Match des Alouettes de Montreal contre le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa au Stade Percival Molson le 11 Octobre 2021. Photo: Dominick Gravel / Alouettes de Montreal
For the first time in a long time, it can be argued that the CFL’s East Division may be stronger than the West. That hasn’t been the case in a while. Since 2008, there have been eight teams that have crossed over into the opposite division to qualify for the playoffs. None of those teams are Eastern teams. In each case, either Edmonton, B.C., or Saskatchewan claimed the third spot in the East. Could that change in 2022?
Of course, football games aren’t won on paper. We can project all we want, but the reality is that the teams in the division, including the Als, need to perform on the field.
“This is as competitive as I’ve seen (the East) in the last few years, including when I was still in the league prior to joining the University of Montreal,” Als GM Danny Maciocia said on Friday. “I think it’s going to be super competitive and that’s going to make for some great football, some entertaining football. And I think the fans are going to be the biggest winners in all of this.”
The Alouettes would prefer to avoid being the team to crossover because that would mean that they’d finish fourth in their own division. In the last two seasons, the team has finished both second (2019) and third (2021) in the East.
Coming into 2022, expectations are higher. The Als didn’t make many big-name additions during the offseason, but they were able to retain most of their stars. Quarterbacks Vernon Adams Jr. and Trevor Harris are both back. Receivers Eugene Lewis and Jake Wieneke both inked new deals with the club, and running back William Stanback, who was the East Division’s Most Outstanding Player in 2021, signed an extension, too.
This will also be head coach Khari Jones’ third season at the helm, but it’s just his second training camp as head coach.
Clearly, the organization is banking on the fact that continuity will carry them even further this year.
“It’s big to have that group back,” Jones said during a session with the media on Friday.
“I don’t think people know how important it is to have that connection. The quarterback, receiver connection (helps players) know where guys are going to be on the field, where they like the football, how he moves out there. It’s big. You’ve seen it throughout the league, where a good receiver signs somewhere, a good quarterback signs somewhere and things aren’t the same.
“That’s one thing I love that Danny has been able to do with this group, is keep this core together and let these guys grow together. I think the next step is to challenge these guys to be even better, to do a few different things out there that they haven’t been doing the last couple of years. With a season on top of a season, we can grow and there’s no hiccup in there in the middle.”
Vernon Adams Jr. health update
Adams Jr. arrived in Montreal on Thursday. He’ll continue to work out on his own and with a few of his teammates in preparation for training camp which begins on May 15th.
The 29-year-old suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Redblacks in October, and he’s been working towards getting back to full health for the start of training camp, which sounds like it’s going to happen.
“As we speak, today, all indications are that he’s going to be good to go at camp,” Maciocia said when asked about his starting quarterback. “All our players are going to be subject to a medical as they get to Montreal. We’re probably going to get another CT scan and another MRI, but he has been throwing. He’s felt okay. I’m anticipating that he should be good to go. That’s as we speak. I’m just going to make sure that we sit down with our medical staff here over the next 10 days and our team doctors will give us an update. All indications are that he should be good to go.”
CFL Canadian and Global drafts on Tuesday
Both of the CFL drafts will take place on Tuesday. The Global Draft will begin at noon ET while the Canadian College Draft is set to begin at 8pm ET. The Als own the first overall pick in the Global and they have the fourth overall pick in the Canadian Draft.
Maciocia, who served as head coach of the University of Montreal from 2011 to 2019, is familiar with a lot of the players that will be available. He either coached them, recruited them or played against a lot of these prospects.
As always, Maciocia is looking to add quality football players. If they’re from the province of Quebec, even better.
“We’re always going to take the best player (available),” Maciocia said of the draft process. “Everything being equal, we’ll always stay local. We’ll buy local if everything is equal. There’s some great talent (in Quebec). You’ve also seen it south of the border. There’s a lot more (local) kids that are getting scholarships south of the border.
“We’re going to pick the best player available. If he’s from Quebec, he’s from Quebec. If he’s from B.C., he’s from B.C.”
