Hogan: Argos new-look secondary should be a major improvement

Mike O’Shea. Orlondo Steinauer. Joe Montford.

Over the years, the Toronto Argonauts have poached defensive players from their archrivals from down the QEW. Just not so many at the same time.

The Argos went hunting Tiger-Cats in the off-season and bagged three.

The newcomers are all recognizable names to CFL fans. Defensive backs Rico Murray, Johnny Sears Jr. and Cassius Vaughn all played for Hamilton last year before signing free-agent deals in Toronto.

Something had to be done in the offseason to improve a porous Argonaut secondary, which allowed game-changing big plays on a regular basis in 2016.

The new group will make its debut when the Argonauts kick off the 2017 season this Sunday against the Ticats at BMO Field.

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah is back at boundary corner after missing most of the ’16 season with a bicep injury. The only returning starters who played most of last year are Josh Mitchell and Jermaine Gabriel.

Gabriel says that lack of continuity on the back end was the biggest reason for the problems of a year ago.

“The starting five DBs that we came out of training camp with never actually played together,” explained the Scarborough native. “First, A.J. (Jefferson) went down in training camp, I went down Week One, and A.K. (Owusu-Ansah) went down and we then had young guys have to step up and play an important role.”

Two players who had an opportunity to play last year were both among the final cuts on Saturday. Aaron Berry and Marcus Alford were players many thought would be with the team but were among those released.

Head coach Marc Trestman acknowledged the cuts were difficult, adding the process this year was as hard as any in his career. That said, he likes the members of the secondary that avoided the axe.

“I feel very good about the guys that we have,” said the coach. “We’ve got a strong group of veterans, guys who love football. There’s not one player back there I think who’s descending at all in his career. They’re all on a plateau or still ascending and I think that’s a good sign.”

Gabriel echoes his coach when asked about the key reason why this year’s secondary will be improved.

“A lot of vets,” said the player, who now in his fifth CFL season fits that description himself. “That’s the main difference from last year. A lot of guys who played in the CFL for a certain number of years. We know that communication is vital to our success and we’re able to play off one another.”

While the starters may be set, where those players line up is still up in the air. Defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin emphasized on the first day of camp that members of his secondary would have to play multiple positions.

Gabriel has played safety and field corner at camp, while newcomer Murray has lined up at Sam linebacker, halfback, and field corner at different times. Does the nine-year pro have a preference?

Not really.

“Just let me get out there on the field and I just wanna ball,” Murray told the Double Blue Podcast. “Put me next to somebody who has the same passion and love for the game as myself and we’re going to go out there and have fun, and that’s all it is. We’re grown men that play a child’s game, but at the end of the day it’s a high-performance business, so you’ve got to be able to perform under pressure situations.”

Gabriel loves that he’s able to show off more of his talents.

“I like it because I hate just being known as a safety,” admitted the safety, er, defensive back to Argonauts.ca. “I can play man-to-man coverage, I can blitz, I can come off the edge. I can do a whole lot of things so the fact that we get to learn a lot of positions – and I’ve been playing a lot of positions in camp – I like it. Every day is something new so it’s exciting for me.”

The return of Marcus Ball and the late acquisition of Bear Woods gives the Argos a completely different look behind the front four. It may take some time to come together as a group, but the veteran personnel certainly gives one good reason for optimism.

We’ll find out if that optimism is warranted starting Sunday.