Going forward in 2015
What the team has, and what it needs, position-by position, heading into 2015
With this year’s Hamilton TigerCat season having come to a (heartbreaking) end, it’s time to look ahead to 2015. With that in mind, here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the Ticat roster.
QUARTERBACKS Potential Ticat free agents: Dan LeFevour, Stephen McGee
Zach Collaros is certainly entrenched as the starter and he should be even better in year two in the complex offensive scheme favoured by Kent Austin and Tommy Condell. While Collaros needs to work on speeding up his reads, getting rid of the football and taking fewer hits, the big focus next season will be on red zone scoring, where the Ticats were last in the CFL during the regular season and f ailed to cash in three times during the Grey Cup.
Still, Collaros is considered one the best young quarterbacks in the game and the Ticats appear set at the position if he stays healthy. But he missed five games with a concussion and just one quarterback started all 18 games for his team in 2014 (Ottawa’s Henry Burris.) Good teams can win games with their backup, something the Ticats struggled to do this season going 1-4 without Collaros.
With LeFevour and McGee headed for free agency (LeFevour’s recovering from an ACL tear), Hamilton stands to lose the players who filled the No. 2 slot for most of the year.
Jeremiah Masoli is set to return but lasted just a game-and-a-bit as the starter this season and was demoted to No. 3 by the end of the year. We know next to nothing about Jacory Harris.
Re-signing LeFevour, assuming he’s healthy, could help but beyond that, the stable of veteran backups is pretty thin. Austin proved last season he was unafraid to go with a group of unproven pivots behind Collaros and may be forced into a similar situation in 2015.
RUNNING BACKS Potential Ticat free agents:
None.
Hamilton started the season with one marquee tailback — 2013 East Division Most Outstanding Rookie C.J. Gable — and finished the year with another. Nic Grigsby was on track for the West rookie award before being unceremoniously dumped by Winnipeg in October.
Both are under team-friendly contracts and could potentially be Ticats next season, though juggling two alpha runners can sometimes be a challenge. Gable has earned the love and respect of his teammates over two seasons and questions linger about Grigsby’s attitude.
The backups aren’t bad, either. Mossis Madu was a solid contributor in his first season and Sam Ojuri was solid when called upon. Again, both are slated to return but the reality of pro runners these days is that finding a good one doesn’t seem to be particularly difficult — both the CFL and NFL have seen a precipitous rise in previously unknown players making immediate and substantial contributions.
The Ticats, however, could definitely use a fullback or two. C.O. Prime is terrific in pass protection — and durable — but his offence was limited in his first season after making the transition from linebacker (five carries and — more importantly — just three receptions.) Without a bona fide receiving threat, Hamilton moved away from the tight end sets that were so effective in 2013 when the now-departed John Delahunt was healthy.
RECEIVERS Potential Ticat free agents:
Luke Tasker, Brandon Banks, Sam Giguere, Bakari Grant, Greg Ellingson
The list of possible departures includes four of the five pass catchers who started the Grey Cup game and Ellingson, a guy who most people thought was on the verge of stardom when 2014 began. It’s a worrisome group, to be sure.
But Tasker is unlikely to be attractive to NFL teams as he’s no bigger and no faster than he was when he arrived in Canada. His knowledge of the Austin-Condell system dating back to his days at Cornell is a huge advantage and his family — and his wife’s — live across the border in Buffalo. In other words, there are a lot of good reasons for Tasker to stay.
Banks will likely look to the NFL again but his three years experience down south is actually a detriment: league salary rules mean his base salary is higher than entry-level players and he can’t be put on the practice roster. He’s still 150 pounds soaking wet. In other words, he may be back.
Rumours of Giguere’s departure to Montreal have run rampant for months but sources say he’s been trying to get a new deal done in Hamilton with the Ticat brass yet to offer him a contract.
If Giguere isn’t back, that may signal a ratio change. With Andy Fantuz now officially injury prone, the Ticats would be gambling by playing two Canadians as they have the last two seasons.
As for Grant and Ellingson ... well, the Ticats may believe they can improve on both through either free agency or by convincing some of their neg-list players to give the CFL a shot. The team was high on Joe Anderson during his practice roster stint and they still have Cary Koch, Terrell Sinkfield and Quincy McDuffie are under contract as well.
The receiving corps may look different in 2015. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be worse.
OFFENSIVE LINE Potential Ticat free agents:
Tim O’Neill, Greg Wojt, Marc Dile
The line was a work in progress through much of the first two thirds of the season before developing some cohesion and consistency late. Still, it’s hard to believe this unit won’t undergo another overhaul this winter as the Ticats look to get back to playing at least three Canadians along the line after starting just two for most of 2014.
Some of the pieces are already in place. Peter Dyakowski will be 100 per cent healthy by training camp and, at 30, should be capable of regaining his all-star form. Centre Mike Filer is a young player who made great strides this season at a position that’s tough to learn: former stalwart Marwan Hage refers to his first Ticat campaign as “saved by Danny McManus.”
Brian Simmons is now a veteran CFL lineman who can play both guard, where he was an East allstar this season, or tackle, where he lined up the previous three years. If the Ticats can find or develop another Canadian guard — and that would help the ratio situation immensely — Simmons can kick back out to tackle where he’ll be bookended by one of the three players who started there this season.
O’Neill is 35 but may still have value as a versatile sixth man, a role Wojt could also play if his shoulder allows him to keep playing football at all. The Cats will have to make a decision on whether they think Landon Rice, Joel Reinders and Carson Rockhill will blossom into legit CFL starters (Rice seems the most likely of the three.) If not, they may need to use the draft to finally start developing some offensive line talent.
DEFENSIVE LINE Potential Ticat free agents:
Justin Hickman, Antonio Coleman
The big question here: What the heck are the Ticats going to do with all their Canadian defensive tackles?
Hamilton currently has six of them under contract for next season: Ted Laurent, Brian Bulcke, Linden Gaydosh, Michael Atkinson and Hasan Hazime — and that doesn’t include draft picks Mathieu Girard (who spent his Vanier Cup-winning season rag-dolling opponents of the Montreal Carabins, then blocking McMaster’s potential championship-winning kick) or Evan Gill (who tore his ACL in September but is considered a bona-fide CFL prospect). That’s eight for a spot where Hamilton started one Canadian most of this season.
One obvious solution is to start two Canadians, but American Bryan Hall proved to be a valuable contributor in his rookie season and has superior athleticism to everyone in that group, save perhaps Laurent.
The other is to trade some of these assets for something else of need like a Canadian offensive lineman, quality defensive back or a legit backup quarterback (Linden Gaydosh for Calgary Stampeder pivot Drew Tate anyone?)
Off the edge, Eric Norwood blossomed into an elite pass rusher and Hickman says he wants to return. His numbers weren’t great in a shortened 2014 campaign but he’ll be at his CFL playing weight by the spring and is still a smart, unselfish player who can contrib- ute. Otherwise, free agency or the neg list may be a source of fresh pass rushing talent.
LINEBACKERS Potential Ticat free agents:
Marcellus Bowman
All three starters in the Grey Cup are slated to return next season, and likely will. Weak-side man Simoni Lawrence is now cemented as an elite-level player with tremendous athleticism; Taylor Reed developed into a solid player in the middle while strongside linebacker Erik Harris is a versatile player who can play several positions and knock heads on special teams.
The Canadians are top-notch, too. Frederic Plesius played situational defence and standout special teams and rookie Beau Landry looks to have similar potential.
David Caldwell, who was injured much of the season, may still provide some depth but Bowman’s health woes may spell the end of his time in Hamilton.
Look for the Ticats to bring in some unheralded names to develop into backups in training camp.
SECONDARY Potential Ticat free agents:
Delvin Breaux
Breaux is a virtual lock to get an NFL shot and his departure will sting: tall, physical corners who can run are at a premium in the CFL (most are employed south of the border.)
That will weaken a unit that was surprisingly porous: the Ticats were eighth in the CFL in passing yards allowed per game (only Ottawa was worse.) Short-side halfback Brandon Stewart was a physical presence but his cover skills are suspect (though he often matched up against an elite-level receiver each week). Fellow halfback Rico Murray led the team in interceptions and is likely to stay while safety Craig Butler and field-side corner Courtney Stephen are elite-level guys when their Canadian birth certificates are factored in.
Whether the Ticats find their solutions in-house via Emmanuel Davis and Ed Gainey, use free agency to bring in a veteran guy or hold one giant audition in training, the secondary will need to be better in 2015 — without their best guy to count on.
SPECIAL TEAMS Potential Ticat free agents:
Banks, Marc-Antoine Fortin
Should he leave, the loss of Banks will be felt on special teams but it’s worth mentioning that the Ticats have had a succession of elite return men and still have Sinkfield and McDuffie — both of whom returned kicks for touchdowns this season — under contract.
Kicker Justin Medlock had another great season and will be back, and Canadian Brett Lauther spent more time as an apprentice so kicker is the least of the Ticats’ worries.
Long snapper, however, is a concern. Fortin handles the job expertly but a) can’t stay healthy and b) is set to be a free agent. It’s hard to see Aaron Crawford and Kyle Miller, the stopgaps after Fortin went down, returning full time.
Girard can long snap and he could be an option, otherwise the Ticats will have to sign someone to do the job — an unheralded one but important nonetheless.