Landry: Ackie relishing unlikely transition in Ottawa

Don Landry

CFL.ca

@CFLLandry

Chris Ackie‘s year has been a surprising one, there is little doubt about that.

A rise to prominence after three years of promise not quite fulfilled – at a position he hadn’t played an awful lot of – was the first surprise.

The second? Being traded, after that rise, just minutes before the CFL trade deadline on October 10th.

Chris Ackie had found a home with the Montreal Alouettes, both on the field and in the city at the time of his trade to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Now, he’s living in a dorm and playing special teams, backing up at a position where he’d been a star this season.

He’s fine with all that.

“I don’t think I could have been put into a better situation than what I’m in right now,” says Ackie, the 26-year-old native of Toronto, who grew up about an hour west of the city, in Cambridge, Ontario. “I’m just gonna do whatever I can to help the team.”

In an eye-popping deadline deal, Montreal general manager Kavis Reed traded his club’s star weakside linebacker (WILL) across the river to Ottawa, in return for a second-round pick in the 2019 draft. “It’s not our normal way of operating, to give up draft picks for players,” said REDBLACKS’ General Manager Marcel Desjardins at the time of the trade. “But in this case, it was too good to pass up. We’ll worry about next year next year.”

That says a lot about how far Chris Ackie has come as a player since graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University and being drafted fourth overall by the Als in 2015. Emerging as a star in 2018, the defensive back converted to linebacker brings exceptional depth to the REDBLACKS’ defensive roster as the team guns for a spot in this year’s Grey Cup Game.

Already a seasoned special teams player, and a guy with reps at various defensive back positions before landing more permanently at linebacker this season, Ackie provides the REDBLACKS with myriad abilities as well as roster flexibility, due to his nationality. Ratio busting is a fine thing for a team to possess, especially during a high stakes playoff run.

“It’s a bit of a transition going from, like, being the guy in Montreal starting all the time at linebacker, to being the rotational guy,” says Ackie, who sits behind Kevin Brown, Ottawa’s fine second-year WILL, on the depth chart (although this week, Ackie finds himself on the one-game injured list). “But I gotta expect that, being the new guy coming in. They already have their linebackers. They’ve already been a great defence all season.”

There has been that adjustment for Ackie, and it’s one that you can imagine not a lot of players would relish. Being a starter, and being in on so many plays (he had 81 tackles for Montreal at the time of the trade, ranking him sixth in the league at the time) is the place everyone wants to be.

Since arriving in Ottawa via a trade with Montreal at the trade deadline, Ackie has relished a new role since being ‘the guy’ in Montreal. (Chris Hofley, OttawaREDBLACKS.com)

Ackie, however, presents an upbeat persona as he talks, happy even with his residence along with Ottawa’s practice roster players in a dorm not far from the REDBLACKS’ home at TD Place. “I had a pretty good apartment in Montreal that I left behind,” he says, wistfully, before adding that, as a temporary measure, the dorm is just fine. “It’s like being in first year at Laurier again,” he laughs.

Things may have felt a little strange in the beginning. After all, Ackie had known just one CFL home for four years and that was with the Als.

“Obviously I miss my (former) teammates in Montreal because those are guys I’ve played with since my rookie year, some of them,” says Ackie.”Some of them are my best friends now.”

“But I’m happy to be here. I got put into a great opportunity. I’m going to the playoffs for the first time in my career. I’ve come to a great team with great coaches, great teammates.”

Ackie’s value to the REDBLACKS became apparent almost immediately following the trade with Montreal. Facing the Eskimos in Edmonton, the plan was to have him play special teams almost solely, but the in-game injury situation saw him play at WILL during the second half of that game and he recorded three tackles.

With Brown sidelined due to injury for Ottawa’s mammoth home game against Hamilton two weeks ago, Ackie was a starter, delivering four more tackles in the game that saw the REDBLACKS take firm control of the East with a comeback win. For last week’s rematch in Hamilton, Brown was back in as the starter with Ackie as the back-up, and he chipped in with his first special teams tackle as a REDBLACK.

“Playbook was pretty easy to pick up on,” says Ackie, referring to the familiarity he’s been feeling, what with his old coach in Montreal, Noel Thorpe, now coordinating the Ottawa D.

In Montreal, Thorpe used Ackie in different positions, aware of the kid’s versatility. Playing him solely at linebacker wasn’t in the plan and Ackie took reps all over for Thorpe while in Montreal.

“You look at a guy and his size and the way he can move, his athletic ability, his speed, you wanna put him in positions to utilize those skill sets,” said Thorpe when interviewed on the day of the trade. “And we were gonna put him in multiple positions to do that.”

If that is the plan again, now that the two have been reunited in Ottawa, Ackie is not aware of it, saying he has been repping at linebacker since joining his new team. That, he says, is perfectly fine with him because he absolutely loves playing WILL.

“Being at one position this year, actually really helped me grow as a player,” says Ackie, thankful of the chance the Alouettes gave him to blossom this season. “I find that playing that weakside linebacker position is actually the position I’m meant to play.”

“I feel comfortable. Every game, I continued to get better. I feel, for me, to be an impactful player, I get better the closer I get to the football.”

Along with those 81 tackles he’d rung up this season as a Montreal linebacker, Ackie recorded a sack, a forced fumble and two interceptions. Lining up beside another Canadian linebacker – Henoc Muamba was just named the Als’ Outstanding Player, Outstanding Defensive Player and Outstanding Canadian – Ackie really flourished. Why? Why did this year become so gargantuan for him?

“Who I had around me, teammate-wise,” answers Ackie. “And given opportunity. Kavis gave me an opportunity that I didn’t have earlier in my career.”

Indeed, Ackie had never played linebacker before coming to the CFL. He’d patrolled the safety position for Laurier before being switched to halfback for his final two years. Being bumped up closer to the line of scrimmage on a full-time basis, this season has been career-changing for Ackie. He’s gone from being a useful, plug-and-play guy to have on a roster to being a potential all-star in the making at WILL.

“Playing the weakside linebacker spot, I feel like I’m always in the action,” explains Ackie. “You can drop me high as a safety, put me in coverage or you can blitz me. Or, I play the short zone. I’m always around the ball. A good aspect of my game is coming up and tackling.”

Still, the REDBLACKS will not hesitate to use Ackie in the secondary if they need to, with the knowledge that he can play back there in a pinch.

“He’s a smart enough guy to be able do that and his skill set, physically, he can do both,” said Head Coach Rick Campbell on the day of the trade.

Ottawa’s front office swam against its own current, giving up a draft pick for a player who could potentially walk as a free agent this off-season. They aim to get value out of Ackie, wherever that comes.

“Wanna use him in any way we can,” said Campbell.

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