Training Camp Primer: Defence

A new coordinator, some new players and a fresh outlook. That’s what buoys the Argonaut defence as it prepares for the upcoming CFL season.

Corey Chamblin is the ‘D’ man running the show on that side of the ball. The head coach of the 2013 Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders brings experience, enthusiasm and an extremely loud voice to Toronto.

If you attend a practice, it won’t take long before you look to see whose voice is audible above the rest as he shouts out a mixture of instructions and encouragement to his troops.

Chamblin is encouraged with what he has to work with.

Defensive Line

The star of the unit is Shawn Lemon. Acquired by the Argos last July, the 28-year old had a monster season, finishing with a CFL second-best total of 14 sacks and forcing five fumbles. The ‘Lemonator’ re-signed a longer deal with the Argos before the free-agency period opened, which was a serious dose of good news.

Also returning to the line is Cleyon Laing, who left Toronto for the NFL before finishing the 2016 season with Ottawa. That gives the Argos a potentially dominant pair along the line.

Laing has Daryl Waud backing him up, accounting for what should be one of the starting Canadian positions.

The early favourites to join Laing on the interior of the line are returning starting tackle Ken Bishop or off-season acquisition Alan-Michael Cash. Bishop started 15 games last season, picking up three sacks in the process, while Cash has started all 18 games in three consecutive seasons for the Montreal Alouettes.

Meanwhile, Victor Butler, best known for his four years with the Dallas Cowboys, may have the inside track to start at the other end spot opposite Lemon.

There are several newcomers in camp looking to be a part of the rotation. Cam Walker is a returning Canadian.

Linebackers

In what began as an area of great concern during the off-season, the Argos all of a sudden look a lot more comfortable at the second level.

The man in the middle is Marshall McFadden. The Argos were anxious to see him perform last season, but he had an injury-plagued campaign and was limited to just eight starts. There is zero question about his ability to find the football.

McFadden will be flanked by two newcomers, though one is certainly a familiar face.

Marcus Ball arrived just in time for the first day of camp. A star for the Double Blue on their 100^th Grey Cup team, he brings a combination of ability and experience to the group. Few will forget his two-interception performance in Montreal in the 2012 East Final.

Speaking of the Alouettes, the Argos poached one of the top free agents from the larks in the offseason, but a funny thing happened on the way to the season opener. Tackling machine Winston Venable stunned everyone when he announced his retirement after just three days in camp.

There are other options now, including moving one of the veteran DBs to the Sam linebacking spot.

The Argos have to feel much more comfortable about their linebackers than they did prior to free agency opening and they may not be done. Jim Popp told Argonauts.ca that they had contacted Bear Woods representative. The East’s defensive player of the year was stunningly released by the Als Monday morning.

Secondary

The group was a disaster in 2016. Injuries and too many breakdowns led to a frustrating year for the organization and fans alike. This year’s edition will feature a mixture of familiar and new faces.

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah is back after an injury-laden season. The third-year Argo returns to the boundary corner, where he looked very comfortable in 2015 during his first season here.

The Argos have experimented early in camp by moving around a couple of veterans. The combination of Jermaine Gabriel and Matt Black has patrolled the middle of the field for the past few seasons, but both safeties have lined up as field corners early in camp. Chamblin says he plans on moving bodies around during the pre-season.

”By the time camp is over you’ll be dizzy, especially in the secondary,” said the D.C., “Those guys have to play more than one position. The other thing is we want to make sure that we assess everyone’s skill set to what they can and cannot play so we can make a final roster when it’s time.”

If the pair of Canadians start on the wide side, Josh Mitchell may be the starting safety. Back for a second season in Double Blue, he started 10 games as a rookie.

There is certainly a veteran presence at halfback. Veterans Johnny Sears Jr. and Rico Murray solidify the interior, both arriving via free agency.

Murray heads down the QEW from the Hammer, where he spent four years starring for the Ticats. He and his family love this area of the country, so he selected Toronto’s offer over a couple of other teams, heaping high praise on then-acting general manager Spencer Zimmerman, who closed the deal.

The 29-year old Murray feels he can bring leadership to the table, with one aspect of his makeup standing out.

“Communication,” he told Argonauts.ca. “One of the big things for me is I want the unit to be on the same page, so I like to communicate.”

He was also quick to point out how much fun he was having during the first two-a-day.

“We’re a live bunch,” he pointed out. “We’re flying around. You’d think we’ve known each other for the last couple of years and we still have so far to go, so I’m just excited to see what we can do with this bunch.”

Certainly a sentiment Argo fans are happy to hear.

It’s a much more familiar group starting than was the case 12 months ago. Also gone is the Rich Stubler’s ‘match coverage’ system, which some players struggled with.

On paper, this is a much better unit than the Argos started in 2016.

Extra points: Executives Michael Copeland and Sara Moore watched Monday’s practice from the sidelines…Among others in attendance were former CFL running back Dahrran Diedrick and a scout from the Detroit Lions…One of the criticisms of Scott Milanovich was that he was too heavily focused on the offence. It was rare to see him watching the defence as he entrusted his coordinators to run that side of the ball. Marc Trestman could be seen watching the defence on several occasions while standing behind the secondary during the ‘skelly’ portion of practice…When asked about where he hopes to deploy his Canadian starters this year, the head coach almost bristled, saying “I wouldn’t even know. I just want to find the best players and then see where we are. I think we’ve got really excellent Canadian content on our football team. We’ve got a lot of Canadian linemen and if that works out that’s great. I think if we don’t, we’ve got we’ve got other places to go that we can adequately and sufficiently work with our ratio.”