Plenty on the line for Canadians
Nothing is at stake in the standings, but everything is at stake on the roster, especially if you’re Canadian and want to remain a Hamilton Tiger-Cat.
About 19 hours after the Ticats finish their pre-season game against the Alouettes in Montreal Saturday afternoon, CFL teams must submit a list of players they’re keeping.
By then, says head coach June Jones, the Ticats will have decided upon an overarching concept of how they will deploy the minimum of seven “National” starters stipulated by CFL roster-ratio rules: whether it’ll be five on defence, and two on offence; or four-and-three, or whatever.
“We’re going to make that decision probably on the weekend after we watch (the Montreal game),” head coach Jones said Tuesday. “This game has an effect on that.”
By piping in a pretty deep reservoir of young homebrew talent, the Ticats have always tried to keep their options open, leaving themselves flexibility to switch from a Canadian at one position to one at another, or even to play both.
But that flexibility became a little less bendy on Friday when wide receiver Shamawd Chambers was decreed lost for the year with a knee injury.
That leaves five essentially-locked-in Canadian spots instead of six — both guards and centre on the offensive line, superior defensive tackle Ted Laurent and safety Courtney Stephen (or their backups) — and at least two spots that a Canadian must fill or a Canadian group rotates through.
There are a number of options available, and the players involved know that Saturday’s game film is absolutely critical to them.
Mike Jones, for instance, appears to be a very strong candidate for a starting receiving job because of his ability to stretch the field. He hadn’t started camp in a preferential position, but has moved into one. When “International” Terrence Toliver returns to action, probably in about two weeks, the Cats may go to four American wide receivers and look to an inside Canadian receiver like
Felix Faubert-Lussier for ratio solidification.
There’s also the possibility that both Faubert-Lussier and Mike Jones could play some series
at the same time, because of the improvement in the backup depth: the ascension of former tailback Sean Thomas Erlington into a decent slot receiver, since June Jones took over late last August, and rookie Jacob Scarfone getting a lot of early reps.
Still, that would be a much more attractive proposition if Chambers were still in uniform and/or the club could sign holdout Mark Chapman, the No. 1 overall draft choice last month.
Still on the offensive side of the ball, Burlington’s Mercer Timmis charts in as No. 2 running back between current starter Alex Green and two-way threat Nikita Whitlock. He hasn’t practised since being hurt in Friday’s game, but ran well against the Argos and was playing with confidence last season before he was injured.
Coach Jones, who requires effective blocking from his big backs, can use Timmis more often to affect the ratio if needed. He can also, on some series, use a Canadian tight end, moving guard Landon Rice there and employing a young backup such as rookie Darius Ciraco, or sophomores Brett Golding and Braden Schram in the interior.
And the Ticats are clearly trying to develop a Canadian offensive tackle in either, or both of, Everton Williams and Kay Okafor. That was to be a longer term project but, the coach said Tuesday, “it could be even now, with some of the things we want to do on defence.”
That’s a possibility. But not a probability, it says here. Not on the near-horizon. Still, June Jones likes both converted defensive linemen at offensive tackle and has given them a ton of playing time; they’ll see more again on Saturday.
On defence, the Ticats could will buy ratio space by sometimes using Justin Capicicotti as a starter, and using him, Hamilton native Justin Vaughn and Connor McGough in the rotation, as they did last year.
There was a point in Friday’s game against the Argos that all four defensive linemen were Canadian, so they’ve got roster, and practice roster depth there.
They’re also backed up at safety with veteran Mike Daly and draft choice Jackson Bennett, which would allow Stephen to help out at cornerback if needed. Plus, Nick Shortill and, secondarily, Terrell Davis can play capably at linebacker.
So, a lot of the Canadian starting content will depend — as it has since training camp and mini-camp began and even stretching back into last year — rotating players into a variety of positions.
There appears to be some quality depth at most of those positions so this weekend’s game film will likely make the final determination: with a sharp focus on how those in the potential mix fare on special teams.