September 3, 2015

Tristan Okpalaugo is Finding his Groove in 2015

Argonauts.ca staff

TORONTO – One of the 2014 season’s greatest surprises for the Argonauts was defensive end Tristan Okpalaugo. In his first CFL season, the former standout at Fresno State tallied a team-high 12 sacks en route to winning the Frank M. Gibson Trophy as the East Division’s nominee for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award.

Okpalaugo entered the 2015 season with sky-high expectations, underscored by his selection as the 48th best player in the CFL in TSN’s annual CFL Top 50 list. When Okpalaugo struggled early in the seson, it was fair to wonder whether the burden of expectations had affected his play.

“I felt it a little bit at the beginning of the season, I felt like I had to be a leader,” said the usually-quiet Okpalaugo. “Especially seeing the Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup last year and knowing that could have been us, I felt like I had to do all these things.”

Likely playing a role in the learning curve for Okpalaugo and the defensive line was the handful of new faces joining the unit. Of Toronto’s 2014 front four, only Okpalaugo and Laing returned as starters, meaning new relationships had to be forged and chemistry created.

“It was basically all new faces except for Cleyon (Laing),” said Okpalaugo. “(Euclid Cummings) came on late last season but he’s still a rookie. It’s a group of different guys, we’re just finding a way to bring it together with the young guys and the old guys.”

Following a slow start – which plagued the entire defensive line as much as it did Okpalaugo – lead by example is exactly what the sophomore has done, tallying five sacks and 12 defensive tackles in his past five games.

“Eventually I realized that I just had to play my game, I could be a leader by example,” he said.

Okpalaugo’s five sacks leads the Argonauts, and the team’s defensive line will look to continue their strong play this week, when they face off against a formidable Tiger-Cats offence led by former Argo Zach Collaros.

The Ticats have been a productive matchup for Okpalaugo thus far in his career, with three sacks in four career games against Hamilton, but he says that won’t factor into his mindset heading into the Labour Day matchup.

“No not at all,” said Okpalaugo. “I just have to do me: play my game, rush the way I rush. Other than that, I’ve just got to play hard.”

Collaros’ playing style seems perfectly suited to the CFL game, as he has the legs and the vision to take off running, but is perfectly content sitting in the pocket and slinging the ball deep. This will create problems for the Argonauts defence, and Okpalaugo believes they’ll need to be at the top of their game to keep Collaros in check.

“The defensive line has to keep him in the pocket and make sure we get to him,” he said. “Use all we’ve got to get there.”