Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
TORONTO — After losing starting centre Sean McEwan to the Stampders, the Argonauts have filled some voids on their offensive line, signing offensive guards Dariusz Bladek and Toronto native Philip Blake.
The 25-year-old Bladek was selected in the second round, 11th overall, by the Roughriders in the 2017 CFL Draft.
Bladek has appeared in 45 career games with the Green and White, filling in at both left and right guard over that span.
The Clifton, NJ., native did the same in 2019, where he suited up for 11 games. Bladek product was placed on the six-game injured list following Week 1 this past season but made an early return to the lineup to fill in for Phillip Blake, who suffered a broken leg in Week 7.
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Bladek spent his collegiate career at Bethune-Cookman University, appearing in 21 games — all starts — for the Wildcats.
Blake, 34, is coming home to Toronto after spending most of the last two seasons in Saskatchewan, where he played eight games along the offensive line in 2019 after being traded from Montreal in October of 2018.
The 6’2, 311-pound OL is an original third-round draft choice of the Montreal Alouettes in 2011 but chose to return to Baylor University for his senior season. The following year, Blake was drafted in the fourth-round of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and released in 2013. After a short stint with the Arizona Cardinals in 2014, Blake finally arrived in Montreal and ended up playing 57 games between 2015 and 2018 for the Quebec club.
