Revamped Tiger-Cats a contender

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This article was published 06/06/2023 (1083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s an argument to be made that among the nine teams in the CFL, none were more effective over the off-season in building their teams than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

They just took completely different approaches.

While the Bombers, a club that has made the last three Grey Cups — winning twice, against Hamilton, no less — spent much of the winter focused on re-signing players, the Tiger-Cats went out and spent big money on free agents. Winnipeg has a total of seven new players on its current roster compared with a season ago, while Hamilton has about as many new faces as familiar ones.

That has set the stage for a Week 1 matchup between the two cross-division rivals at IG Field Friday night. Some even suggest it could be an early Grey Cup preview, as both clubs are projected by many pundits to finish atop their respective divisions.

“They’re going to be well coached and they’re going to play hard,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said following practice Tuesday. “They’re very talented, their roster is very talented, so I’m sure they’re going to give us all they can.”

After dominating the East Division and making it to consecutive Grey Cups in 2019 and 2021, the Tiger-Cats took a big step back last season. They finished with an 8-10 record and just squeaked into the playoffs, eventually losing to the Montreal Alouettes, 28-17, in the East semi-final.

The Tiger-Cats gave a makeover to several areas of their lineup, adding pieces to both sides of the ball while also saying goodbye to some quality players. Receivers Steven Dunbar and Lemar Durant, as well as defensive linemen Julian Howsare and Micah Johnson, linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox and defensive back Ciante Evans are all gone, just to name a few.

As talented as the group that’s left is, it’s even more impressive who has arrived this year. It’s a crop that includes the likes of offensive lineman Joel Figuero, receivers Duke Williams and Richard Sandini and running back James Butler on offence, and defensive linemen Ja’Gared Davis, Casey Sayles and Kwaku Boateng (injured) and linebackers Chris Edwards and Jameer Thurman on defence.

“Their front-seven on defence is outstanding,” Bombers offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld said, referring to Hamilton’s defensive line and linebackers. “They’ve always stemmed their fronts, have had a lot of unique fronts and blitzes and linebacker movements. Couple that with great players and they’re looking like one of the best, if not the best fronts in the CFL.”

Hamilton’s most significant addition, however, is at quarterback. Unhappy with the play of Dane Evans, the Tiger-Cats went out and traded for Calgary Stampeder Bo Levi Mitchell last November before inking him to a three-year contract.

A lot is riding on Mitchell and whether he can revive his career after a couple down years marred by injury and inconsistent play. A guaranteed selection into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the 33-year-old Mitchell lost his starting job in Calgary to Jake Maier last season, putting an end to a mostly stellar 10-year run with the Stampeders.

Bombers defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall doesn’t have any film of Mitchell running Hamilton’s offence because he didn’t take a snap in the Tiger-Cats’ two preseason games. Hall knows Mitchell well from his time in Calgary and is just as familiar with Hamilton’s offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell.

“They have the potential to make big plays — explosion plays — and I don’t see that changing,” Hall said. “They are trying to amalgamate Bo and what they do, and he fits right in with what they do because he’s a gunslinger who likes pushing the ball up-field. They have a different group of receivers, but system-wise, we’re anticipating a lot of the same things.”

The first game of the regular season is always an interesting one from a preparation standpoint. Because of how much turnover there is in the CFL from year to year, it’s hard to gauge how effective teams might be in certain areas from one season to the next. Given that, Neufeld said there’s an added importance to in-game and half-time adjustments.

There’s also trying to install your own playbook, which happens throughout training camp but really ramps up by the start of the season, at least when it comes to executing the plays, as clubs don’t want to show too much during the preseason. Given the high level of continuity on the Bombers roster, it’s certainly an advantage for Winnipeg; the team hit the ground running last month, installing plays that surely had the newcomer’s heads spinning.

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“With the number of returning guys we have, we tend not to slow down the process in training camp,” O’Shea said. “Guys come in for rookie camp, they get the information and then they get it again, basically three days worth in one day or a day and a half, come main camp. We’re not going to slow down, we’re just going to keep going and give them maybe a little more than they can handle, but it certainly shines a light on how much they have to catch up to the vets.”

Rather than focusing too much on the Tiger-Cats and what they’re planning to do, the Bombers are more focused on what they’ve got drawn up for Friday. Now it’s about getting the job done.

“For us, it’s about execution. We’re not really worried about finding who we are or any of that stuff. More of it is setting the standard for ourselves,” Bombers receiver Drew Wolitarsky said. “Our expectations are high of ourselves, as always. We probably know there will be things to fix, but we want to come out and be physical and put that on film.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.