFC fighters when the mixed martial arts promotion was in town for an event at The Arena at TD Place.
Pardon the contrived segue, but the visit was particularly fitting because this Redblacks group is full of fighters.
In 2015 the team fought to a 12-6 record, an East Division title, led the league in net offence and made a Grey Cup appearance last year following their 2-16 inaugural season that saw them average a paltry 15.4 points per game.
Quarterback Henry Burris, at age 40, had to fight off critics who said he was over the hill and incapable of carrying a young team towards any shred of success. He did so in the form of a Most Outstanding Player trophy and by becoming the oldest QB ever to lead the league in passing yards.
The battle-tested Burris, now 41, must live up to the type of expectations that follow when you have success like he had in 2015. He’s still in incredible shape and his coaches like what they saw from him in training camp and pre-season. Burris was able to avoid costly mistakes last year and he’ll have to be sharp again if the Redblacks are to get back to another Grey Cup.
As a form of insurance—and potentially a succession plan considering Burris likely doesn’t have too much time remaining in his career—the Redblacks brought in free agent Trevor Harris from the Toronto Argonauts.
Harris fought off doubters while wearing the double blue last year when he took over the role of Argos’ starter with Ricky Ray injured. The 30-year-old ended up leading the CFL in passing touchdowns and showed star potential.
His move to Ottawa was overshadowed in Toronto by the fact it happened on the same day the Maple Leafs traded captain Dion Phaneuf… to Ottawa, of all places. Harris may well be overshadowed during the 2016 campaign too if Burris stays healthy. The veteran has been named the Redblacks’ starter and if he performs like he did last year, Harris might not see the field very often.
| Team outlook | Ottawa Redblacks |
|---|---|
| 2015 record | 12-6 (1st in East) |
| Incoming players | Trevor Harris (QB), Arnaud Gascon-Nadon (DE), Brendan Gillanders (RB), Ryan Hinds (DB) |
| Outgoing players | Justin Capicciotti (DE), Jovon Johnson (DB), Jeremiah Johnson (RB), Keith Shologan (DT) |
During the UFC visit, Harris spent an extra 20 minutes hitting pads after practice to work on perfecting his punching technique, which speaks to his competitive nature.
That said, despite the natural competition that goes on between quarterbacks, Burris and Harris—plus third and fourth stringers Danny O’Brien and Brock Jensen—have gelled nicely.
“I’ll tell you what. Those guys have been great,” Redblacks offensive coordinator Jaime Elizondo told Sportsnet. “The whole group, all four of the quarterbacks, are super competitive. They compete with each other in the meeting room, on the field, in warm-ups, but it is a great type of competitiveness. They work extremely well with one another. They’re always talking, always sharing ideas. All four of them.”
With Burris and Harris leading the group of pivots, the Redblacks have situated themselves well for both the present and future.
“Both of them are very accurate throwers,” Elizondo said. “Trevor is tough, he has the ability to hang in the pocket like Henry does, but we have to remember that Trevor has only played in the CFL (as a starter) for one full year. He still has a lot of growth ahead of him.”
Any success the quarterbacks have will go hand in hand with how well the receiving corps performs.
There was a dearth of talent at the receiver position in Ottawa’s first year back in the league but management fought to correct prior to 2015. The team did a complete 180 in its sophomore season in that regard with Chris Williams, Brad Sinopoli, Greg Ellingson and Ernest Jackson each earning more than 1,000 receiving yards last year.
That quartet remains intact for 2016 and will be a key to success once again. They also have a young Canadian named Jake Harty fans should keep an eye on.
Elizondo spent last season as the Argos’ receivers coach before being hired by Ottawa in December to replace Jason Maas as the team’s OC. The Argos had seven receivers gain at least 400 yards under Elizondo—no other team was able to accomplish that feat—but suffice it to say he was thrilled about the prospect of working with the Redblacks’ pass-catching posse.
“I’m impressed with their intelligence level. They can handle a great amount of information,” Elizondo said. “They go after the ball. They attack it. Their competitiveness in terms of going after catches and their ability to catch balls has been great. And then the chemistry this group has is really unique. They just have a good flow with each other.
“I think every single one of these guys is completely unselfish. With the system we have in place, they all know they’re going to get their share of yards and catches. The ball is dispersed really well in this offence.”
More 2016 CFL season previews: BC Lions; Calgary Stampeders; Edmonton Eskimos; Saskatchewan Roughriders; Winnipeg Blue Bombers; Hamilton Tiger-Cats; Toronto Argonauts; keep checking back for more as the regular season approaches
Like Burris, the receivers will have more pressure on their shoulders because of their success, but also because they lost starting running back William Powell for the year with an Achilles injury.
“It’s a big blow. William is a heck of a football player,” Elizondo said. “It’s hard to replace anybody of that calibre, but we’ve got a couple young guys (Kienan Lafrance and Travon Van) that we feel very confident in. It may be a little running-back-by-committee early but I have full confidence in those guys.”
The defence, which led the league in sacks and interceptions in 2015, will have to do their part, but the success of the Redblacks likely comes down to whether or not the offence can keep pace with what it accomplished last year.
“I’m happy with the progress I’ve seen in practice,” Elizondo added. “We’ve been really impressed in the minimal amounts of mistakes that we’ve been making and like anything else it’s now just about refining and game planning and getting in the groove.”
The Redblacks kick off their season on the road Saturday in a Grey Cup rematch against the Eskimos.
