Pressure on GM Desjardins after bad season for Redblacks
As a full-time Ottawa resident and one of the Redblacks’ most recognizable faces, Antoine Pruneau will dutifully “try to help a little bit at the events” during Grey Cup week.
Just don’t expect to see him anywhere near TD Place Nov. 26.
“No chance,” the all-star safety said Tuesday when asked if he planned to watch the championship game. “I can’t be in that stadium, and not be on the field. It would be too painful.”
Pruneau has played in 76 of the Redblacks’ 77 games to date, including three playoffs and two Grey Cups. While you’d probably be disappointed in some players on the give-a-damn meter, it’s evident he is one of the leaders when it comes to caring about the team.
With Pruneau, Sunday’s loss is going to sting for a while. “It’s the first year that we had a shot and we couldn’t at least go to the big dance,” he said. “It’s real tough.”
The truth of the matter is the Redblacks never really had a shot. They deserved their fate. They didn’t belong in the East Division final, let alone the Grey Cup game. They were a bad team.
Forget about the lousy start and the “good” turnaround. All you need to know about the 2017 Redblacks is they were 7-1-0 against non-playoff squads, which, of course, means they were 1-8-1 versus contenders.
It was the worst title defence since the Edmonton Eskimos won the Grey Cup in 2005 and finished last in the West with a 7-11 record in 2006. And those Eskimos didn’t have the luxury of playing three games against this season’s Montreal Alouettes.
Yet ask any of the Redblacks and they’ll tell you they were confident entering the playoffs and they remain so.
“Absolutely,” Pruneau said. “I just met with a few of the coaches, and I think there’s just a few things we need to tweak. There was a lot of good young players for us this year that are just going to get better. I’m going to get better.”
The good young players he refers to are mostly on defence, where the decision was made to let veterans walk and replace them with rookies who, in fact, did show promise. If you don’t gamble that guys like Sherrod Baltimore, Corey Tindal and Jake Ceresna will improve — if you replace them with other young players — you’re going to live with growing pains again.
On offence, some tough decisions are needed.
Re-signing Brad Sinopoli would be imperative even if he were an American. He’s one of the best receivers in the league. His country of birth is a bonus.
Diontae Spencer probably also needs to be brought back despite his shortcomings. On Sunday, after dropping a ball in the end zone with just over five minutes left and the Redblacks trailing by 17, he failed to get to the firstdown marker when thrown the next two passes. He also showed poor judgment by tweeting out his touchdown celebration in the moments after the team didn’t score enough of them.
But Spencer is an electrifying return specialist and a pretty good receiver, so you take the good and hope he outgrows the bad.
William Powell will be 30 by the time training camp rolls around, and he’s already going through injury problems. He’s also the best running back in the CFL, so you might want to try and get another year out of him, but a contingency plan has to be put in motion.
Then there’s Trevor Harris, who throws a nice long ball and has a record of 0-1 as a starter in the playoffs. He will likely be looking for a raise on a $450,000 salary that was among the tops in the league. While Harris doesn’t deserve the bump, he will have options. What choice do the Redblacks have? They can pursue Zach Collaros or James Franklin, but would either be better? That’s certainly no sure bet.
And, without a capable quarterback, the Redblacks could turn into the Renegades.
“There’s nine teams trying to battle to be there, and it cannot be us every year, even though we’re working in that direction,” Pruneau said. “Hopefully it’s going to be better next year.”
The pressure is on general manager Marcel Desjardins to make it so.