Nothing secondary about Redblacks’ defensive backfield
Team looking strong again despite four key players leaving town after Grey Cup
Not really talked about much — but at the core of Ottawa’s Grey Cup victory over the Calgary Stampeders last year — was the heroic effort of the Ottawa Redblacks’ defensive back end, the DBs.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and the Stampeders were flustered through most of the game by a well-thought-out Ottawa game plan and the athleticism of the Redblacks defenders.
So when three of the guys in that Ottawa mix — Mitchell White, Forrest Hightower and Jeff Richards — left to sign NFL contracts and another, Abdul Kanneh, signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a free agent, RNation collectively reached for the panic button.
But a bit more than three weeks from the start of the CFL regular season, it’s looking like a position of concern could turn into a strength. In fact, there was never reason to get worked up, according to defensive backs coach Ike Charlton.
“On paper, everybody says we lost this, we lost that — that we’re at the bottom of the totem pole,” said Charlton. “But if you’ve paid attention to the Redblacks since 2014, we’ve always been a defensive back by committee team.”
Through four days of training camp, Jerrell Gavins, who spent the latter part of last season playing SAM linebacker, is getting most of his looks at defensive back. With several rookies rotating in and out of the lineup, the defence has looked very good.
“We have guys who are coming in here and competing,” said Charlton. “We lose an all-star in Abdul, we put another all-star in his position — Jerrell. We lose Mitch, who was an all-star, we put another all-star in his position — A.J. Jefferson (a former Toronto Argo who signed as a free agent). Imoan Claiborne, he played, so it’s not like he’s new to the CFL. We have Nick Taylor who’s going to be playing SAM (linebacker) — he’s played, too. It’s not like we have guys coming in who have never played for us.”
Claiborne, 24, made 14 tackles in 2016. Look for him to make a lot more in 2017. He has been on fire in camp.
“The kid can run, he’s got speed,” said Charlton. “The thing with him was understanding the waggle last year and playing with confidence. He’s come in with a chip on his shoulder. You’re not going to run by him, you’re going to have to run routes on him to try and beat him.”
When told he was getting noticed, Claiborne said: “Yes, sir. That was my plan coming in. Having veteran guys like (Antoine) Pruneau and A.J. there to protect me, it makes my job a lot easier.”
Claiborne said he’s more comfortable and at ease with the Canadian game.
“It’s all about knowledge,” he said. “I know the size of this field and the angle change, that’s the big part. If you don’t come to work with the motivation to become a starter, you’re going to be on the bench.”
During practice, the defence goes against the offence, with one of the sides doing pushups. For the most part, the offence has been doing the pushups — which points to what a good job the Ottawa defenders are doing.
Said Charlton: “Last year, a lot of times when we’d come out and kick their butt, they’d come out the next day and it was bombs away on us. I let the guys know early we do have a potent offence — we have a quarterback back there who can let it go. We have 82 (Greg Ellingson), we have 88 (Brad Sinopoli), we have 86 (Juron Criner), we have 85 (Diontae Spencer) and we have other guys who can play. I think in four years, this is the first time our offence has had to do pushups back to back to back like this.” HIGH INTENSITY: Redblacks coach Rick Campbell likes the pace that’s being set by his team: “Even at the end of practice, guys are competing hard. We need to clean up on some penalty issues we’re having, we’re tracking everything in practice. We need to make sure that enthusiasm is mixed in with staying within the rules. I’m definitely impressed with their enthusiasm, especially in Day 4. These are the days you get into and it can be a bit of a grind and you have to get over the hump physically. But our guys have shown no signs of wearing down physically.” THE END AROUND: It was QB Trevor Harris’ 31st birthday Wednesday. “He just got dunked with ice,” said Campbell following practice. “He was telling everybody (his birthday) wasn’t until the fall, but we all know that’s not true.” ... Receiver Kenny Shaw left practice early. Said Campbell: “I don’t think it’s overly serious. I talked to him quickly and he said, ‘I’ll be all right.’ ” ... When Daniel Adams (Saint Francis) made a nice grab near the end of practice, a lot of people went scrambling for their roster sheets to figure out who No. 89 was ... During non-contact 1-on-1s, receiver Jake Harty was hauled down by Mikael Charland and didn’t look like he liked it. Antoine Pruneau stepped in, trying to be the peacemaker, and joked later about how the DBs stick together: “We’re like a bunch of hyenas, we’re sneaky and we attack as a pack from behind.”