Argos Sign OL Marc Parenteau.

[R.J]

The Toronto Argonauts Football Club also that announced that non-import OL Donnie McKenzie and imports DB Marcus Ball and WR Jarmon Fortson have also signed with the club.
http://www.argonauts.ca/article/argos-sign-ol-parenteau

[argonaut11xx]

good move....

[Skinny G]

Looks like he plays right guard... same spot Taylor Robertson/Joe Eppelle played... I wonder if this confirms that they are not resigning Robertson.... maybe Parenteau came much cheaper?

[backer@oldclarke]

Good signing by Toronto along with the others, thus the Argos will be a different/better team this year. I thought I read somewhere as well that Emonton/Toronto will open their season playing each other?

[1argoholic]

Looked up Jarmon Fortson. He was kicked out of Florida St for failing multiple drug tests. Nice! But I did see video of him knocking a Wake Forest player out with a solid hit after the guy picked off a Florida St pass. Hopefully he's off the drugs unlike Whitney 'The Crack Queen' Houston. Just read that at Northern Alabama he got suspended for the playoffs for missing classes. Hope he has his head screwed on straight or he won't last.

Good signing or Parenteau.

[paulwoods13]

Over on Riderfans they are saying Parenteau had a lot of trouble with shotgun snaps when he was playing centre. I hope this means he is being signed to play guard and that the Argos do intend to try to re-sign Picard, who IMO is more valuable than either of last year's starting guards. I guess if we lose Picard, Parenteau could play LG and Gagne-Marcoux could slide over to centre.

[ArgoRavi]

Over on Riderfans they are saying Parenteau had a lot of trouble with shotgun snaps when he was playing centre. I hope this means he is being signed to play guard and that the Argos do intend to try to re-sign Picard, who IMO is more valuable than either of last year's starting guards. I guess if we lose Picard, Parenteau could play LG and Gagne-Marcoux could slide over to centre.

Don't forget about Jonathan St-Pierre, Paul. I believe that his natural position is centre. I think that we will see Parenteau compete for a position at guard but that is only a guess.

[OV Argo]

You'll get quite the wide range of opinions on just about any player / topic over at Riderfans; probably everything from the guy outright $u**s to is great or a star - just the nature of the beast on fan forums and Riderfans has lots of posters - some are pretty knowledgeable IMO, others ... let's say, umm, not so much.

Paranteau is a veteran who has played all over the O-line; i guess he could maybe win a starting OG job, but at least be an experienced back-up for the Argos and maybe a decent teacher to some younger O-Linemen; a few bad shot-gun snaps will stick in some people's minds; and if the guy can't consistently snap the ball, he shouldn't be in at C except as an emergency injury replacement; the Argos should be OK at C - even if Picard leaves (and i really hope he doesn't) - with Gagne-Marcoux, Paranteau and St-Pierre (like to see what he could do starting at his real C position) all with experience. I belive Paranteau played (some?) OT before too - in US college ball (drafted by Tillspin and the Gades way back) or maybe a bit in the CFL too.

[eiben35]

Dominic Picard and the Argos are way off in salary. Parenteau will play centre. Murphy and Robertson will not be re-signed. Joe Eppelle is going to play right guard.:hmmmm:

[OV Argo]

Dominic Picard and the Argos are way off in salary. Parenteau will play centre. Murphy and Robertson will not be re-signed. Joe Eppelle is going to play right guard.:hmmmm:


Source for this info / wisdom? - or are you just speculating, making a wild guess or sharing an opinion?

If Paranteau ends up starting at C for the Argos this year - even if Picard is gone - and if Gagne-Marcoux or Jon St-Pierre are available/on the roster - then I will have some serious doubts or suspicions about the new coaching staff or at least the O-Line coach; Paranteau competing for a guard spot if Robertson is not coming back, plus Eppelle getting a long look at his natural position - OT - makes wayyyyy more sense to me. Mind you - Gagne-Marcoux ended up having to play OT late last season with Eppelle at OG, so anything could go i guess; and as mentioned - Paranteau has played all 3 O-line positions*

. However - as long as the roster shakes out according to lots of real and tough competition at TC - things should be OK.

* edit - looked it up - Parenteau made the all Big East all-star team playing right OT for Boston College (i think it was in 02)

[Area 51]

Dominic Picard and the Argos are way off in salary. Parenteau will play centre. Murphy and Robertson will not be re-signed. Joe Eppelle is going to play right guard.:hmmmm:



Picard would be a tough one to lose, but I hope you're right about Murphy. Coughman played much better as his replacement last year and will be much cheaper as well. Eppelle looked ok in his limited playing time, but I don't think he'll be a major drop off from Robertson.

BTW - - did you ever get an answer to your question wondering what it is/was that Mike Hagen does?

[ArgoRavi]

OV, I am pretty sure that Eppele will be a guard from here on in. He did a nice job filling in for Robertson there last year and the fact that he didn't play tackle when they had some injuries would be an indication that they see him as a guard. I expect that Eppele will be a starter from the beginning of the season this year. I would expect Van Zeyl to be the right tackle and likely Coughman to be the starting left tackle although I would imagine that he will have to fight off some competition to retain that position. Here is the o-line as I see it currently:

LT - Coughman
LG - Gagne-Marcoux
C - St-Pierre
RG - Eppele
RT - Van Zeyl

Parenteau and Keeping will be among those trying to break into the starting ranks along with the likes of Tyler Holmes and maybe Joel Reinders. Am I missing anyone?

[OV Argo]

OV, I am pretty sure that Eppele will be a guard from here on in. He did a nice job filling in for Robertson there last year and the fact that he didn't play tackle when they had some injuries would be an indication that they see him as a guard. I expect that Eppele will be a starter from the beginning of the season this year. I would expect Van Zeyl to be the right tackle and likely Coughman to be the starting left tackle although I would imagine that he will have to fight off some competition to retain that position. Here is the o-line as I see it currently:

LT - Coughman
LG - Gagne-Marcoux
C - St-Pierre
RG - Eppele
RT - Van Zeyl

Parenteau and Keeping will be among those trying to break into the starting ranks along with the likes of Tyler Holmes and maybe Joel Reinders. Am I missing anyone?

Don't know Ravi - and you may well be right; are you assuming Picard is gone?; and Murphy and Robertson are history too? - let's say that for arguing the O-Line sake ... then :

Eppelle is going to grade out better than Parenteau at guard? - could be i guess, but just because he played a few games there last year and that coaching regime had no faith in him as an OT ... there's new coaches here now; and Parenteau has way more experience; not sold on Coughman as a starting OT yet; and if Holmes - better US college ball resume than Coughman, plus grew up playing Canadian ball - shows up to compete at TC, I don't see why he couldn't start at OT? - Coughman ended up starting as a raw rookie in Canadian football; St-Pierre could win the C job if Picard is gone - he has experience at the postion plus plenty of CFL roster experience now; but if he bombs, Gagne-Marcoux (who like St-Pierre was a star C in US college ball) could slide there.

The Argos might be able to play an all NI O-Line (like Millanovich had with the Als); St-Pierre at C; Gagne-Marcoux and Parenteau at OGs and Van Zeyl plus one of Holmes or Eppelle at OT; but maybe Coughman grades out a great OT or they sign some impressive new import OTs to compete in TC.

[Nob]

OV - I like your idea of an all-Canadian OL, the only question I have in your scenario is what do you have for depth? Neither Holmes nor Reinders have signed yet. The only back-up I see is Keeping, unless I'm missing somebody.

I thought Eppelle did a good job when inserted into the line up.

[AngeloV]

Over on Riderfans they are saying Parenteau had a lot of trouble with shotgun snaps when he was playing centre.

I do remember the Riders had a lot of bad shotgun snaps last year. Not a good sign for a centre in the CFL. Hopefully they plan at playing him at guard. Re-signing Picard should be their biggest priority....IMO even over signing Andy Fantuz.

[Wobbler]

I'm not sure what to think about the fact that we signed Parenteau before the start of FA. Did we pay a premium to keep him off the market? Was he worried that there wouldn't be any other offers? Did we sign him to get leverage on Picard?

Like Angelo (and probably most of you) I'm eager to see Picard signed. The man has been completely unnoticeable - i.e. a perfect center. He doesn't even get hurt. BTW, I wonder if he sent a link to our "free agency countdown" poll to Barker. I would have!

[Area 51]

Looked up Jarmon Fortson. He was kicked out of Florida St for failing multiple drug tests.




Why am I getting a sense of deja vu with this? Oh yeah - - puff, puff, give - - same thing last year with Claude Wroten. Bringing in guys who have repeatedly shown they're more interested in smoking up than they are with playing football. I don't understand what kind of message they're trying to send. All Barker could talk about last year was how they only wanted a team full of "good guys".

Would you want to go to battle with a "good guy" that's failed multiple drug tests or a guy with a reputation for being a dirty player ie. Belli or Jimenez? Give me the guy who takes a few fines and the occasional suspension for rough play over the guy who shows up for practice high as a kite.

[KCargosfan]

Why am I getting a sense of deja vu with this? Oh yeah - - puff, puff, give - - same thing last year with Claude Wroten. Bringing in guys who have repeatedly shown they're more interested in smoking up than they are with playing football. I don't understand what kind of message they're trying to send. All Barker could talk about last year was how they only wanted a team full of "good guys".

Would you want to go to battle with a "good guy" that's failed multiple drug tests or a guy with a reputation for being a dirty player ie. Belli or Jimenez? Give me the guy who takes a few fines and the occasional suspension for rough play over the guy who shows up for practice high as a kite.

Did Wroten show up for practice high as a kite? How do you know Belli or Jimenez never smoked the hippielettuce?

[Argocister]

Don't forget we just signed Donnie McKenzie from
Laurier. He's a left guard which would provide backup andwould balance things out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but generally it is easier to move from RG to RT to C rather than from RG to LG /LT. Switching from left to right screws up the footwork does it not?

[1argoholic]

It would be nice to see the pot smoking receiver make the team. He looks like he'd be a big strong guy and if anyone ever picked us off he'd kill them. Google his name and watch the hit on the Wake Forest guy.