Argonauts.ca staff
Ronnie Pfeffer:
After an injury forced Argos’ K/P Swayze Waters out of last Saturday’s season opener in Fort McMurray, WR Dave Stala took over the kicking duties in the interim. This week the Argonauts have brought in new blood at the position in former Wilfrid Laurier standout Ronnie Pfeffer. Pfeffer was a First Team OUA All-Star and Second Team CIS All-Star with the Golden Hawks in 2014, and attended training camp with the Ottawa REDBLACKS earlier this year. He’ll have his work cut out for him this week when travelling to the unfriendly confines of Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan, where he’ll face off against newly-signed Paul McCallum, a 23-year CFL veteran.
Ricky’s Return:
Sunday marks the return of Argos’ DE Ricky Foley to Regina, after spending the past two seasons as a Roughrider. Foley won his second consecutive Grey Cup in 2013 with the Riders after signing as a free agent, and tied a career-high in 2014 with 12 sacks. Foley is a farmboy who is still beloved in Saskatchewan, though you can bet he’ll be extra motivated to face off against his former teammates after being traded back to Toronto in January.
High-Flying Harris:
Trevor Harris silenced his doubters in week 1 against the Eskimos, completing 24 of 27 pass attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Harris was clinical in his execution, and earned honours as the CFL Top Performer of the Week. This Sunday against Saskatchewan, Harris will line up opposite another back-up QB in Kevin Glenn, though one with much more CFL experience. Harris made quick work of one of 2014’s best pass defences in Edmonton last week, and he’ll look to follow up his 2015 debut with another strong outing.
Defensive Dominance:
Much of the excitement around the Argonauts following training camp surrounded a young, talented defensive unit. Toronto’s secondary forced three interceptions in the preseason finale against the Alouettes, and forced six Eskimos turnovers in week 1. Had it not been for a stellar game from QB Trevor Harris, more would likely have been made of a dominant performance from Toronto’s defence, which surrendered fewer than 250 offensive yards, held Eskimos RB Chad Simpson to a 4.1 YPC average, and allowed just one touchdown. This week the Argos face a Roughriders offence which put up a league-best 212 rushing yards, with the majority of those coming from tailbacks Jerome Messam and Anthony Allen. Toronto will also have to deal with a fully-healthy Weston Dressler, meaning they’ll have their hands full on Sunday.
Many-Headed Monster:
The Argos entered the 2015 season with a distinct lack of CFL experience at the receiver position, with only Chad Owens and Andre Durie returning to the line-up from the 2014 receiving corps. Concerns about any drawbacks this may have caused have been quickly quelled by the play of rookie receivers Kevin Elliott, Tori Gurley and Vidal Hazelton through the preseason and week 1. The three all recorded catches in Toronto’s week 1 victory over the Eskimos, with Hazelton and Gurley scoring touchdowns. Prior to the game in Fort McMurray, Elliot said that the talent the Argos had at receiver meant defences had to ‘pick their poison,’ and so far that seems to be the case.