TORONTO – There has been plenty of movement in the off-season as some teams were a lot more active in free agency to try to improve on last season, namely Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and BC.
But across the board there are some players who look to make a big impact with their new teams.
Here are the ones I believe mean the most to their new teams as the season begins.
JEREMIAH JOHNSON, RB
BC LIONS
Jeremiah Johnson replaces a face of the franchise in Andrew Harris in B.C. (CFL.ca)
With Andrew Harris leaving to Winnipeg, it left a big void at tailback and in comes Jeremiah Johnson from Ottawa and Anthony Allen from Saskatchewan to add to dynamic utility man Chris Rainey. Johnson provides a player who in 10 games had nine touchdowns with the REDBLACKS and has that nose for the end zone, especially in close.
While Bryant Turner and Nick Moore could make impressive contributions for the Leos, having a player who can help protect Jonathon Jennings and wear down the defense in both the run game and the pass game will allow the Lions to move on Harris without much of a problem.
GREG JONES, LB
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
With a young defence in Riderville, Greg Jones will take on a key role (James Paddle-Grant/Argonauts.ca)
There are plenty of players who can contribute in big ways in Saskatchewan. There are 40 new players or so in Saskatchewan. Offensively there is receiver John Chiles and Kendial Lawrence. On defence, defensive ends Shawn Lemon and Justin Capicciotti catch your attention, but I don’t think any player will make a bigger impact than Greg Jones will.
The middle linebacker has been a sore spot for a while now in Saskatchewan. The Riders were terrible against the run the last couple of seasons but with Greg Jones, he has already shown in the pre-season what the team was missing. With eight tackles in the final preseason game, he was often filling in the hole or getting to the sideline before players could turn the corner. He’ll quietly be in the six-to-10 tackle territory each week.
JOE MCKNIGHT, RB
EDMONTON ESKIMOS
The fast and explosive McKnight could take on a great role as the season progresses (The Canadian Press)
Chris Getzlaf may be the most recognizable new face but I’m going with a new face to the CFL. With Kendial Lawrence now in Saskatchewan, the Eskimos needed to find their return man and change of pace guy. It looks like they’ve found it with the former USC star.
After a few years bouncing around the NFL, McKnight ran his way on to the Eskimos roster with an 85-yard touchdown run in the preseason finale. He may not see a bunch of touches with John White back from injury but when he does he’ll be threat to find the end zone.
TAYLOR REED, LB
CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Taylor Reed replaces Juwan Simpson in the middle of the Stamps’ defence (The Canadian Press)
As is usually the case in Calgary when, the Stampeders need players they reach into their feeder system and negotiation list to fill the void — but Taylor Reed comes in from Hamilton to add to a younger and faster linebacking group with Juwan Simpson and Keon Raymond moving on.
Reed had 82 tackles last year for Hamilton and at just 24 years old could push to be in the conversation for a division all-star with his new team.
JUSTIN MEDLOCK, K
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Don’t count out Justin Medlock among the big names the Bombers recruited in the off-season (BlueBombers.com)
That’s right, with apologies to Weston Dressler, Ryan Smith, Keith Shologan, Andrew Harris or Euclid Cummings, I’m going with the kicker. Medlock is practically Mr. Automatic and that will be welcome addition to the third phase of the game.
Between Sergio Castillo and Lirim Hajrullahu, Bomber kickers missed 13 field goals last season. Medlock has missed 11 field goals in the last two seasons combined. When you win just five games and lose four by a field goal or less, you see why a kicker can make a huge difference on your season.
JOHN CHICK, DE
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
The Ticats add an elite pass-rusher off the edge in John Chick (The Canadian Press)
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive line was pillaged by free agency with Bryan Hall, Eric Norwood and Justin Hickman going elsewhere. Enter John Chick.
One of the victims of Chris Jones’ purge in Saskatchewan, the veteran defensive end hasn’t lost much of a step hunting quarterbacks. He’s had 15 and 11 sacks in the last two seasons respectively and he’ll be a motivated man following a bitter end to his time in Saskatchewan by being released a day before a bonus was due.
Chick helped Kent Austin win a Grey Cup as a rookie in the league in 2007 and nine years later, Austin is hoping he can do it again.
TREVOR HARRIS, QB
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
Option 1-B in Ottawa, Trevor Harris hasn’t taken long to make an impact (The Canadian Press)
The REDBLACKS are one team that was pretty quiet on the free agent side of things but their biggest move was picking up their future QB. The team was extremely grateful to have Henry Burris stay healthy on its road to an Eastern title, but that is hard to expect with the 40-year old Burris.
Harris gives the REDBLACKS the best 1-2 QB combo in the league as they are practically 1-A and 1-B. While Harris is the No. 2 guy right now, Burris needs to carry over his MOP play into this season or it will be tempting for Rick Campbell to hand the keys to the car to his QB of the future if the wins aren’t coming.
JOSH BOURKE, OL
TORONTO ARGONAUTS
The role of Josh Bourke will be vital in keeping Ricky Ray upstanding (Argonauts.ca)
Keeping Ricky Ray on his feet and on the field will be the biggest difference in whether the Argonauts are hosting a playoff game and contending to end up in the Grey Cup at home in 2016 or struggle to even make the post-season. Need I say more why picking up LT Josh Bourke from Montreal a huge win for the Argonauts in the off-season?
He’s a CFL Most Outstanding Lineman award winner, a two-time CFL All-Star and a seven-time East Division All-Star. Now I know I don’t need to say more.
VAUGHN MARTIN, DT
MONTREAL ALOUETTES
In hindsight, Alouettes GM Jim Popp made a wise move taking a gamble on Vaughn Martin (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
I was going to go with Duron Carter seeing as how the Alouette technically is ‘new’ following a one year hiatus to the NFL last year, but I’ll go with a player who had a much longer NFL career. The defensive tackle could soon be in the conversation with Ted Laurent as top Canadian defensive talent. He deepens an already impressive group of defensive lineman in Montreal.
By the time the Alouettes drafted Martin in 2011, he already had two years of experience in the NFL and patience paid off. Martin was able to pick up a sack in the pre-season finale for the Alouettes and could have GMs rethinking their strategy on whether or not and when they draft players with a shot at the NFL.
