Secondary emerges as primary concern
Outstanding rookie nominee in 2017 eyes even better season with Redblacks
There’s a bit of a story behind the story of Sherrod Baltimore, the Redblacks’ nominee for outstanding rookie in 2017 who made the team out of training camp after he was “spotted” at an open tryout down south.
It’s about how he wound up at the open tryout in the first place.
Baltimore was helping the coaches at his former college, the University of Maine, when Jean-Marc Edme, the Redblacks’ director of player personnel, showed up on a recruiting mission.
“I asked him if they need corners,” the 25-year-old Baltimore said Wednesday at TD Place. “He said, ‘Yeah, always.’ So I always texted him. Always hit him up, every day: ‘Did you watch my film? What did the coach say? What did the coach say? We’ve got to have a workout. Let me show you I can play.’
“He watched the film and he was like, ‘Yo, I think you can play.’ So I came to a workout and I did my thing.”
The rest is history.
“God is good,” Baltimore said. “He blessed me with another opportunity to play. I didn’t know if I was going to play football any more. I thought I was going to be coaching. God has blessed me with another opportunity.
“I’m always thankful for J.M. He’s always going to have a spot in my heart for that.”
The Redblacks are hoping another Baltimore-type story will be written this season, which begins soon. They play their final pre-season game Thursday in Guelph, against the Toronto Argos. After that, they enjoy a bye in Week 1 (only in the CFL) and get things going with their opener June 21 at TD Place against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
One of the areas the Redblacks are seeking improvement is in the secondary, which produced just 11 interceptions last season — the second-lowest total in the league. Free agents and rookies have been brought in to compete for jobs. The returning starters are Baltimore, Antoine Pruneau, Jonathan Rose and Corey Tindal, who is in danger of losing his job.
In the mix for spots are Rico Murray, Josh Johnson and Brandon Stewart.
“When you look at us in the back end, we’ve got a real mixture of veteran guys that we’ve
God is good. He blessed me with another opportunity to play.
brought in, players that are returning here, and there’s a lot of competition, there’s a lot of athleticism back there,” said defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe, who is also coaching the secondary.
Montreal Alouettes quarterbacks completed just 14 of 25 passes for 171 yards against the Redblacks in Ottawa’s 27-7 exhibition win last week.
“It was a chance to go against a different team, a different offence, see some different things,” Thorpe said. “I was real happy with how these guys have developed over the course of training camp.”
Calling himself a “natural-born leader” who will help guide the newcomers, Baltimore says he is returning with a better understanding of what he is supposed to do and of the offences around the league.
“I want to help the team get better, do whatever the coaches need me to do,” he said. “Play all 18 games. Stay healthy. Play smart. More turnovers. I didn’t have any interceptions last year. I need interceptions. Turnovers. Get my hands on the ball.”
He’s also aware the secondary needs to develop chemistry.
“It’s a bond thing,” Baltimore said. “Communicating on the field. That’s what we’re trying to do. Just stick together.
“Just build this thing, get this thing rolling.”
LAST AUDITION
You really will need a program to identify members of the Ottawa team that takes on Toronto at Alumni Stadium in Guelph.
“We’ve left some of the older guys behind,” head coach Rick Campbell said. “We’re going to give these new guys a ton of reps. We want to see them play a lot in a game. See how they go. They deserve it. And the Redblacks deserve it, because we want to make sure we don’t miss out on anybody that can help us this year.”
GAME DAY SCHEDULE
The Redblacks have a full itinerary for Thursday: Charter to Hamilton at 11 a.m., bus to meetings in a Burlington hotel, bus to the game in Guelph, take on the Argos, bus to Hamilton, charter back to Ottawa.
NO COOKIES FOR YOU
The end of Wednesday’s walkthrough signified the end of training camp, and the Redblacks celebrated with a fun competition. The rules were simple: Hit the crossbar on the goalposts.
“We divided up the position groups and even the coaches, and the equipment staff and training staff,” Campbell said. “The linebackers couldn’t get it done. It came down to the linebackers and the training and the equipment staff, and they got beat.
“So linebackers had to do pushups and they don’t get any cookies at lunch.”