A new Canadian Football League season is upon us.
Now that the CFL and CFLPA have agreed to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, the regular season will start on time Thursday night and we can all turn the focus back to football.
Each week for Sportsnet I will check in with a column on what I will be watching for during the slate of games on the docket. My thoughts could range from simple observations to more thorough breakdowns—everything from how a defence might try to defend a certain offensive weapon to what a struggling player needs to do to regain his form to why a particular athlete is producing at a high level.
Ideally this column becomes a jumping-off point for interaction with passionate CFL followers. Feel free to ask questions or point out players and trends deserving of mention—we’ve got lots of space to fill before the end of the season, and it’s all up for grabs.
For now, let’s get to it for Week 1.
First-year franchise quarterbacks under pressure
Troy Smith, Zach Collaros, Drew Willy and Bo Levi Mitchell are all beginning their first CFL seasons as anointed number-one quarterbacks at the pro level. All four have seen a small amount of time as starters in the league and will be trying to establish themselves as elite three-down quarterbacks.
Early in the season, look for opposing defensive coordinators to blitz the green group of passers more than they otherwise might against seasoned veterans. Sending pressure is the easiest way to rattle young pivots. As a defence you will find out quickly if the quarterback will crumble under the time crunch put on him by fast-closing defenders looking to lay a bone-jarring hit or if he has the ability to process information and make a decision fast enough to beat the blitz.
Often when pressure is dialed up it leaves the defensive secondary playing man-to-man coverage on the back end. For that reason, experienced pivots don’t fear the pressure—they invite it. They know it gives them a chance to burn the defence for a big play.
Alouettes replacing leader and anchor in the middle on defence
In the off-season Montreal lost Canadian middle linebacker Shea Emry to East Division rival Toronto. The six-year CFL veteran was a key playmaker in the Alouettes defence during the team’s back-to-back Grey Cup championships in 2009 and 2010.
The 2012 CFL All-Star anchored a Montreal defence that was the stingiest against the run in the league last season. Emry’s departure leaves a big hole to fill in the middle and whoever the Als choose to go with in his spot for Week 1 and beyond will have his work cut out for him. Montreal’s new man in the middle is faced with a stiff test to open the season as he will be tasked with trying to stop Jon Cornish—reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player and the league’s rushing champion in back-to-back seasons—from galloping all over the field in Calgary.
It will be interesting to watch how many defenders the Alouettes put in the box (ie. in close proximity to the line of scrimmage) to defend against the potent Stampeders run game, especially on first down. However, using extra defenders to try to shut down Cornish can leave the secondary in tough coverage situations, a delicate balance Montreal must find if the Alouettes want to slow a high horse-powered offence.
Eskimos release game-breaking running back in favour of upstart rookie
Blindside hits are often the most devastating in football. Hugh Charles didn’t suffer many on the field because of his elusive ability, but it’s tough to escape them off the field when you least expect them. Charles was released by the Eskimos on June 21, the final day for CFL teams to make cuts in preparation for the regular season. Considering Charles was signed to a contract extension in mid-December in the $120,000 to $130,000 range it was certainly a surprise.
For as many explosive plays as Charles is capable of making, it was the simple, less flashy aspect of being a running back that was his demise in the eyes of new head coach Chris Jones and GM Ed Hervey—pass blocking. The Eskimos allowed 60 sacks in 2013, the worst number in the West Division, and it’s an issue Jones has keyed on since his arrival in Edmonton.
In the minds of Jones and Hervey, rookie Tyler Thomas made Charles expendable. After an impressive training camp, Thomas saw the bulk of the work at running back in the Eskimos two pre-season games. He showed potential as a runner (16 carries for 120 yards), but more importantly his pass-blocking skills were impressive, too. All eyes will be on Thomas to see how he performs now that he’s won the job as the starter and the speed of play picks up in the regular season.