Last year around this time, the Toronto Argonauts weren’t really sure about what they had as they embarked on what turned out to be a hugely successful season. There was optimism around seeing quarterback Ricky Ray in double blue and the prospect that the likes of Chad Owens could help him bring the offence back to life. That was not a given, however there were also new players all over the field, including many on defence, where new coordinator Chris Jones was charged with gluing them together rapidly and cohesively.
There was a little matter of head coach Scott Milanovich being an untested rookie.
Heading into training camp 2013, the Argos had far fewer questions to answer, overall. However, the vast majority of questions they do have relate to defence, where Jones will once again be asked to make a batch of newcomers sing from the same page of the hymn book.
The Argo offence should come out of the gates swiftly this season and the expectation is that it will need to carry the mail a bit while a retooled defence finds its personnel getting accustomed to one another.
While the off-season saw myriad changes on the defensive side of the ball, the offence will begin the 2013 campaign largely the same, in fact, even better on paper.
2012 was all about the quarterback Ricky Ray getting used to new surroundings, new teammates and a new way of reading defences. While the offence often struggled, even deep into the season, a good defence kept the team afloat in most games and within striking distance of the lead.
After Ray returned from a late season knee injury, the switch was flipped. An Argo offence looking to find its identity did just that and looked every bit the championship part on the way to a Grey Cup win. A huge part of that success was owed to the play of the two Chads. Owens – the 2012 CFL Most Outstanding Player who had a massive campaign, even after he dislocated his left thumb in early October and played with it in a cast the rest of the season – and Kackert, the Grey Cup Game MVP who’s running and pass-catching were important, yes, but who’s emerging pass blocking exploits were key ingredients in allowing the Argos to give Ray time to throw in playoff games against Edmonton and a blitz-happy Montreal Alouettes team.
Both Chads, along with Ray, will again be the keys to the Argo offence in 2013.
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With less than a week until training camps open, CFL.ca breaks down each team’s the top three position battle
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With receivers Andre Durie, Mike Bradwell, Spencer Watt and Dontrelle Inman also returning, and an intact offensive line that found the range after struggling most of the 2012 season, the Argo offence looks pretty much set and will be expected to pick up where it left off. Where it is even better on paper is with the addition of receiver Romby Bryant, whose release from the Stampeders speaks more of the tremendous depth of Calgary’s receiving corps than it does about his own abilities.
Where things can go awry for the Argo offence has entirely to do with health. If Kackert – whose very physical style of play leaves him vulnerable to injury – goes down for any length of time, Argo pass protection may suffer again, unless his back up – Gerald Riggs Jr. is number two on the depth chart right now – can match Kackert’s productivity.
If Ray is injured, the Argos do have young guns with limited playing time under their belts and that could also cause trouble. Trevor Harris and Zach Collaros return, but veteran Jarious Jackson is gone, with rookie Mitchell Gale getting his first look at Canadian football. Harris was number three on the depth chart last season, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Collaros earn the job as Ray’s understudy, if he looks good in camp. Collaros looked to be an emerging star in last season’s final game against Hamilton. He showed great decision-making skills, good running ability and toughness in a game that meant little to the Argos, but everything to the TiCats.
If none of the youngsters seem up to the task, we might just see Alex Brink resurface in Toronto, as general manager Jim Barker has kept that door open a crack.
This Argo offence has the potential to be more explosive than any we’ve seen since the days of Doug Flutie, as long as Ray is protected properly.
On the other side of the ball, Jones has some hard work in front of him.
All but one of his starters on the defensive line – Kevin Huntley – are gone. It all starts with the unit up front when it comes to good defence. With Ejiro Kuale, Ricky Foley, Ronald Flemons and Armond Armstead all gone, a major rebuild is underway.
Wildcard in all of this is the mercurial Khalif Mitchell. It appears that all is well and that he will, indeed, slip on Argo colours after all. Traded from B.C. to Toronto in the off-season, he originally balked at reporting. Barker admits he did try to trade Mitchell back out west, but no deal came to fruition. Mitchell has reported and – judging by comments on his twitter feed this week – seems to be at peace with a move east.
Which type of Mitchell will the Argos have? If it’s the one that provides one of the most daunting interior presences in the CFL, the line’s rebuild gets a major boost. A game-changing quarterback hunter, Mitchell’s as good as any. However, if the Argos get the Mitchell that plays selfishly and disenfranchises teammates (Lions’ running back Andrew Harris tweeted ‘good riddance’ when the trade was announced) his stay in Toronto will be uneasy and perhaps short. Milanovich has illustrated clearly that he doesn’t stand for things not being done in a team way.
With or without Mitchell, the rebuilding of the Argo defensive line is the dominant story of this training camp. There is plenty of Canadian potential on the roster, including Jermaine Reid (a six-year veteran acquired from the Edmonton Eskimos), returnees Zander Robinson and David Lee and 2012 second round pick Cleyon Laing, who recently signed. As well, Jones seems to like import Donte Paige-Moss, who played the final two regular season games in 2012 and was re-signed just before Christmas.
The secondary, while not as vacated as the line, still has a key man to replace – Evan McCollough, who signed as a free agent with Hamilton.McCollough is one of those defensive backs who doesn’t show up as spectacularly as some in the stats pages and there’s a very good reason for that. Quarterbacks and offensive coordinators do their best to stay away from his area on the field whenever possible, because he’s so good. McCollough is not impossible to replace, but his contributions to making the Argo secondary a force should not be underrated.
Good news there is that the Boatmen may already have a suitable replacement. When all-star Pat Watkins couldn’t play in neither the Eastern Final nor the Grey Cup Game, back-up defensive back Jalil Carter stepped in and played very well. A starting role for him could be in the cards. As well, the Argos need to replace another defensive halfback, the retired Ahmad Carroll.
Jones is not the only coach with some rejigging to do. Special teams coordinator Mike O’Shea has a reconstruction project as well. Last season, when kick and punt coverages were struggling, the Argos brought in both Walter Spencer and Etienne Boulay to shore things up. It worked, but now the two of them are gone. Linebacker James Yurichuk is expected to spearhead the downfield tacklers, after signing as a free agent in the off season. He’s good at that, racking up 60 special teams tackles with the BC Lions over the last four seasons. Another Canadian, veteran Jonathan Hood, could provide O’Shea with the aggressive downfield pursuit the coach relishes.
Surprises? Yes, there will be some. If I could predict exactly what they’ll be, they wouldn’t be surprises, would they? Watkins emerged last season. Inman, too. And Marcus Ball – as a rookie – was named the team’s defensive player of the year.
Many questions on defence. Not so many on offence. That’s the Argos’ 2013 training camp scenario, in a nutshell.