Last week, the Ottawa Redblacks had an unsuccessful road trip to Vancouver, after losing 29-5 to the B.C Lions, there has been a variety of negativity going around the league about the Redblacks. Luckily for the Redblacks, they have another shot at it. The Lions will be making their ways to Ottawa for this week’s rematch from last week. It wasn’t just last week’s game that the team would like to have back, as the Redblacks are nearing the 10 loss mark of the season it seems like we’d like more than the one game back. Unfortunately for us, that can’t be done. For the last 4 seasons, the Redblacks have made it to the playoffs, this year we’ve taken it one win at a time.
As we reach week 15 of the CFL season, us fans find ourselves in a different position than usual. About a year ago, the Redblacks had beaten the Edmonton Eskimos 28-15 as they were marching their way to the Grey Cup. Now what are we doing? We just handed two teams their second win, and trying to fight adversity on getting win number 4.
Lets all get rid of the negativity and look at the positives, like what we can look for at the next few games along with what to look forward to next season.
A healthier roster
This season, we’ve suffered enormously in the injury department. Just a few weeks in, we lost R.J Harris, Seth Coate, Jonathan Rose and Antoine Pruneau who were all ready to play big roles on the team. Just when it seemed like we’d be on a roll to the playoffs, we were hit by the bug again.
Just a week after Pruneau had been back from his first injury, he was hit by another one that would sideline him for the remainder of the season, John Crockett faced an injury in Saskatchewan and is likely out for the season, and both Caleb Holley and R.J Harris have been battling injuries on a weekly basis.
As we’re gaining DeVonte Dedmon, and Rafael Araujo-Lopes in the receivers group this week, we’re starting to see what the future has in store for us. Both Dedmon and Araujo-Lopes are two rookie receivers that have combined for a few great games, for example DeVonte Dedmon’s two return touchdowns in Montreal. It gave us all something to cheer about, and now that he’s back in the lineup, we hope to cheer again. Along with Dedmon, Araujo-Lopes is back in the receiving core, Araujo-Lopes has just played one game in the organization, and was just getting the hang of the offense. In just the one game, he caught 6 of 8 targets for 57 yards recording a long of 19 yards.
As mentioned, both Holley and Harris have also struggled with injuries this season. When battling an injury, they weren’t playing at their full potential and both added up 677 yards in 8 games together. Next season, once they are injury free we will have a packed house in the receiving core and should be a good reason to keep cheering for Ottawa.
Will Arndt is young, and ready
This season, our quarterbacks group has struggled to air the ball out at their full potential. With injured receivers and no chemistry built within the offense, it has been tough to be successful in the air. There could be a cure to that, both Jennings and Davis are playing with the first string offense and have built chemistry with all of the starters, but once the starters are injured it seems as if we have no hope. That is when we look for William Arndt, he’s been practicing with these receivers all year and has only gotten a shot in 3 games completing 14 passes for 124 yards.
In the last home game against Toronto, he had the opportunity to play the last few drives and he went on a rally. Arndt threw the ball 7 times, completing in 6 times for 54 yards while also running the ball for 7 yards. Arndt seemed in control, and deserves more chances.
The 6’5 26 year old quarterback has spent the past 3 seasons with the Redblacks and has yet to start a regular season game. With the games meaning nothing, and the risk of injuries being so high with our luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Arndt start a few games to cap off the season. He is signed until the end of the 2020 season, and has a chance at a 2nd string job next season depening what happens with both Davis and Jennings.
Gameday Saturday!
Remember, the Redblacks will be facing off against the B.C Lions this Saturday at 7:00 EDT at TD Place in Ottawa. Hope to see you there!
JZ MEDIA 