Ticats’ Laurent leads elite class of pending free agent defensive linemen

TORONTO – Ted Laurent, a defensive lineman for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, is at or near the top of every list when it comes to the top pending free agents out there.

The reason has lots to do with his position. We don’t say he’s a top free agent despite the fact that he’s a defensive lineman, but in large part because he’s a defensive lineman instead.

Running back, receiver, quarterback – those are the exciting, game-breaking positions and it’s why the hype around the likes of Andrew Harris, Trevor Harris and Jerome Messam is more than justified. Those are players that touch the ball often throughout a football game and are expected to make the types of plays to win games for their team.

Yet equally or even more impressive is the player with game-breaking ability at a position not typically occupied by game-breakers. That’s exactly what Laurent and even some other players in this year’s pending free agent class are capable of, and it’s rare.

From Laurent to and Cleyon Laing, two nationals occupying the middle of defensive lines, to Justin Capicciotti and Tristan Okpalaugo who make their living rushing off the end, we look at some of the true difference-makers in this year’s free agent class – players who have real potential to make a game-changing impact on the defensive line.

(For the full list of pending free agents, view the 2016 CFLc.a Free Agent Tracker).

Ted Laurent
Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Ted Laurent might just be the best free agent to hit the market on Feb. 9. He’s just hit his prime at 28 years old and at 6-foot-1, 303 pounds he’s a gap filler in the middle of the defensive line that is effective both in stopping the run and in putting pressure on the quarterback and making him uncomfortable all game long.

Landing Laurent back in 2014 helped transform the Ticats’ defence into one of the CFL’s most dominant, and his departure would hurt the Ticats and potentially provide a major boost for a defence somewhere else.

Cleyon Laing
Toronto Argonauts

After recently turning 25 in November, Cleyon Laing hits free agency in a similar breath as Ticats defensive tackle Ted Laurent. It’s always hard to find interior defensive linemen that can have a game-changing impact all on their own, but Laing is one of those players and alongside Laurent forms a truly elite duo of inside linemen potentially hitting free agency.

Known for his aggressive, hard-nosed style, Laing is coming off a career season with eight sacks and two forced fumbles in 16 games last season and could be the centerpiece of one team’s defensive line for years to come.

Justin Capicciotti
Ottawa REDBLACKS

The secret’s out on Justin Capicciotti, one of the CFL’s most explosive defensive linemen the last two years. After a slow start out of the gate in his career, the 26-year-old Toronto native hits free agency with 23 sacks in his last two years after last year helping the REDBLACKS lead the league in sacks and reach the Grey Cup Championship.

Capicciotti, like Laing and Laurent, is a ratio-buster, although he operates on the outside of the defensive line as a pass rusher off the edge. He’s coming off an impressive 12-sack season, good for third in the league, and belongs among the elite pass-rushers in the CFL.

Bryan Hall
Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The numbers don’t do justice what Bryan Hall brings to a defence, as his 6-foot-1, 295-pound frame helps him eat up offensive linemen and change the way opposing offences have to scheme. Hall and Laurent formed a dynamic duo in the middle of the Ticats’ defensive line in 2015 and now both are due to become free agents.

Hall isn’t the type of game-changing talent on his own, but as a complimentary piece can wreak havoc on opposing offences and help stop running backs in their tracks.

Freddie Bishop III
Calgary Stampeders

The real question with Freddie Bishop III is whether his outstanding breakout 2015 season was a blip on the radar or the new norm. The 25-year-old had 11 sacks in 16 games in Rich Stubler’s defence, helping the Stampeders finish 14-4 and second in the West despite an injury-ravaged season on both sides of the ball.

Bishop III produced at an elite level last season and at exactly the right time, as he now hits free agency looking to prove he can be a consistent high-end pass rusher after just two CFL seasons.

Euclid Cummings
Toronto Argonauts

Another interior defensive lineman that may not get the credit he totally deserves, Euclid Cummings was a definite game-breaker in his first full season as a Toronto Argonaut, helping the Argos rank fourth in run defence while picking up eight sacks and a forced fumble in 15 games.

Cummings formed the other half of a dominant duo up front for the Boatmen along with Cleyon Laing and would be a highly underrated signing for any CFL team.

Keith Shologan
Ottawa REDBLACKS

The wily veteran of eight CFL seasons, Keith Shologan is a ratio-buster that can add some much-needed sandpaper in the middle of a defensive line. He has both size and playmaking ability, checking in at 6-foot-2, 290 pounds while last year recording seven sacks and recovering a key fumble in an overtime win over Calgary.

An Edmonton native, Shologan helped the REDBLACKS lead the CFL in sacks last season after arguably the best season of his career, and at 30 years old still has plenty to offer.

Tristan Okpalaugo
Toronto Argonauts

Hard to imagine a player with 23 sacks the last two seasons not getting a lot of attention, but so far it’s been quiet in Tristan Okpalaugo’s camp in the weeks leading up to free agency. The towering 6-foot-5 26-year-old is fast off the edge and has produced at a high rate, forcing five fumbles and sacking 23 quarterbacks in 31 games over just two CFL seasons (with two interceptions to boot).

Nothing about what Okpalaugo has done so far appears to be a one-off, meaning he should be one of the most coveted free agents of all positions if he hits the market on Feb. 9.

Justin Hickman
Hamilton Tiger-Cats

A CFL veteran of five seasons, all with the Ticats, Justin Hickman is coming off another strong season with eight sacks in 14 games. A number far more eye-popping than his 36 career sacks in 72 games is his 11 career forced fumbles.

Hickman has forced multiple fumbles in every CFL season but one (he forced one fumble in seven games in an injury-shortened 2014) and is a big-play defensive end that plays with a serious edge.

Alex Hall
Saskatchewan Roughriders

Alex Hall is the perfect reminder of how deep this class is. A name not often mentioned among the top free agents or even top defensive linemen set to hit free agency, Hall has 32 sacks in 43 career games – a career pace rivaling any of the best rush ends in the league.

Some perspective? John Bowman averages 0.68 sacks per game in his career; John Chick 0.63 sacks per game; and Charleston Hughes 0.64 sacks per game. Hall, coming off a season with seven sacks in 13 games, averages 0.74 sacks per game over his career.

Khreem Smith
BC Lions

A down season in 2015 and the depth of defensive linemen available in this year’s class make Khreem Smith, now 36, a forgotten man in some parts. Yet the 6-foot-3, 270-pound native of Jamaica still logged six sacks in 13 games last season and has 36 in his career over 71 career games to go with six forced fumbles.

Not far removed from an 11-sack season in 2014, there’s no reason Smith can’t make a strong impact either with the Lions or a new team in 2016 at a reasonable cost.