It feels like this CFL offseason flew past, it seems like only yesterday the Redblacks made a playoff run for the first time in my years of covering the team. After an impressive season that saw the Redblacks produce 3 players on the All-CFL List, and a total of six CFL East All Stars.
They also saw their Offensive Line recognized as the best unit of the week three times, and their Offensive Coordinator listed as Coach of the Week twice.
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Redblacks Defense
Young Defensive Backs Step Up Early for Redblacks
The Redblacks defense looks poised to be a very formidable unit in 2025. The team opted to turn to younger players in the secondary in week 1 of the preseason, featuring C.J. Coldon and Gavin Heslop. Heslop joins the team after previously playing with the San Antonio Brahmas in 2024 after bouncing around the NFL. This is his first stint in the CFL.
Coldon however joined the Redblacks after spending some time playing with the Massachusetts Pirates in the Indoor Football League. This came only after his first stint in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Both players flashed early in the game making solid tackles that prevented any yards after the catch.
Amari Henderson came in later but managed to intercept a pass by jumping a route at the perfect time and taking off running in the opposite direction. He had a solid return on the interception giving the Redblacks decent field position. The following drive resulted in points thanks to his return on the interception.
Pressuring the Passer Should be No Problem for the Redblacks
The Redblacks Defensive line looks ferocious. They were able to get penetration early and often. Carter was able to stuff a screen play thanks in part to another defender hurrying the passer on the play. Shortly thereafter, their center was penalized with a blatant hold due to the Redblack’s defender getting off the ball so quickly.
This continued throughout the first quarter as on their fourth drive the Redblacks dialed up a blitz, and it forced a sack of Alexander. Stalling out the drive and forcing a punt. On the very next drive, pressure from Davion Taylor again forces the quarterback to hit the check down, which goes for a short completion. Heslop again steps up to make the tackle. The very next play, another DB blitz, and Robert Priester pushes his man back into the quarterback forcing a fumble, which is recovered by the offense, but forces another punt.
The defense as a whole finished the game with 3 sacks and 3 more tackles for a loss. They added 1 interception, as well as two forced fumbles, and 1 recovery.
William Fields Proves to be Aggressive Early and Often
It seemed the only time you saw big gains they were followed shortly after by a holding call on Montreal. The Redblack’s defensive line proved hard to slow down for the Alouettes early, although the Alouettes also showed at times this can be the defense’s weakness if a screen pass is dialed up and executed correctly. Overall the play calling by new Defensive Coordinator William Fields was impressive.
Although Montreal would counter Fields’ approach as the game went on, he seemed to adjust on the fly and mix it up enough that the Alouettes could never seem to get into enough of a rhythm to start stringing together scoring drives. If I have one slight concern, it comes from that no-huddle drive the Alouettes put together in the 4th quarter with James Morgan in the game. He moved the ball with ease, but near the red zone, the defense tightened up and forced a stop. This will be something to monitor going forward as we see more no-huddle, and high-tempo style offenses against this defense.
Redblacks Offense
Quarterback Play Solid but not Spectacular for Redblacks
Dru Brown looked to be knocking off some rust in this game. He was off-target on several occasions throughout this game, and he is lucky he did not get intercepted at least once. It seemed at times the ball was getting to the receiver late, and allowing the coverage to catch up. Another time he led the receiver just slightly too far forcing him right into coverage resulting in an incomplete pass.
He also showed some troubling decisions, including a throw to Justin Hardy at one point that ended with three Alouettes players, and just one Redblack around the ball as it fell incomplete. Granted this is week one of the preseason, these are things that I would like to see Brown clean up sooner rather than later. He finished 8 of 14 on the day, and at least three of those incompletions could fall directly on Brown.
Matthew Shiltz looked good while he was in the game, and it should be to the surprise of no one if he continues to hold the QB2 role heading into the season. Dustin Crum also played well. Finishing with the only passing touchdown of the day, and completing 4 of 5 passes. Ironically he was the only quarterback who did not record a carry, as I would expect him to retain his duties as the short-yardage quarterback.
Tyrie Adams came out last, and by that point, the game was well in hand. He was only allowed to attempt 2 passes, and both should have been complete. The throw he had to Victor late in the game was on target, but Victor simply could not hold onto the ball. Adams ran the ball only once as well. His injuries seem to have derailed his progress up the depth chart for the Redblacks, and I have to wonder if he will wind up back on the practice roster in 2025.
Skill Positions
The skill positions around the quarterback position seem to be as deep as they have ever been in my four years following the team. At running back, with a veteran like William Stanback at the top of the depth chart, depth is a good thing. Stanback is a hard-nosed runner who has missed 24 games over his career. However, the team brought in a similar player behind Stanback, in Jaylen Samuels.
Samuels played well overall. Not only did he rush for a 23-yard touchdown on a well-designed and blocked play, but there were several times he proved his worth in the passing game as a blocker and a receiver. His unique background adds value to keeping him around as well. Case in point, after scoring the rushing touchdown, he stayed on the field to block on the extra point.
His value on this roster could come in many ways and could lead the Redblacks to lean toward keeping three running backs instead of keeping another wide receiver or fullback. Samuels is no stranger to splitting out and catching passes. He came out of college having caught 201 passes with 3 straight seasons of 55 receptions or more, in fact in two seasons of his college career he caught more passes than he had carries. This carried over into his time in the NFL as well where he caught another 85 passes in 45 games.
In this scenario also kept on the roster would be Daniel Adeboboye. The two-time Grey Cup Champion is in a similar position to Samuels. He is incredibly valuable in other roles, specifically special teams. He proved his worth on coverage units with the Argos, even earning recognition from his team for his play on special teams. He is also a very efficient player with the ball in his hands producing 5.1 yards per carry, and 7.1 yards per reception.
Keeping all 3 backs may seem like a tough ask for a pass-heavy league, but looking at their value in other roles, there could be creative ways to keep all 3 of these men.
Wide Receiver
The depth at wideout is impressive, to say the least. After the news that Nick Mardner was lost for the season due to injury, there could have been some concern about the team taking a hit in production there as Mardner was expected to only build on his role from 2024. Instead, Keelan White came in and played well when called upon in this game catching 2 of his 3 targets.
Khalil Pimpleton continued to look like a valuable piece of the puzzle, while Geno Lewis looked every bit the part of a perfect compliment to Bralon Addison, and Justin Hardy. Another player Redblacks fans should be excited about is Sam Schnee. He finished catching 4 of 4 targets for 54 yards and 1 touchdown on the day. He looked like he could not only find his way onto the roster, but into the lineup early if he continues to play like this.
This unit when you look at it on paper could be as good as it has ever been. With the elite-level talent at the top of the depth chart followed closely by players like Devonte Dedmon, Sam Schnee, and Latreal Jones the quarterbacks on this team are in good hands, all puns intended. One man who could see his stock drop quickly after this game is Lincoln Victor. While his value on special teams is obvious, he had 3 returns for a total of 55 yards, he also dropped a pass, and in total caught just 1 of 3 targets.
Redblacks Special Teams
This competition at punter may not immediately work to be just that, given the trust and commitment the Redblacks have made to Richie Leone, but their new punter Noah Gettman played fairly well in this game. He had two kickoffs, including a booming attempt for over 70 yards. He finished with an average of 69.5 yards per kickoff. He also punted 9 times for 403 yards averaging just .2 yards less per punt than Leone despite having 6 more punts. He also had the longest punt of the day at 57 yards.
Gettman spent most of his college career punting and operating as a kickoff specialist, but I find it important to note that he was 10 of 11 on field goal attempts as well with attempts in four straight seasons at Sacred Heart. Gettman was a starting kicker for most of his high school career, before transitioning to punter in college. Keeping a player who can come off the practice squad and fill at least a short-term need at kicker and/or a long-term need at punter, while handling kickoffs seems like a solid return on the roster spot used.
Coverage units were hot and cold in this game, on multiple occasions they made big plays, whether they be big momentum-stopping hits or even a forced fumble. Other times they allowed big returns by getting out of their lanes and allowing alleyways to develop for the return men. With a former Special Teams Coach as the Head Coach, and a former Head Coach as a Special Teams Coach, this is one area I would like to see improve drastically as the season goes on.
On 11 punts the Redblacks allowed a total of 158 return yards, including plays of 48, 25, and 26 yards on the day. In the kick return game, they allowed 81 yards on 4 returns, keeping it under control for the most part. It is never a good sign when your punter is making tackles. Consider that the Redblacks allowed just 7 total points even though the opposing team had good field position most of the game, and suddenly the picture becomes even more clear how effective this defense was.
What I Would Like to See in Week 2
In week 2 I would like to see some form of improvement in the accuracy and decision making of Dru Brown. I would like to see more solid play from Shiltz, given that the recent track record in Ottawa means he will likely see at least one start in 2025.
In the backfield, I would like to see a clear plan emerge for how the team will be able to realistically utilize all three backs, or see how the rotation takes shape. At wideout, no real improvement is needed at this time, just want to see the team go into the regular season without any more injuries at the position.
On special teams, I would like to see more of Gettman, I believe he has a long future in the CFL, whether it is in Ottawa or another city remains to be seen, but at worst he should be retained on the practice squad. The coverage units need to be cleaned up. This team invested in the special teams units targeting players with a background of playing well on special teams. Now it is time to figure out how to make it all come together. There is room for improvement but the team seems to have all the building blocks to be a playoff team once again in 2025.
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