The Dark Empire Strikes Back

For some of us, this in now known as the Ed Hervey Tampering Week.

Hervey is now in his second term with the Elks, having served in BC and Hamilton since he initially got let go by the Elk. Hervey has a lot of holes to fill on the Edmonton roster which under former GM/Head Coach Chris Jones became a season long training camp.

The Elks’ priority was to give quarterback Tre Ford the feeling he was wanted in the Alberta capital, so they traded away McLeod Bethel Thompson to Montreal and signed Cody Fajardo as a back-up. Then Hervey went on a spending spree.

He signed defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, Robbie |smith and Jared Brinkman, cornerback Tyrell Ford (Tre’s brother), offensive lineman David Beard, and receiver Kalon Julien Grant and defensive back Royce Metchie. Extended offensive lineman Brett Boyko and linebacker Nyles Morgan.

Hervey is trying to send a message he is not afraid to move to improve the Elk and while people were wondering how Hervey could afford to sign so many top line players, it just came out the CFL players cap was being increased by $400,000 thanks to increased league revenues., something that should have come out before the Ed Hervey Tampering Week started.

Edmonton let Geno Lewis go to Ottawa, not surprising since before the week named in his honor, Hervey said the contracts for receivers needed to be reset. The other thing to keep in mind is with Edmonton having a pretty good running game and with Ford being a running quarterback, there is less need for a home run hitter at receiver like Lewis.

That is similar to what happened with the Stony Mountain Blue Bombers who let Kenny Lawlor go to Hamilton where he will be Bo Levi Mitchell’s best friend. News of the salary cap increase had Bomber fans salivating that Lawlor might return to Stony Mountain as they host the Grey Cup this year, but I don’t think so.

The Bombers did bring back Dalton Schoen, the 2023 rookie of the year who was out last season with an injury and brought in former Rider Jerreth Sterns as a receiver. I liked Sterns when he was here, he ran very good patterns in practice and had a chemistry with Trevor Harris, but not so much with Shea Patterson.

The Bombers did complete their coaching staff and naming Jason Morgan as their offensive coordinator and bringing in Jarious Jackson as a QB coach seems to indicate Winnipeg will be moving to more of a running offense next season, considering Morgan was their running back coach last season.

The Bombers are hosting the Grey Cup and brought in James Vaughters on the defensive line. Vaughters was released with Mike Rose from Calgary, presumably to avoid paying bonuses, and should strengthen the Bombers D Line. The Bombers upgraded their offensive line by retaining Eric Lofton and their return game by signing Peyton Logan.

The Bombers cut receiver Drew Wolitarsky who was snapped up by Hamilton, which is not surprising since former Bomber assistant GM Ted Govera is now the GM in Hamilton. Brady Olivera may have been wondering why he didn’t see the ball more after Zach Collaros got injured in the Grey Cup, but all signs seem to point to him being the star in this version of the Bomber offense.

Calgary which seems to be going through shedding their previous roster for a new attitude brought in Dominique Rhymes as a weapon for new quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. Calgary in shedding Rose and Vaughters seems to be either making room under their salary cap to go after a few people or perhaps are retooling and depending heavily on their recruiting to bring in new, cheap talent.

BC who started the whole controversy with paying players like Nathan Rourke out of marketing money, picked up former Rider defensive back Deontai Williams and defensive lineman Dewayne Hendrix from Hamilton. BC also brought in former Rider linebacker Adam Auclair.

Toronto may have lost their entire defensive line, but they have brought back the true Grey Cup MVP Wynton McManis at linebacker. Toronto also re-signed Nick Arbuckle, who was named Grey Cup MYP as a fill in for Chad Kelly if he has not recovered from his broken leg in time for the start of the season. Arbuckle showed CFL teams need two quarterbacks who can step in at a moments notice depending on injury.

The Riders had an interesting pre free agent figuring out how things are going to work. On Friday they announced the re-signing of Micah Johnson, who will be important to the Rider defensive line if he is rotated prudently. The Riders also extended the contract of Canadian receiver Mitch Picton who has made several valuable catches in the lineup when he has been slotted in.

The Riders did lose Auclair at linebacker, Sterns to Winnipeg and Godber to Ottawa. Auclair’s spot is up for AJ Allen to seize and Sterns despite being a dependable receiver, probably did not have the size the Riders wanted in their receiving corps. Consider the Riders may start three Canadians at receiver, and there are not enough spots for players like Sterns.

The Riders pulled a bit of a surprise by bringing back defensive back Tevaughn Campbell who has been in the NFL for the last six years. If Campbell still has the chops, he no doubt picked up in the NFL, this opens a spot for a Canadian defensive back.

The Riders signed defensive lineman Mike Rose released by Calgary who signed for less than what Calgary was offering him in exchange for a chance to play under Rider Head Coach Cory Mace. The Riders must figure out the best way to set up their defensive line to stop the running game and more importantly get pressure on the opposing quarterback

The Riders are not likely to bring back Anthony Lanier who was talented, but prone to injury on the defensive line. The Riders decided to bring in defensive lineman Shane Ray, who won a Super Bowl ring with Denver and a Grey Cup ring with Toronto when Mace was defensive coordinator there. Ray while talented, is also prone to injury, so this may or may not work, but the Riders seem to be stockpiling defensive linemen in preparation for training camp.

The Riders signed offensive lineman Philippe Gagnon from Montreal to likely play alongside Jemarcus Hardrick on the Rider offensive line. If Hardrick comes back alright from his injury, the Riders have the makings of an offensive line that will be big and brutal and inclined to run the ball a lot.

The Riders offensive line now looks like Trevon Tate, Noah Zerr, Logan Ferland, Gagnon, and Hardrick which should improve the rushing game.

So with Free agency opening on February 11, there are still players out there and apparently now there is extra money. Whether the Riders add more is an interesting question.

The release of Rider receiver Ajou Ajou so he could sign with the Indianapolis Colts means the Riders may be looking at adding a Canadian receiver in the draft. The next major date for CFL fans comes February 28th when the CFL Invitational Combine is held.

The top performers from there will come to the CFL Combine scheduled for March 21-23 in Regina, probably at the Cooperators Centre. I was at the last combine held in Regina and it was fascinating to see the athletes perform at a variety of drills and trying to be an armchair general manager figuring out who could perform at a professional level.

The CFL Draft is scheduled for April 29th and it will be interesting to see if the initial reading of the athletes at the Combine translates to draft status. The CFL Draft is always tricky because some of the better ranked athletes may have caught the eye of the NFL and who would turn down that experience, never mind the cash?

After the CFL draft, Rookie camps open on May 7 and fans will get their first glimpse at how the free agent additions and draft picks will fare with their new teams.

by Greg Urbanoski

The Dark Empire Strikes Back

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