Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
A flurry of free agent signings have occurred – with more to come — after the Ticats have wrapped up their 2011 off-season tours through multiple free agent camps in the United States.
On the offensive side of the football, the Ticats are looking for a big target to compliment the receiving core. General manager Bob O’Billovich is hoping the acquisition of 6-foot-5 Aaron Kelly, out of Clemson University, can provide the type of size and ability the team is seeking.
“We’ve been looking in earnest for any more signings of receivers for them to be tall, lean guys that have some size to them to compliment our present receiving corps so that we can have that other ingredient.”
Kelly enjoyed a record setting collegiate career. He racked up 232 catches at Clemson, good for an all-time ACC conference record, while picking up 2,733 yards receiving along with 20 touchdowns over his four-years with the Tigers.
“He was productive and we saw him originally at the East-West Shrine game his senior year and then his first year out of school, after being released from the NFL, I saw him in Buffalo and then we invited him to our camp in Florida this past year and he had a really good workout for us,” O’Billovich said. “We had him up here at OTA’s and he looked good and we think he’s the type of guy that can be that ingredient that we don’t presently have.”
Before Kelly’s signing the Ticats tallest pass target was Maurice Mann, listed at 6’2” and the coaching staff hopes the Clemson product can add another dimension to the Ticats passing attack.
From the new tallest receiver to the Ticats new smallest receiver, 5’9” Chris Williams more then makes up for his small stature with his blazing speed.
“I think that if he’s returning [kicks], he’ll have an impact right away. I think his speed and quickness and ability to take it to the house is pretty exciting. I think he’s a legitimate return guy in our league,” O’Billovich said. “He’s got potential as a receiver as well, he plays bigger then his size and he has tremendous explosiveness.”
O’Billovich compared Williams’ talents to Chad Owens of the Toronto Argonauts and the Ticats own Marcus Thigpen.
“If he can crack the starting lineup as a receiver we could put both him and Marcus Thigpen back on returns, that would be pretty good,” O’Billovich said.
Receivers like Williams and Kelly must have time to run their pass routes to get open and get the football in their hands and free agent Brian Simmons — a former Oklahoma Sooner — has shown he just might have the pass protection skills needed to excel as an offensive lineman in the CFL.
“He’s got really good feet and he showed very good ability to pass block, which is our first priority when we look for offensive linemen,” O’Billovich said. “This guy is put together, he’s got a wide frame and he’s just a tough guy to get around,” he added.
Simmons was another player who attended the OTA practices held in April and played well enough to excite the Tiger-Cats coaching staff.
“We’ve got some of the better defensive ends on our team and he held up pretty good in OTA’s against those guys,” O’Billovich said.
“He showed enough that he could be a guard or a tackle for us — we expect him to come in and compete for a starting job.”
Another possible weapon added to the offence was big, bruising running back, Glenn Milner, who also has speed to go along with his 220-pound frame — he has been likened to the Argonauts 2010 break out back, Corey Boyd.
“He’s pretty quick for his size, that’s why we compare him to Boyd, but Boyd has proven that he’s a good player in our league now,” O’Billovich said. “We wanted to sign somebody a little bigger to see if a bigger, stronger back could add something else to the offence. Milner’s a guy that we will be interested in watching to see if he does bring something extra to the table.”
Any of the running backs the Ticats bring to training camp will have to be able to handle all the responsibilities put upon them in a primarily single-back offensive scheme and the younger the better.
“They have to be good receivers for us in our offence,” O’Billovich said. “We’re looking for a good young running back because we’ve got Avon [Cobourne] and he’s been around for a while and if he gets hurt we want to have somebody in the wings that we’ve been training if we need him.”
Flipping over to the other side of the football. The Ticats brought back defensive tackle, Albert Smith, who suited up in one game for the Tiger-Cats last season and has trimmed his weight to the liking of O’Billovich.
“He came in at the OTA’s, he was 285 and he looked even quicker than what we saw on film when he was in college. We think he’s a good young guy that has a chance to be a pretty good player.”
More athleticism was added along the defensive line with the signing of Notre Dame alum, Morrice Richardson, who will have to acclimate himself quickly with the nuances of the Canadian game.
“He just has to get some familiarity with the intricacies of the CFL game; a yard off the ball, the unlimited motion, the bigger field, wider field,” O’Billovich said.
“He’s very similar to Hickman and Stevie Baggs, the same type of an athlete. We think he has a chance to develop and maybe be a good player in our league.”
The training camp roster is close to being set and O’Billovich is excited about the talent up and down the roster.
“I’m more excited about this particular camp with the coaching changes and the fact that I think we have really upgraded our personnel, I think this will be, by far the most competitive camp we’ve had since I’ve been here,” he said.
A competitive atmosphere is one in which players are forced to succeed, or are left behind, often revealing a players true colours.
“We always say that good competition brings out the best in the player,” said O’Billovich. “If we have good competition in training camp it should carry over to playing against our opponents.”
