Pre Season Game Thread: Toronto Argonauts vs Hamilton in Guelph June 3, 2022

[AngeloV]

Well, Someone needs to start this game day thread.

Argos likely to play starters for a good part of the first half. No TV, not sure if it's on radio either.

Worst case scenario, you can listen to the stream on the Ti-Cats radio network: https://ticats.ca/listen/

[Argo57]

Well, Someone needs to start this game day thread.

Argos likely to play starters for a good part of the first half. No TV, not sure if it's on radio either.

Worst case scenario, you can listen to the stream on the Ti-Cats radio network: https://ticats.ca/listen/

We are heading to the game tomorrow night, looking forward to seeing the starters (and newcomers) in action.

[AngeloV]

We are heading to the game tomorrow night, looking forward to seeing the starters (and newcomers) in action.

Enjoy the game. I am envious

[Will]

Mike Hogan said that the Argos are working on having some sort of audio streaming through the website.

[Argo57]

Enjoy the game. I am envious

Thanks Angelo, too bad you guys cannot make it.
I will be decked out in my Argo gear to counteract Eric in his Ticats gear (my biggest failure as a parent).

[AngeloV]

Thanks Angelo, too bad you guys cannot make it.
I will be decked out in my Argo gear to counteract Eric in his Ticats gear (my biggest failure as a parent).

Hey, not his fault you chose to raise him in the Hammer. Bad influences all around, but we set him straight all the time.

[Argo57]

Hey, not his fault you chose to raise him in the Hammer. Bad influences all around, but we set him straight all the time.

I still blame Cleo Lemon, he was an Argo fan until he saw good old Cleo play then made the switch.
In truth we have a lot of fun chirping each other during the CFL season, looking forward to giving him our Ticats suck chant at BMO.👍

[ArgoZ]

I am making the trip as well.

[dmont]

Thankfully, Javon leakes uniform issues have been fixed. He may stay.

[dmont]

I've seen enough of Hester. Lousy hands. Cut.

[dmont]

I've seen enough of Hester. Lousy hands. Cut.

Three late receptions. I changed my mind and I'm undecided again.

[Rich]

I liked what I saw.

I remember when we signed Brandon Banks my friend said it was because we needed someone fast enough to catch up with MBT's overthrows, but judging from this game it looks like MBT may be looking to Banks as not just a deep threat but as a go-to guy this year. And why not? I was a bit surprised that he's still got great quickness in his routes, and even though he dropped a couple you could see MBT is working on a special rapport with him. Very exciting possibilities.

I suppose special teams are a concern, and I was hoping to see more from the running game, but Adedeboye looks like a spectacular prospect. Chad Kelly looked much better this time out despite the bad pick, he looks like a fast learner and a great athlete with an exceptional arm, and I have absolutely no problem with him at #2, and I hope he gets some meaningful playing time this year. He could be special.

[Will]

MBT was 16/26 for 187 yards with 0 TD, 0 INT. As we know one of the problems from last year was the inability to get the ball into the endzone at times, and that pattern continued as the Argos 1st half offence had 5 drives where they were within Bede range. Boris hit 3, missed 1 and they went for it on a 3rd and 4. They got to turn some of those '3s' into '6s.' MBT looked sharp on some throws and not so great on others, but I will say it is good that he is forming good chemistry with Speedy B. What I didn't like was the OL not picking up some of those blitzes which resulted in MBT taking a few hits. Chad Kelly led a very impressive TD drive, but struggled when Hamilton flipped the field position. I still think the Argos bring in a veteran QB (such as it is) because I am not sure what they see in Austin Simmons. Good runner, but you'd have no faith with him under centre to move the ball via the pass.

[paulwoods13]

My quick impressions:

1. O-line play concerned me, although it must be noted that our top two linemen from last season (Nicastro and Bladek) were out of the lineup. Nicastro will be out at least six games and possibly longer, so we really need Lawrence to step up at centre. MacKellar, who started in Bladek's spot, looked out of his depth to me at times. He has had the trial-by-fire experience of going up against Cleyon Laing last week and Dylan Wynn last night, so he's likely learning pretty quickly what it takes to play guard in this league. I didn't watch Cage or Allen closely but I thought Cage might have been responsible for missing one blitz when MBT took a hard hit. MBT did a good job of eluding a lot of pressure, but the fact there was a lot of pressure is concerning.

2. I see potential for MBT and Banks to develop a lot of chemistry, and for Banks to be something reasonably similar to what he was in his prime with Hamilton. I also liked what I saw from Ambles last night.

3. Kelly showed flashes of excellence and flashes of rookie-ness. He has a strong arm and a lot of confidence.

4. Given that Simmons was used on short yardage, I think there is little doubt we will dress three QBs and only one Global player.

5. I'm glad they have Haggerty holding for Bede, since it means they don't have to drag the starting QB away from offence to work on special-teams drills. But I wonder if Bede's misses were partly a result of a new holder. No doubt Haggerty and Bede will eventually sort out any issues they have.

6. It's great to see Reinhart long-snapping as well as ever, especially after learning he nearly had to have his arm amputated after last season's gruesome injury.

7. The d-line was its best (not surprisingly) when Davis was at one of the end spots. Robbie Smith continues to look good, and Shane Ray seems to always get held. Although he did not make a huge impression last night, I think Adrian Tracy is going to be an important part of this team.

8. McManis really is a beast at the WILL spot. He and Muamba are going to be a real force on the inside, and McManis looks like a guy who can go sideline to sideline.

9. Leake botched the first punt return but had one very nice return and is likely on the roster as our primary returner and spot duty at RB.

10. Adeboboye looked fantastic at RB, albeit against Hamilton's non-starters.

[Argo57]

The O-Line will need to be much better.
Chad Kelly looks very good as the #2 QB, decent mobility and seems to spread the ball around pretty well.
Adeboboye look like an excellent pick by the Argonauts.
Austin Simmons looks like a run first QB who has no clue where to throw the ball.
Expecting some very good things from the Argonauts D, lots of talent on that side of the ball.
Nicastro walking with a noticeable limp last night on the sidelines, Argos will miss him big time.

[Smallz38]

I may be in the minority here (and will get hate for it), but I gave the O-Line a passing grade given the circumstances of the game... Especially compared to the very low bar set from last week against Ottawa.
That, and having McBLT QB the more experienced O-Line during the first half just showcased his experience in working under pressure; far better than Kelly and Simmonds.
After every drive I saw them huddled around the O-Line Coach, working out things to improve on the next time they took the field. They'll get better as the reps continue and more of their main starters work into the lineup for opening day.

I was really skeptical about Kelly before watching him in person, and now I definitely see the potential everyone is talking about. That first drive was amazing, thrilling, and everything we'd hope to see from him, but it was pretty brutal to watch him throw an INT and go three-and-out the following drives. Simmonds really struggled to throw the ball. You can blame some of that on the O-line, but it really didn't look like he knew who to pass to and was scrambling the moment the ball touched his hands. He does run well though and will make a great short-yardage QB to replace Pipkin.

The Running back core looks really, really strong! It's fantastic that we have a bunch of national talent to fill a key position too. That, along with having some of the better Canadian receivers in the game gives us a great edge at moving US players into other positions, particularly with our DBs. Adeboboye looks great, and I love the ability to rotate him with Harris and Oullette to keep giving the ball to fresh legs. Unfortunately, Leake didn't look nearly as good as he did against Ottawa so I'm not that shocked he was demoted to the practice roster.

Speaking of Defense, they looked really great too. Hamilton never really could march down the field, and had to rely on the long bomb to get one of their touchdowns (and just narrowly missed a second). I thought our mid-field coverage was much better compared to Ottawa, and Hamilton's QBs were forced into making only short yardage passes. Their run game was completely shutdown.

Compared to the O-Line, it's the special teams that need the most work. They may not have expected the Hamilton kickers to line-drive the ball with very little hang time, but by letting the ball bounce they were asking for trouble.
Aside from some challenging long-range misses from Bede (I believe 51 and 53 yards), the kicking itself is a non-issue and they should focus on the pursuit and tacking afterward. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who had flashbacks to the East-Final after their punt-return TD.

Finally, I'm thankful Reinhardt is back given his scary injury last season. I never realized how bad it was until later and it's a miracle he's even still playing football, let alone starting.
Can't wait to see some of you at the home opener on the 16th! All the best!