Ottawa Redblacks Thread

[jerrym]

They should never have released Drew Tate IMO. It is slim pickings behind Trevor Harris although Lindley would not have helped in that regard.

I agree. The RedBlacks have made it official that Ryan Lindley is gone. That leaves Ottawa with Dominique Davis, who the Bombers released after two years after barely letting him play because they had little confidence in him, Danny Collins and Willy Arndt who have no CFL experience.

http://ottawasun.com/sports/football...b-ryan-lindley

[jerrym]

The RedBlacks made it official by releasing Ryan Lindley, as well as two other Internationals, LB Lamar Louis and DB Winston Rose.

One possible QB addition to their roster, considering how thin they are at QB now, is Derek Wendel from University of Ottawa Gee Gees. He set U Sports for most passes and completions both in 2015 and 2016. Wendell passed for 2,936 yards with 66.9% completion rate in 2016. Last year he attended TC with the Als.

However, Ottawa will also be looking for a veteran backup, likely from the NFL. I hope it works out better than with Lindley.

[jerrym]

Hall of Fame Canadian OL and placekicker Moe Racine of the Ottawa Rough Riders has died at age 80. He played in five Grey Cups, winning four of them in 1960, 1968, 1969, and 1973. He won the Eastern scoring title in 1966.
The Rough Rider teams he played with were loaded with Canadian talent including other Hall of Famers' QB Russ Jackson, RB Ronnie Stewart, Tight End Bobby Simpson, as well as WR Whit Tucker and centre Bruno Bitowski, whose numbers were retired by the Riders.

In July 1958, 19-year-old Maurice Racine was invited to try out for the Ottawa Rough Riders even though he was fresh out of high school in Cornwall.
Racine, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound lineman, so impressed the coaches he was signed to a professional contract and assigned to Ottawa St. Anthony’s, the city’s major junior football team.
The following year, Racine stayed with the Rough Riders and began a 17-year Canadian Football League career that would carry him to four Grey Cup victories, three East Division all-star selections and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Along the way, he learned the job of placekicker, and as a result he will forever be remembered in Ottawa as “Moe the Toe.”
Racine died in Cornwall on the weekend at the age of 80 after battling diabetes and circulatory issues for years. ...

Racine, who joined the Riders in the same year as fellow Canadians Russ Jackson and Ronnie Stewart, became part of the team’s dynastic foundation.
He finished his career with 392 points, and had his No. 62 jersey retired by the football club when he played his last game in October 1974. He missed only nine games during his long career.
Racine had never served as any team’s placekicker before taking on the duties for the Riders during the 1960 season.
“One day after practice, I kicked the ball about 50 yards,” he once told an interviewer. “One of the coaches, Bill Smyth, saw me do that and was amazed. Soon after, I became the kicker for the team. I started doing kickoffs and then progressed to handling field goals and converts as well.” ...

Although he long dreamed of making it to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, he was surprised when CFL commissioner Mark Cohon called him in October 2013 to announce that he had finally been inducted. Racine thought at first that it was a joke after so many years.
“I had put it out of my mind a long time ago,” he said at the time. “You get to a point saying, ‘Maybe once I’m dead.’”

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ine-dead-at-80

[jerrym]

Jeff Krever argues that the Redblacks are strong favourites to finish first in the East. While I agree that they continue to have a very potent offence, they do lack even a remotely decent backup to Trevor Harris and most QBs nowadays miss at least a game or two due to injury. They did strengthen their defence, but they also lost some valuable personnel there, such as National DL Zach Evans and LB Taylor Reed. I think the Argos will be challenging them for first and be slight favourites to finish ahead of Ottawa.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/03/13/will-o...e-impact-east/

[doubleblue]

Jeff Krever argues that the Redblacks are strong favourites to finish first in the East. While I agree that they continue to have a very potent offence, they do lack even a remotely decent backup to Trevor Harris and most QBs nowadays miss at least a game or two due to injury. They did strengthen their defence, but they also lost some valuable personnel there, such as National DL Zach Evans and LB Taylor Reed. I think the Argos will be challenging them for first and be slight favourites to finish ahead of Ottawa.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/03/13/will-o...e-impact-east/

I think the Argos and Ticats will have something to say about that. Almost 60% of those polled don't think the RedBlacks will finish first. I can't see where they have improved a lot. Still will be a good club. But I thought they took a bit of a step back last year from the 2016 team. We'll see.

[Argo57]

I think the Argos and Ticats will have something to say about that. Almost 60% of those polled don't think the RedBlacks will finish first. I can't see where they have improved a lot. Still will be a good club. But I thought they took a bit of a step back last year from the 2016 team. We'll see.

I see all three teams (Argo, Ticat’s and Ottawa) being in the hunt this season.
Toronto
Hamilton
Ottawa
Montreal

[jerrym]

International DB Josh Johnson has signed with Ottawa.

Johnson, who played for the BC Lions from 2014-15, most recently suited up for the Jacksonville Jaguars, appearing in eight games in 2016.
“To be able to sign a player of Josh’s quality at this stage of the off-season is significant for the REDBLACKS,” said General Manager Marcel Desjardins. “He will add experience to our defence while providing leadership and versatility.”
The 27-year-old Johnson started 36 of 49 games while at Purdue, finishing his college career with 184 tackles, 31 pass breakups and six interceptions.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/03/15/redbla...-josh-johnson/

[jerrym]

Brad Sinopoli says he's almost fully recovered from his shoulder injury that ended his 2017 season.

“I’m great, it’s progressing really well, I’m kind of ahead of the curve in terms of the rehab,” said Sinopoli, who participated in the Mark’s CFL Week Media Day on Thursday. “Right now, I feel almost 100% — 99.99%. I have two months to get that last .01% so I’m not worried about it.”
Sinopoli, who had 1,009 yards in catches in 16 games before going down for the season with a broken bone in his shoulder late in October, is anxious to get going again. ...

“When you don’t finish the year, when you get injured, there’s an extreme low. Then when you get your feet back under you again, it’s like you have an extreme thirst to get back into camp, get on the field and get the confidence back.”

http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/foot...c-c00ef147dbe9

[jerrym]

2017 Hec Crighton Trophy winner RB Ed Ilnicki says failing to make the RedBlacks at last year's TC helped motivate him during last year's college season and will help in TC this year.

“It’s much different now just knowing the things I’m going to be facing a little bit more,” Ilnicki said. “Last year, some people were able to give me advice on what to expect but until you experience it yourself, you never really know. ...

"Having a better sense of what the playbook is going to look like, how the days will go and the flow of camp, that’s a big difference. It’s going to be hard, there will be days that are really challenging . . . but knowing is huge.” ...


“You’re always disappointed when you don’t make a roster but I knew as soon as I got back to Edmonton that I was pretty motivated,” Ilnicki said. “There was plenty to show.”


Ilnicki will go into his second CFL training camp having learned a valuable lesson last year.
“Just coming in and being humble,” he said. “It’s easy to say when you’re coming in as a rookie but you have to know what status the veteran guys have earned and where you fit in. It’s very hard for anybody’s ego to come in and work with the reps you get throughout camp, work as hard as you can in those periods and soak up every bit of knowledge so whenever you get your opportunity you’re ready. You have to check your ego very early on and for me that was something that took a little time to adjust to last year.”

http://3downnation.com/2018/03/28/he...for-redblacks/

[jerrym]

Ottawa RedBlack DL Moton Hopkins talks about the end of his career after winning a Grey Cup with the team in 2016, then retiring to become assisting coach in 2017, followed by returning this year to the US to hopefully find a HR job, after also playing in Winnipeg and Montreal since 2010 - the not unusual short story of a football nomad.

http://ottawasun.com/sports/football...-back-to-texas

[jerrym]

Besides former Argo WR Kenny Shaw, the Redblacks have also released former NFLer KR/WR Quincy McDuffie, who like Shaw missed much of the season due to injury, and WR Josh Stangby in order to increase cap space for future signings.

[jerrym]

RedBlack kicker Brett Maher, who had a 46.7 punting average and a 82% FG average in 2017 for Ottawa, has signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

[jerrym]

Ottawa has brought in former BC Lion kicker Richie Leone as a potential replacement for Brett Maher.

Leone, a two-time CFL all-star punter, led the three-down league in punting average in 2015 and 2016 (49.5 and 49.3). He saw time as a field goal kicker with B.C. too, hitting 65-of-90 three-pointers (72.2 per cent).
After the 2016 CFL season Leone inked a deal with the Arizona Cardinals, but he was waived among the final roster moves before the regular season on September 2 and he was a free agent until finding a job in Ottawa.

http://3downnation.com/2018/04/09/re...-richie-leone/

[jerrym]

The RedBlacks have also added International Sergio Castillo to create competition for the kicking job. A backup kicker in Winnipeg and Ottawa in 2014 and 2015, he took over as the #1 kicker in Hamilton with a 85.3% FG average and a 45.2 punting average until he tore his ACL of his plant leg in October 2017.

[argolio]

Best kicker in the league last year. Too bad he got hurt trying to be a hero.

[jerrym]

Ottawa has added six players to their roster with five of the six being on their defence as the RedBlacks try to shore up the weakest part of their game last year.

The Redblacks inked running back Cedric O’Neal, defensive linemen Shalom Ogbonda, George Uko and defensive backs Brandon Stewart, Aarion Penton and Damian Swann.
O’Neal went unselected out of Valdosta State in the 2016 NFL draft and spent training camps with the Eagles (2016) and Bills (2017), but did not make the active roster with either team. ...

Ogbonda attended New York Jets rookie mini-camp in 2017. Uko spent time in B.C. Lions training camp in 2016. Stewart was last with the Chargers. Penton spent time with the Rams. And Swann was a fifth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2015 where he spent two seasons making 22 tackles and defended four passes in seven games.

http://3downnation.com/2018/04/10/re...andon-stewart/

[jerrym]

Jeff Hunt, who brought football back to Ottawa and made the RedBlacks an enormous success on the field and in terms of attendance, is stepping down as President of the team.

Hunt, an OSEG ownership partner, will maintain his other roles with the organization: OSEG Board Member, REDBLACKS’ Alternate Governor and Governor of the Ottawa 67’s Hockey Club.

“I’m an entrepreneur and marketer at heart,” said Hunt. “The day-to-day operations of a business is not my favorite thing. We have many strong business people at OSEG and they don’t need me checking-up on them. As an OSEG partner, I’ll still be up-to-speed on our teams and the business and have an opportunity to contribute to future growth and success.” ...

In 2008, he partnered with fellow Ottawa business leaders Roger Greenberg, John Ruddy, William Shenkman and John Pugh to form OSEG, and, together, they were awarded a CFL franchise, built a new stadium/urban lifestyle district, and hosted and won a Grey Cup.

http://www.ottawalife.com/article/je...with-oseg?c=14

[jerrym]

HC Rick Campbell discusses how the RedBlack defence will change in 2018 below.

From bringing in new defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe, to the off-season signings of Kyries Hebert, Josh Johnson, Loucheiz Purifoy and several other shut-down specialists, Ottawa looks to bring consistency on defence in 2018.
“We had an identity last year but this season were in change mode on defence. It’s not just going to be everything brand new. We are going to take the new stuff that Noel brings to the table but also have continuity from what we’ve done in the past, because we’ve done a lot of good things on defence here,” said REDBLACKS Head Coach Rick Campbell. ...


Thorpe will begin his 15 CFL campaign with the REDBLACKS in 2018. “He’s a smart coach which is good for the defence. He brings a different type of energy as well as different huddle calls. Things like that are a good way to change things up and kind of keep us all on our toes,” said Campbell on what Thorpe brings to the defensive side of the ball. ...


A big part of the off-season for the REDBLACKS defensive staff and players is finding ways to put pressure on opposing team’s quarterbacks. Newly acquired defensive lineman, A.C Leonard, will certainly help in that department. “Leonard is big, tall and he’s able to rush the passer which is key. It’s a big luxury on defense to be able to send pressure to keep the oppositions offense off balance,” said Campbell.

https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2018...-look-defence/

[jerrym]

The RedBlacks have signed International DL Dayton Pratt and Tony Washington (not to be confused with former Argo and current Tiger Cat OL Tony Washington). They have cut DL Sydney Omameh and former Argo RB Henry Josey.

https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2018...april-12-2018/

[jerrym]

GM Marcel Desjardins discusses Ottawa's off-seasons acquisitions in the following podcast:

https://www.ottawaredblacks.com/2018...ely-versatile/