CFL.ca Staff
#CFLKickoff
OTTAWA — The Ottawa REDBLACKS may be the newest CFL team, but that doesn’t mean they’re new. Definitely don’t call them an expansion team.
| 2014 By the Numbers |
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Defence
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| Key Roster Changes |
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Additions: WR Ernest Jackson
Subtractions: WR Dobson Collins
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| Important Dates |
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Oct. 1 vs. Montreal Nov. 1 at Hamilton
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| Key Statistic |
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Last year, the REDBLACKS recorded 14 touchdowns as a receiving group. Williams will be a huge boost for the team’s passing game. |
“Be ready,” said veteran running back Chevon Walker, asked in the off-season about what kind of statement his team may look to make in 2015. “The REDBLACKS aren’t going to be anyone’s doormat.”
“We’re going to be ready to go.”
Coming off a two-win season in their inaugural campaign, the REDBLACKS set out this past off-season to show they should be taken seriously as a CFL contender. Considered a much better team on paper, now they just have to justify the hype on the field.
An off-season that generated non-stop excitement in the National’s Capital culminated with a disappointing pre-season, but the new season begins on Thursday and Ottawa is tied with everyone else atop the East Division standings.
Can this second-year REDBLACKS team combat the odds and become a Grey Cup contender? Walker thinks there’s no doubt.
“We have a shot,” said Walker, 28, about to enter his fourth CFL season. “Our chips are going to be real good. We’ve got some good checkers.”
Walker scored the REDBLACKS’ first ever touchdown in 2014, a three-yard run on his team’s first drive of the game to put Ottawa ahead 7-0 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The REDBLACKS lost that game and 15 others last season, and so far their biggest splash has come off the field instead of on it.
But after an off-season that included the addition of legitimate MOP candidate Chris Williams, among many other star receivers, the REDBLACKS are dedicated to changing that. Williams became the pinnacle of all off-season activity this past winter, choosing to sign with the REDBLACKS after two seasons away from the league.
The 27-year-old set return records in his first go-round with the Ticats before heading south to the National Football League. He returns to the CFL in the prime of his playing career looking to alter the fate of a young franchise.
In short, Williams could be an offensive game-changer for a REDBLACKS team that scored a league-worst 15.4 points per game in 2014.
“We’re happy to have a guy who’s so dynamic, not only as a returner because that’s where he’s so dynamic, but also as a receiver,” REDBLACKS second-year GM Marcel Desjardins told OttawaREDBLACKS.com after the signing.
“It’s going to add some interesting elements to what we’re able to do offensively.”
Greg Ellingson, Ernest Jackson, Maurice Price and national Brad Sinopoli are the other four receivers the team added this off-season, while SirVincent Rogers and Alex Mateas were offensive linemen added through free agency and the draft.
“We’ve got some good, tall, big star receivers; we’ve got a steady line; a steady defence; good interior guys,” said Walker. “We’re looking solid.”
Walker, meanwhile, could be as impactful as any of the REDBLACKS’ big additions. The 5-foot-10, 201-pound burner is among the CFL’s fastest players but had his year cut short by a broken arm suffered halfway through.
He’ll have to prove himself as the team’s starting running back but could find plenty of open field with all of those weapons around him.
“They gave me the opportunity and they gave me a raise,” said Walker, who will look to improve the league’s worst rushing attack in 2014. “I’ve got to deliver. I like the pressure.”
“Pressure, that’s the only way I feel like playing football,” he continued. “If you don’t like pressure, what’s the point in you playing football?”
“It’s like one-on-one boxing in the ring: You’re the guy in the backfield, what are you going to do with the ball in your hand?”
While Walker flies under the radar entering 2015, all eyes will be on veteran Henry Burris, back for a second year as the team’s starting quarterback after an up and down first season in the National Capital. Burris threw more interceptions (14) than touchdowns (11) last season for the first time in his CFL career as a regular starter.
His 78.7 quarterback rating was also the lowest of his career as a starter, a number he’ll have to improve substantially this season if the REDBLACKS are going to contend for a Grey Cup Championship.
With a much improved receiving corps and a more experienced O-line, many people agree that this team looks just fine on paper. Starting Thursday, however, we’ll begin to see what this team is truly made of.
“We look good on paper,” agreed Walker. “Now we have to deliver and get it done. Everyone has to be on board with the game plan and the coaches.”
“I feel like we have the opportunity. We’ve got to be sound and focused and be ready to go.”
The REDBLACKS open their season on Thursday night in Montreal against the Alouettes.
