GARETH BUSH – ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – The Argonauts are first in the East Division, but at 3-7, there’s certainly room to improve. As the coaching staff continues to tinker the lineup and GM Jim Barker contemplates various player transactions, another front office member has been on the road to bring in reinforcements.
Chris Rossetti, the Director of Player Personnel, recently returned from a month-long training camp tour across the United States to scout NFL players that may soon be available to explore CFL opportunities. Rossetti completed a 10-camp trip, paying a visit to Buffalo, St Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Houston, Atlanta, Carolina, Tennessee and New Orleans.
“It was really productive and we evaluated a lot of players,” he said. “We just compiled all of our reports and we’re going over everything and seeing who we want to bring up.”
At 24, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone at that age with as much football knowledge as Rossetti. Growing up in a football family with his dad as a coach, he played the game as a youngster and suited up for the University of Guelph as a quarterback.
Barker hired him on after he had worked for the team as an unpaid intern in the communications and scouting departments. Thrilled to add him to his staff, Barker went as far as telling the Toronto Star “he’ll be a great general manager one day.”
Heading into each camp, Rossetti and his team of scouts targeted a lengthy list of players likely to be released by their respective NFL teams, namely undrafted free agents or underutilized role players. Players that started multiple games the previous year or were drafted in higher rounds are likely to be retained, thus spending any time scouting them is less of a priority.
As Rossetti scouted players at the ten camps he attended, team scouts reported on other regions simultaneously, and all parties involved watched preseason games as “cross-checkers” to give a fresh set of eyes on each set of targeted prospects.
From an outsider’s perspective, the players up for grabs might be initially viewed as the NFL’s outcasts. But to a CFL scout who looks for athletes with different physiques and skillsets to fit the much different Canadian style of football, these players can act as a gold mine.
“You’re always looking for athleticism,” said Rossetti. “A lot of the NFL positions have specific requirements for size, so you’re looking for tweeners as a lot of the smaller guys who don’t fit in down there fit in perfectly in the CFL. You’re just looking for good, tough football players. The biggest thing for us is smarts and athleticism. If you’re not smart, you can’t play for us. If you’re not athletic at any position, it’s tough to play in the Canadian game with the bigger field and quick play clock.”
NFL teams have been very welcoming to CFL clubs in training camp settings, but they stand firm on the rule that no players are to be spoken to until they’ve officially been let go by their respective teams. But that’s not an issue for Rossetti, as training camps are primarily meant for identification and evaluation, rather than interaction. The duration of each stop normally lasts no more than two days before moving on to the next camp.
But once players are released, promptitude is imperative, as competition for their services can be fierce.
“Everyone’s looking at the same players,” he said. “All the CFL teams go on these trips and if you like a guy you need to make a move on him quick.”
For many international players growing up in American football atmospheres, playing for American colleges hoping to make it in the NFL, the thought of playing in Canada isn’t a common one early on in their careers. Convincing them of why they should give it a try is one of the more challenging aspects of the job for Rossetti and his staff. But it’s getting easier.
“Most players don’t respond to being cut with ‘I want to play in Canada,’ so we try to inform them about our league, our rules and how everything works and that there’s an opportunity for them up here,” said Rossetti. “But players like Marcus Ball, Dontrelle Inman, Derrius Brooks and guys that have come up here and played for two years then made NFL rosters, they’re really helping us build our argument and our brand.”
There’s no emphasis on specific positions during these evaluations. Team needs are well known, but in a sport where anyone can go down with an injury at any time, being well versed to the best available talent at each position is crucial. And as the Argonauts have learned this year thanks to a couple severe bites by the injury bug, you can never have enough depth.
Final cuts were announced at the start of the week, but as teams continue to sort out their practice rosters, many CFL clubs remain patient as they wait on word from agents with regard to what the released players plan to do next. Rossetti says he’s had promising conversations, but the waiting game continues.
“Jim (Barker) and I have been sitting down and talking about different players,” he said. “We’ve been sitting down with our scouts to go over every single player, which is well over a thousand.”
The Argos continue fighting for the East Division title with a number of their top stars sidelined due to injury. But as Rossetti and company further evaluate the players they scouted down south, more immediate help may soon be on the way.