In what has been a very tough 2021 CFL season, a year where the Redblacks, going into the final game of the season have won just two games, there are still a lot of positives, and today, Wednesday November 17th, Redblacks fans were reminded of some of those positives. The team, and the CFL announced each team’s award winners and the nominees for the league wide awards which will be given on Friday December 10th in Hamilton prior to the Grey Cup on the 12th.
One of the biggest positives for the Ottawa Redblacks came in the special teams unit, with kick-off returner DeVonte Dedmon. Dedmon, in just 15 games played, 5 in 2019 and 10 in 2021 has accumulated a whopping 2,906 yards and scored 6 touchdowns on just 148 touches, averaging 19.6 yards every time he’s touched the ball and averaging just under 200 yards per game played. His numbers are insane, and after breaking the record for the fastest player in CFL history to get to the 5 kickoff return touchdown marker, Dedmon is going to be recognized as the Ottawa Redblacks most outstanding player of the 2021 CFL season as well as their special teams player of the year. This season, of the numbers mentioned, 1,907 of those yards have come in return yards including 3 return touchdowns, 2 punt returns and 1 kickoff return. Those numbers make him the leading returner in the CFL, and without another player in the CFL having the impact he does when he lays hands on the football or is even close to the football, Dedmon is expected to win the 2021 Special Teams Player of the year award, however it is still up in the air whether or not he will win the CFL’s MOP award. Other players across the league, William Stanback, McLeod Bethel Thompson, Simoni Lawrence, Zach Collaros, Cody Fajardo, Ka’Deem Carey, James Wilder Jr and Lucky Whitehead have also been nominated.
With the Redblacks, Ryan Davis has been nominated for the CFL’s rookie of the year award. Davis, a St. Petersburg, Florida-native and Auburn alum is also a very big positive that has come from the 2021 CFL season in Ottawa. The Auburn record holder has found himself in a role as a primary pass catcher in the Redblacks offence and with one game left on the season he has 52 catches for 567 yards and 2 scores to his name. He also has 43 rushing yards and 481 return yards in his rookie year, giving him over 1,000 all-purpose yards. Around the CFL, the only player he may fear in the east division as a rookie of the year nominee would be Toronto’s Peter Nicastro, the Argonauts rookie centre, therefore Davis has a shot at winning the eastern division rookie of the year, but will then have to face Jordan Williams, Kian Schaffer Baker and DeAundre Alford from the western division to be able to call the CFL rookie of the year award his own.
The Redblacks also named Avery Williams as their defensive player of the year, who has 83 tackles, a sack and an interception going into the final game of the season on Friday, Lewis Ward as the Canadian player of the year and Mark Korte as their offensive lineman of the year. Korte has played a number of different positions this season on the Redblacks’ offensive line, and although Redblacks quarterbacks have had a tough time in the backfield this season, the work he’s put in for this team should be recognized. Ward as the Canadian player of the year for Ottawa has been the team’s main source of points, and just because he doesn’t have the crazy streak like he did in 2018 and 2019, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t been consistent, he’s kicking 83% this season.
Stay tuned to see how the Ottawa Redblacks award winners stand against the rest of the league, and if you are in Hamilton for the Grey Cup, come by the awards on Friday December 10th to see your favourite players accept their awards, including Redblacks’ DeVonte Dedmon who WILL get the CFL’s special teams player of the year award.
To begin the month of November, on November 2nd and throughout the first week of the month the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks made a splash. They announced the re-signing of electric kickoff returner and slot back DeVonte Dedmon, which was then followed by the contract extensions of punter Richie Leone and placekicker Lewis Ward that week. These transactions were key ones to make, solidifying the chance of having the best special teams unit in the CFL again in 2022, all led by special teams co-ordinator Bob Dyce.
They also signed contract extensions with a trio of Canadians who have also made their marks on the Redblacks’ special teams unit. Nigel Romick, Justin Howell and Brendan Gillanders were each signed to extensions on Tuesday this week, but that will not be the last of moves coming from the Redblacks’ front office.
Led by Jeremy Snyder and JM Edme right now, the Ottawa Redblacks front office announced today that they’ve re-signed star linebacker Avery Williams for the 2022 CFL season. Williams leads the Redblacks in tackles for the second consecutive season, and is third in the CFL in tackles with 83. He’s also made a sack, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass this season, adding to his career totals of 195 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 interception, 4 forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown in 40 games since 2018, his rookie season.
Williams has been an impact player for the Redblacks’ defence in a tough season and co-ordinator Mike Benevides will be happy to coach him again in 2022.
For most NCAA programs there are just one or two games remaining on their 2021 schedule. The majority of teams that were bound to play in bowl games for both December and January have already secured their spot in one, NFL eligible players have helped or hurt their draft stock over the last 11 weeks and all eyes are on the College Football Playoff which will kickoff on New Years Eve. This year, there are some Canadians in the hunt to play in the College Football Playoff and in bowl games, and a number of them have made big impacts on their teams to be in that position.
Leading the pack of Canadians would be Alabama receiver John Metchie. Metchie is a junior at the University of Alabama and has been making plays at the program since he got there as a true freshman in 2019. Last season he filled big shoes when now-Miami Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle went down with an injury, he caught 55 passes for 916 yards and 6 touchdowns as a sophomore, with DeVonta Smith in the offence, so as he moved into the 2021 season, there were a lot of eyes on him to repeat what he did in 2020. So far, through 10 games this season Metchie has caught 67 passes for 722 yards and 6 touchdowns. His role in the Crimson Tide offence has expanded and has been a main target for quarterback Bryce Young, but has still managed to average 10.8 yards per catch.
Staying at the wide receiver position, the NCAA is packed with talented Canadian pass catchers. Hawaii’s 6-foot-6 Canadian receiver Nick Mardner has 788 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 39 receptions this season, averaging 20.2 yards per reception over 11 games thus far. Jared Wayne from Pittsburgh then comes third in receiving yards as a Canadian with 566 yards and 4 scores on 37 grabs in his 9 games. The Peterborough-native has been making plays over the last couple of seasons with the Panthers since signing from Clearwater Academy International in Florida, while Windsor brothers Theo and Dominic Johnson also make plays in the NCAA, Dominic catching 29 passes for 404 yards and 2 touchdowns for Buffalo this season and Theo catching 17 for 204 and a score with Penn State. There is also Damien Alford, a Montreal-native at Syracuse who has served as a 6-foot-6 deep threat and speed receiver for the Orangemen, averaging 20.4 yards per reception, including a 73 yard touchdown and a game winning 45 yard score over Virginia Tech. Samuel Emilus at Louisiana Tech has caught 17 passes for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns in his 6 games this season as well, averaging 15.1 yards per ball caught.
In the run game, Canadian running back Chase Brown, a London, Ontario-native for Illinois leads the group with 851 yards and 4 scores on the ground as well as 123 yards through the air. Brown has two games over 200 yards rushing this season and averages 121.7 yards of offence through the 8 games he’s played. There is then Ottawa-native Fabrice Mukendi in his freshman season at Bryant University, running for 571 yards and 7 touchdowns on 99 carries in his first 10 games of his collegiate career. He averages 60 yards of offence per game and 5.6 yards per touch this season. Toronto’s Daniel Adeboboye is also at Bryant University where he’s taken the other half of Mukendi’s carries, running the ball 107 times for 449 yards while adding 142 yards through the air and 8 touchdowns on the offensive side of the football.
Montreal-native and Clearwater Academy International alum Ludovic Choquette has also made his mark this season at the division one level as a dual threat running back. Choquette has 125 yards and 2 scores on the ground this season while also serving as a receiving back for Western Illinois University, catching 42 passes for 369 yards and 5 touchdowns. He averages 6 yards per touch over the 10 games he’s played this season.
Then, through the air at the quarterback position, there are a couple of young Canadians that have made plays already this season and are good to watch for moving into the future. Kurtis Rourke, brother of CFL quarterback Nathan Rourke of the B.C Lions has completed 159 passes at Ohio University for 1,714 yards with a 11:4 touchdown to interception ratio. He has also added 252 rushing yards and 3 scores on the ground to his totals, while Quincy Vaughn makes his impact of his own on the ground and as a dual threat quarterback with the North Dakota University. Vaughn, a Hamilton, Ontario-native has made the most of his sophomore campaign, throwing for 70 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air while accumulating 126 rushing yards and even scoring a receiving touchdown on a 15 yard touchdown catch. There has also been both Mike Beaudry of Idaho and UCONN’s Jack Zergiotis who have started games this season, but Rourke and Vaughn may be the players to watch as they move forward with their division one football careers.
On the defensive side of the ball, it has been a big year for Canadians, and Canadians in their NFL Draft year too. Starting on the defensive line, draft pass rusher Daniel Joseph has made quite the impact with NC State this season, having made 32 tackles, 3 sacks and forcing a fumble. Mohamed Diallo has also had quite the season, being a part of 4 sacks and making 30 tackles at the University of Arizona, where he transferred to during the off-season. 6-foot-7 edge rusher Tavius Robinson has also made his mark on the Ole Miss defence this season as he is draft eligible, making 24 sacks and now has 3 straight games with a sack, looking to close the season out on a high note. Ottawa-native Samuel Obiang is also eligible for the 2022 NFL Draft and with Texas State this season he has made 16 tackles, 2 sacks and forced one fumble. Other Ottawa-native, Luiji Vilain, in what looks to be his final year at the University level, after being drafted by the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and transferring to Wake Forest as a graduate student Vilain has been looking to get the attention of NFL scouts and he should have done so this season. Over 9 games this season he has made 24 tackles off the edge, been a part of 6 sacks, forced and recovered a fumble and has one pass deflection to his name.
Other Canadians Akeem Mesidor and Isaiah Bagnah who will both likely return to the NCAA for 2022 have had big seasons of their own. Bagnah has 32 tackles, 6 sacks and a forced fumble for Boise State and Mesidor has 30 tackles and 4 sacks with West Virginia as a sophomore, after having made 5 sacks as a freshman.
Also on the edge quite a bit, but spending the majority of his time at linebacker, Penn State’s Jesse Luketa, an Ottawa-native who just accepted his invite to the 2022 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on Monday has had a big season leading into the 2022 NFL Draft. In 9 games thus far he has made 47 tackles, a sack and has a 16 yard interception return for a touchdown for the Nittany Lions. As a Dick Butkus Award watchlist player and being on the roster for the 2022 Senior Bowl, Luketa is a player being watched by a number of NFL scouts and should be watched by fans from Canada as well.
On the watch list to potentially play at the NFL stage next season as well is defensive backs Deane Leonard, Alonzo Addae, Enock Makonzo, and Sydney Brown. Leonard in 8 games with Ole Miss has made 37 tackles and broke up 4 passes this season, Sydney Brown of Illinois has 58 tackles, a sack, 2 forced fumbles and 3 pass deflections to his name over 9 games this season, Makonzo has 48 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and a pass deflection for Coastal Carolina in 10 games thus far and Alonzo Addae with West Virginia has made 59 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 3 pass deflections in 9 games.
Jonathan Sutherland and Jett Elad are also eligible for the draft, Sutherland with 15 tackles and a pass breakup with Penn State and Elad with 30 tackles and 3 pass deflections for Ohio in just 6 games.
Also making an impact this season south of the border has been Syracuse linebacker, defensive back hybrid Geoff Cantin-Arku, having made 44 tackles and 2 sacks for the Orangemen in his 10 games played.
To sum it up, there are a number of Canadians making their mark in the NCAA this season. It is something that the country has seen develop over recent years and to be able to see this many ball out on Saturdays is good to see, as it is just a matter of time before they join Canadian stars like Chase Claypool, Neville Gallimore, Joshua Palmer, Chuba Hubbard, Benjamin St Juste and Jevon Holland on Sundays in the NFL.
Continue to watch for the Canadians in the NCAA as the season nears an end, and be on the lookout for these names in April for the 2022 NFL Draft.
A couple of weeks ago the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks parted ways with long time general manager Marcel Desjardins. They then proceeded to extend the contracts of kickoff return specialist DeVonte Dedmon, punter Richie Leone and placekicker Lewis Ward to kick start their 2021/2022 CFL off-season.
After staying silent over the recent weeks, the Redblacks front office made their way back into the press, re-signing three Canadian players on Tuesday. The team announced the contract extensions of running back Brendan Gillanders, defensive back Justin Howell and Nigel Romick. These names aren’t, and haven’t been big names on the stat sheets for the Ottawa Redblacks during their time in the nation’s capital but have been very large assets to the team when they are on the football field. All three have major roles on special teams and serve important roles as Canadians when they get into game action on offence and defence.
This season, Ottawa-raised running back and University of Ottawa product Brendan Gillanders has 30 yards of offence on just 5 touches, adding to his 600+ yards that he’s gained since entering the CFL in 2014. He was signed by Ottawa in 2016 and has played in his hometown since.
Nigel Romick recorded his first career sack this 2021 CFL season against the Montreal Alouettes on Thanksgiving and has made 91 special teams tackles over the 7 seasons he’s played with the Ottawa Redblacks. He is one of just 3 original Ottawa Redblacks on the roster alongside Antoine Pruneau and Nolan MacMillan.
Justin Howell, a Carleton University product has been with the Redblacks since the 2018 CFL season and has made 66 tackles, and a sack over the 39 games played leading into the final game of the 2021 CFL season.
On Tuesday September 28th, 2021 the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks hosted the Edmonton Elks in a week 9 matchup at TD Place in Ottawa. The Redblacks went into the game as major underdogs, having lost both Matt Nichols and Dominique Davis the previous week to injuries there were questions concerning who’d be under centre at TD Place against the Elks, however those questions were answered pretty fast. In just his first possession as a CFL quarterback, Redblacks quarterback Caleb Evans led his group to a 4 play, 67 yard scoring drive, ending with a 20 yard touchdown pass to slot receiver Ryan Davis. Evans finished the night with 191 yards through the air and 59 yards on the ground along with 3 touchdown passes to Davis, Timothy Flanders and Kenny Stafford.
Evans was then named the player of the week in the CFL and was the talk of the league leading into his next few games. In a struggling Ottawa Redblacks season, Caleb Evans has clearly been a bright spot to the Redblacks offence, and now with 6 starts to his name in the CFL he has thrown for 1,106 yards and 5 touchdowns while running for an additional 289 yards and a score on 32 carries.
A few weeks after his first game, and just prior to his week 11 matchup against the Montreal Alouettes Caleb Evans sat down with Jordan Zlomislic of JZ Media, and got his hair cut from Ottawa’s Jean Phresh on JZ Media’s “Talking Phresh” barber shop talk podcast. On the podcast he went into detail with his background, having grown up in Mansfield, Texas with a large football background, his early success in the CFL and what he has on his mind for the future of his playing career and life after football.
Watch Episode 3 of “Talking Phresh” with Caleb Evans now on YouTube at JZ Media.
Jesse Luketa, who grew up in Ottawa, found himself spending the majority of his childhood at the Heatherinton Community Centre and attended St. Patricks High School off of Alta Vista Drive in Ottawa has officially accepted his invitation to play in the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Luketa played football in Ottawa with the South Ottawa Mustangs in NCAFA and then with St. Patricks High School. He also attended McMaster Catholic School in Ottawa where he found his love for football in the 5th grade prior to leaving the country at the age of 15 with help from former Ottawa Redblacks’ defensive back Jovon Johnson and Ottawa coach Jean Guillaume to attend Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie, Pennsylvania to explore his football opportunities.
Those opportunities then included the opportunity to play at the division one level with the Penn State University Nittany Lions which he has been doing for the past 4 years, dating back to 2018 when he was a true freshman. Over the 4 seasons, with games still left in his senior season in 2021 he has made 138 tackles, 7 tackles, 1 sack, received one fumble recovery, broke up one pass and scored a pick six according to the PSU Athletics website. He is now well on his way to be drafted into the NFL, accepting his invitation to play in the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl which will be played in Mobile, Alabama in January, prior to April’s NFL Draft. Luketa will be following in the footsteps of fellow Ottawa-native, South Ottawa Mustangs and St. Patricks alumn Neville Gallimore going through this process. Gallimore having played in the 2020 Reese’s Senior Bowl and getting drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. The only other Ottawa-natives to be drafted into the NFL are both Jesse Palmer and Christo Bilukidi. Luketa being drafted in 2022 would make him the fourth, and would then be among 3 in the NFL in 2022 alongside Gallimore and Eli Ankou, as well as anyone else that may be drafted in 2022, with other Ottawa-natives Luiji Vilain, Patrice Rene, Chris Fournier, Liam Dobson and Jonathan Sutherland all eligible for the draft too.
Luketa is also on the 2021 Dick Butkus Watch List for the NCAA and with this news should be watched even closer as he leads into his NFL Draft process.
The 2021 calendar year has been a big one for the Canadian Football League. After missing out on a season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the CFL returned to play on August 5th for the first time since the 2019 Grey Cup in November of 2019 and it has been a year full of surprises. A lot of the surprises have come in the standings and the performances of players league-wide. Seeing the Edmonton Elks and B.C Lions struggle is one of the biggest surprises that has shocked the league, but another surprise, and a good surprise this season has also come from the success we’ve seen from the Canadian skill position players.
In 2019, the CFL saw Andrew Harris, Nic Demski, Lemar Durant, Shaquille Johnson, Juwan Brescasin, Sean Thomas Erlington, Tevaun Smith, Hergy Mayala and more making plays as Canadians on the offensive side of the ball as well as Henoc Muamba, Cory Greenwood, Cameron Judge, Kwaku Boateng, Tunde Adeleke and Royce Metchie on CFL defences making plays, but the list has since grown. On the list this year of Canadian playmakers is Toronto Argonauts receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Gittens Jr, a Guyana-born, Ottawa, Ontario-raised 5-foot-11, 191 pound receiver spent the 2019 CFL season with the Argonauts after being drafted by the organization in the 3rd round of the 2019 CFL Draft, but in the 13 games he played in 2019 he was able to make just one catch for 10 yards. He added 17 touches on special teams for 250 return yards, but his role with the team was very minimal. This season though, Gittens has found himself in a primary role on the Toronto Argonauts offence. Alongside receivers Ricky Collins Jr, Davis Daniels and Eric Rogers, Gittens has caught 50 of 64 targets for 605 yards and 4 touchdowns. The season started off with a bang for Gittens, catching his first career touchdown against the Calgary Stampeders in his season opener and has since had 2 100 yard performances and caught a touchdown in each of the last two games played, the latest coming in a Toronto win over the Hamilton Tiger Cats which sealed the Argonauts spot at first place in the east for the playoffs.
With just one game remaining on the season, and the playoffs right around the corner, expect to see a lot more plays from Kurleigh Gittens Jr, because this is not something new for him. Gittens Jr has found himself making plays at every level he’s played at, and has worked his way up to where he is today as a top target for Argo quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. In high school at Sir Wilfred Laurier in Orleans, Ontario and playing city football with the Cumberland Panthers Gittens Jr was always one of the best players on the field at all times. Thanks to the work he put in with Victor Tedondo’s Gridiron Academy in Ottawa, that transitioned into success at the University level with Wilfred Laurier where he had over 3,000 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns (including playoffs) during his time there, even winning the OUA MVP award in 2017.
Gittens is among other Canadian receivers Jevon Cottoy, Nic Demski, Kian Schaffer-Baker, Brayden Lenius, Nate Behar and Mike Jones this season that are making plays, and should be talked about more as a future star in the CFL, being just 24 years old in his breakout season.
On the football field, Ottawa Redblacks linebacker Micah Awe has made 71 tackles, 2 sacks and forced a fumble in 13 games played over the 2021 CFL season. With just one game remaining on his schedule, he sits at 4th for the CFL tackle leaderboard, and is expected to remain in the top 5 for the end of the season, but Awe is not only making plays on the field, he’s making big plays off of it as well.
Earlier in this calendar year, he launched his combine testing and verification app, PurpleShift. An app where in the matter of submitting a video of doing the activities, you can see how you test at the 40 yard dash, 3 cone drill, 20 yard shuttle, broad jump, vertical jump and other combine activities. This is a one of a kind app, and Awe has done a tremendous job recently in building a PurpleShift community, having partnered with Football Canada, NCAFA and a few other organizations and people in the Ottawa area as he completes his CFL season in the nation’s capital.
On Sunday, November 14th Awe will have his first virtual event with PurpleShift in collaboration with Ottawa’s NCAFA, a local city football league and Ottawa’s Sport and Entertainment Group. The event will be a zoom conference, open to anybody at 6:00 PM eastern on Sunday. During the meeting, those that attend will be able to learn more about the Purpleshift app as well as get a look in at the stories behind some of the Redblacks’ star players like Micah Awe and DeVonte Dedmon, who may just win the CFL’s Special Teams Player of The Year award this 2021 CFL season.
At TD Place on Saturday, the Ottawa Redblacks faced off against the Toronto Argonauts for their final home game of the 2021 CFL season. Unfortunately the Redblacks were not able to give their fans a win to cheer for, having lost 23-20 but what Redblacks fans did cheer about on Saturday was a 100 yard, record breaking kickoff return touchdown from return specialist DeVonte Dedmon.
The return marks Dedmon’s 5th kickoff or punt return touchdown of his CFL career, and he is now the fastest player in CFL history to reach that milestone, doing so in just 15 games. Henry “Gizmo” Williams was the previous record holder, scoring his 5 touchdowns in 18 games. He later went on to score 53 all-purpose touchdowns over the span of 149 CFL games and secure the record for the most all-purpose yards in pro football history with 25,571, 23,977 of which coming in the CFL, the rest in the USFL and NFL. Looking at the stats, DeVonte Dedmon is on pace to break that record, and any other record out there. In just 15 games played Dedmon has gained 2,906 yards and scored 6 touchdowns on just 148 touches, averaging 19.6 yards every time he’s touched the ball and averaging just under 200 yards per game played. With one game remaining in the 2021 CFL season, Dedmon will look to add to his totals, but he also just signed a contract extension, bringing him back for the 2022 CFL season so Redblacks fans are expected to cheer him on even more moving forward.
Prior to breaking the record on Saturday, Dedmon appeared on JZ Media’s “Talking Phresh” barber shop talk podcast alongside Jean Phresh, Jordan Zlomislic and Ginuwine Eyma where he talked about his journey to Ottawa, his success with the Redblacks thus far, his confidence & mindset as well as his life outside of football. Part one from the conversation released last week on Jordan Zlomislic’s YouTube and part two came out this Sunday following Saturday’s big game.
On Saturday, at 4:00 the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks will host the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place for what will be the Redblacks’ final home game of the 2021 CFL season. The game will also mark quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges’ first start of his CFL career. At 2-10, the Ottawa Redblacks have been eliminated from any playoff contention and are focused on the future of the organization.
Last week, OSEG’s Mark Goudie announced the parting ways of the Redblacks and long time general manager Marcel Desjardins, moving on to the future with both Jeremy Snyder and Jean-Marc Edmé now at the head of the front office. Since then, the front office have extended the contracts of fan favourite special teams stars DeVonte Dedmon, Richie Leone and Lewis Ward, beginning the long off-season ahead of them, but it isn’t quite the off-season yet. There are two games remaining on the Ottawa Redblacks’ 2021 CFL schedule, tomorrow’s against the Argonauts and one in Montreal on November 19th. The expectation from the two games is that the Redblacks begin to look at the young talent and the players they have signed for the 2022 CFL season, therefore they have the understanding of who the Ottawa Redblacks may look like come next season, and that will start against the Argonauts on Saturday. In the final home game of the 2021 CFL season, the Ottawa Redblacks plan to start quarterback Devlin Hodges, a 25 year old former Pittsburgh Steeler who is locked up for an additional two seasons in Ottawa. 23 year old rookie receiver Ryan Davis will stay in the lineup, with 50 catches for 546 yards and two scores this season he is a player to watch moving forward, as is Canadian receiver Nate Behar who has 422 yards to his name this year. On the defensive side of the ball, Redblacks fans should hear a lot about Brandin Dandridge, a 25 year old defensive back. He was in Ottawa in 2019 and made some plays later in the season, but this year, with a turnover in 4 of the 6 games played he has made quite the impact and should only continue on that route. 26 year old defensive back Ranthony Texada is to make his second start of the season alonsgide Dandridge on Saturday while other rookies and young CFL players Frankie Griffin, Tyron Vrede, Adam Auclair, Dan Basambombo, Treshaun Abrahams-Webster and Shaheed Salmon also find their way into the lineup on Saturday.
Coming back from injury, DeVonte Dedmon is expected to return kicks once again for the Ottawa Redblacks against the Toronto Argonauts, and with 1,648 return yards going into the weekend he looks to get in the endzone in front of the home crowd, to potentially solidify his spot as the CFL’s special teams player of the year.
Watch the Redblacks live at TD Place on Saturday or on television on TSN as they continue to improve for the future of the franchise.
JZ MEDIA 