It may not be June yet, but with the return of the veterans on Sunday, the Toronto Argonauts 2017 season is officially underway.
Here’s a breakdown of what to look for at each position as training camp is underway, starting with the offence.
As soon as he was announced as the Argos new Head Coach, Marc Trestman eliminated any training camp controversy when he anointed Ricky Ray as QB 1. Drew Willy will be the odds-on favourite to be second on the depth chart, though nothing is a given. Willy was with the second offensive group on Sunday.
When asked if he’s going to keep a developmental quarterback on the roster, the head coach was non-committal.
“I don’t even think about that,” said Trestman. “We’re going to see who the best players are available and make decisions. It’s happened a lot of different ways in a lot of different places, so we’ll see where we are in two or three weeks and what the situation looks like, because we’ve got a lot of guys we don’t know anything about.”
One player worth watching during camp is McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who like Ray attended Sacramento State. He’s spent the last few years bouncing around a handful of NFL teams. The 28-year-old did get a taste of the CFL last year, spending a month with the Blue Bombers.
It wasn’t a quick signing, but Brandon Whitaker is back. His status was up in the air for most of the off-season, as he didn’t re-sign with Toronto until March 30. He was second in rushing in the CFL in 2016, totalling just over 1,000 yards and adding over 500 more through the air. His blocking seemed off at the beginning of the ’16 season, but he was back to his old self in that department fairly quickly.
His main challenger for the starting job might be returnee Ben Malena, who spent seven weeks with the team in 2016 and practiced with the second unit Sunday. There are several backs in camp looking for a job, including 6’2”, 232 pound James Wilder Jr., the son of the Tampa Bay Bucs all-time leading rusher.
This is going to be an interesting competition. SJ Green’s strong performance at the Florida minicamp has raised expectations that the sure-handed veteran will have a bounce-back season. The doctors have given his knee the thumbs up and he was with the first group on the first day.
Other off-season acquisitions with CFL experience include Jeff Fuller and Khalil Paden, while the Argos also traded for Armanti Edwards from Saskatchewan on the weekend. He was a late training camp cut by Trestman with the Bears a couple of years ago.
Among the returning receivers, one player to keep a close eye on is DeVier Posey. The Ohio State product signed with the Boatmen last September and ended up starting a couple of games, so he’s no stranger to offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.
“We got him late last season so he’s still learning the game,” Brady told Argonauts.ca. “He was able to get a couple of starts under his belt, which helped him. We expect a good camp out of him. He’s got to show he’s ready to take the next step and be a consistent starter for us.”
As it stands now the Argos may start one Canadian receiver, with Anthony Coombs, Brian Jones and newcomer Kyle Graves vying for that starting spot. Coombs would be the front-runner.
This is perhaps the most intriguing group in camp. There are veterans who seemingly have jobs sewn up, but how many Canadians will start? Who is the left tackle? Which player starts at right guard?
The goal would be to start five Canucks across the line, but it’s tough to imagine starting a young left tackle with the protection of Ray – who has struggled with injury, starting just nine games in each of the last two seasons – the most important task the offence has this year.
Tyler Holmes, Chris Van Zeyl and Sean McEwen would all appear pretty safe as starters at left guard, right tackle and centre respectively.
Corey Watman was at right guard with the first unit on Day One, but he’ll be pushed hard by J’Micheal Deane, who started 16 games at left guard last year with the Grey Cup champion Redblacks.
So who is the left tackle? It was a bit surprising to see Jamal Campbell out with the first group Sunday. He was on familiar turf as he spent his USports career at York, but last year’s third-round draft pick is still extremely raw, having played in just eight games last year, getting on the field as a part of the Argos ‘big’ set.
Nine-year veteran Van Zeyl has seen progress with the player who could start on the opposite side from him.
“I worked with Jamal in the offseason quite a bit,” said the McMaster product. “Just speaking from what I’ve seen over the last few weeks working with him is that he’s come a long way.”
But has he come far enough to start at this stage of his career? The coach certainly wants to take a long look.
“You see what we’re doing, you see what we’re trying to do, at least initially,” said Trestman after Sunday’s walkthrough. “We’ll see how it goes. It’s such a long way to go and we’ve got a lot of learning to do about our players and see how they all fit.”
If Campbell doesn’t start and an import wins the starting job, Brandon Washington and Ryan Mack are worth keeping an eye on as potentially earning that spot.
Extra points: Please note that it’s Day One, so this may mean nothing in the long run, but the first offence featured Ricky Ray at QB with Brandon Whitaker at RB. The receivers were S.J. Green, DeVier Posey, Anthony Coombs, Jeff Fuller and Khalil Paden. The offensive line from left to right consisted of Jamal Campbell, Tyler Holmes, Sean McEwen, Corey Watman and Chris Van Zeyl…Marcus Ball was among those in the defensive first group. Ball was back in his familiar number six, while Brian Jones was now wearing number 16. When Ball was asked what it cost him to get his old number he replied, “Honestly, I probably owe [Brian] Jones a dinner or two, I’ll take care of him one of these days.”… There was one interesting move on the defensive side of the ball. Jermaine Gabriel was on the first team, but playing the field corner spot. Matt Black played the same role with the second group. Gabriel isn’t a total stranger to the position, as he played there in the Argos season finale in Edmonton…The Argos dark blue helmets now feature a single lighter blue stripe down the middle. Reaction on social media was almost unanimously in favour of the new look….Former Argos President and CEO Chris Rudge showed up to sit in the stands and watch practice, looking very casual in the process. It was the first proof that the sartorially resplendent Rudge does, in fact, own a t-shirt and shorts…Trestman said he hasn’t decided when the players will practice in full pads, but it could be as early as Tuesday.