On Saturday the Ottawa Redblacks will return to the football field after a long wait. The team will be back in action on the west coast kicking off their 2021 CFL season against the Edmonton Elks and coming off of a long off-season full of improvements there will be a lot for Ottawa Redblacks fans to keep eyes on. Among the things to watch out for and one of the team’s largest improvements comes on the defensive side of the ball and is the improved and decorated secondary.
In the 2019 CFL season the Ottawa Redblacks’ defence was in dead last in most categories. It was an all around bad year for the franchise. From coaching decisions here and there to holding calls, the Redblacks didn’t see much success in any category but after bringing in an entirely new coaching staff expect for Bob Dyce on special teams and some big names around the league on the defensive side of the ball in players like Cleyon Laing, Davon Coleman, Abdul Kanneh and Don Unamba it looks as if the Redblacks have not only made their defence a priority of theirs but a large asset to them, now having one of the league’s best defences.
The additions from the long off-season will be coached by long time CFL coach and former TSN analyst Mike Benevides and will be added along side returning Ottawa Redblacks stars Antoine Pruneau, Sherrod Baltimore, Avery Williams, Avery Ellis, Randall Evans and more. As many know, defence wins championships and someone that is excited to be back in Ottawa and a part of a defence that has that exact potential to win a championship is Abdul Kanneh. When asked about being a part of the secondary by JZ Media’s Jordan Zlomislic Kanneh said, “We have a great bond. I see it getting nothing but better and I feel like this defensive secondary will be something special this year.”
Over the off-season as well, Kanneh spent time with Sherrod Baltimore and Antoine Pruneau. Training together and preparing for the 2021 CFL season. Touching on the importance of the bond he and the defence has off of the football field he mentioned, “When you’re playing in the secondary its more of a brotherhood. You got to rely on these guys and know what they are doing and thinking, I have to be able to react towards what my other teammates are doing without us even talking at times so spending that time in the off-season together, just chatting in person or even on zoom, FaceTime, Skype, whatever even playing videogames together helped our communication and thats the best thing you can have back there in the secondary is good communication. If you can’t communicate well off of the field together how are you going to communicate on the field? So we are trying to stay as a close knit group and a few of us were out here together in the off-season which helped and we are coming together close.”
Among the entire secondary and what looks to be the starting group for Saturday’s game in Edmonton looks to be Sherrod Baltimore, Abdul Kanneh, Don Unamba, Antoine Pruneau, and Randall Evans along with Gump Hayes, Marcus Lewis, Justin Howell, Brad Muhammad, Treshaun Abrahams Webster and Tony Anderson who are also on the 2021 Redblacks roster. The defence also has Cleyon Laing, Davon Coleman, Stefan Charles, Avery Ellis, and Stansly Maponga on the defensive line and Adam Auclair, Micah Awe, Avery Williams, Frankie Griffin, Brad Cowan, Dwayne Norman, Dan Basambombo, and Tyron Vrede at linebacker. Overall, this defence, coached by Benevides is something to be excited about and expect them, including CFL veteran Abdul Kanneh to have major seasons as they prove themselves to the CFL like they’ve been forced to do in previous years, like 2016 when Kanneh and the Redblacks won the Grey Cup.
Just as the Ottawa Redblacks begin their practices for Saturday night’s game in Edmonton the front office has made some moves. On Monday morning the Redblacks’ announced the signings of American receivers Charone Peake and Davon Grayson as well as Canadian offensive lineman Jaylan Guthrie. These signings were made following the releases of both Jerminic Smith at wide receiver and Brandin Dandridge at defensive back. The three players signed were made available to the Redblacks just recently following their training camps with other teams.
Peake, a 28 year old receiver who stands at 6-foot-2, 209 pounds has been signed to Ottawa’s active roster following a training camp spent with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Clemson product caught 99 passes for 1,172 yards and 10 touchdowns in the ACC, catching passes from Deshaun Watson prior to getting drafted by the New York Jets in the 7th round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He then played 31 games in green and white, catching 22 passes for 214 yards over the 3 seasons there. At receiver, Peake will be added to the core already in place with R.J Harris, Jordan Smallwood, Ryan Davis, Daniel Petermann, Anthony Coombs, Nate Behar, DeVonte Dedmon, Marco Dubois and now Davon Grayson who was signed to the practice squad which already has Michael Klukas, Rafael Araujo Lopes and Guillermo Villalobos on it at the position.
Davon Grayson, like Peake was just released following a training camp on the west coast with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds the East Carolina product has 37 collegiate football games under his belt, along with some NFL pre-season games, and games in both the XFL and The Spring League. He comes to the Redblacks under their practice squad to start out.
Also added Monday morning was Canadian offensive lineman Jaylan Guthrie of Guelph University. Guthrie spent the 2019 CFL season with the Calgary Stampeders and will be added to the Redblacks’ assortment of Canadian and American offensive linemen which Bob Wylie is coaching up this CFL season.
The Ottawa Redblacks will kickoff their 2021 CFL season on the road this Saturday against the Edmonton Elks for a 10:00 PM eastern daylight time kick-off. TSN will be airing the game live following the first game of the first 2021 double header which will be Toronto at Calgary at 7:00.
After an extra long CFL off-season the Ottawa Redblacks are set to kickoff next week on the road against the Edmonton Elks. Coming off of a 3-15 season in 2019 and an off-season full of outside noise doubting the team’s decisions and future moving forward the Redblacks’ look to shut up the outside noise early on.
Some players that are able to make that happen for the Redblacks officially made the roster on Friday following their 3 week training camp which began on July 10th. The Redblacks final roster includes quarterbacks Matt Nichols, Dominique Davis, Caleb Evans and Taryn Christion (Practice Roster), running backs Timothy Flanders, Brendan Gillanders and Justin Davis (Practice Roster), full backs Anthony Gosselin and Mitch Raper (Suspended List), receivers R.J Harris, Daniel Petermann, Nate Behar, Anthony Coombs, Jordan Smallwood, Ryan Davis, DeVonte Dedmon, Marco Dubois, Jerminic Smith (Practice Roster), Rafael Araujo-Lopes (Practice Roster), Guillermo Villalobos (Practice Roster) and Michael Klukas (Practice Roster), offensive linemen Mark Korte, Nolan MacMillan, Tyler Catalina, Juwan Bushell-Beatty, Brandon Hitner, Na’Ty Rodgers, Jakub Szott, Andrew Pickett, Ketel Asse (Practice Roster), and Jamar McGloster (Practice Roster), defensive linemen Cleyon Laing, Davon Coleman, Stefan Charles, Avery Ellis, Stansly Maponga, Praise Martin-Oguike, Ese Mrabure, Kene Onyeka, Nigel Romick, Frank Beltre, Thomas Grant (Practice Roster), Reshaan Davis (Practice Roster), Clement Lebreux (Practice Roster) and Darius Jackson (Practice Roster), linebackers Avery Williams, Jerod Fernandez, Micah Awe, Adam Auclair, Tyron Vrede, Frankie Griffin, Dwayne Norman, Brad Cowan, Dan Basambombo, Fredric Chagnon, and Shaheed Salmon (Practice Roster), defensive backs Sherrod Baltimore, Abdul Kanneh, Randall Evans, Antoine Pruneau, Don Unamba, Justin Howell, Marcus Lewis, Gump Hayes, Treshaun Abrahams Webster, Brad Muhammad (Practice Roster), Brandin Dandridge (Practice Roster) and Tony Anderson (Practice Roster), and special teamers Lewis Ward, Richie Leone, L.P Bourassa and Jose Maltos (Practice Roster).
With all of the players on the Redblacks’ 2021 roster there are a number of players that Ottawa Redblacks fans may be unfamiliar with, including some that were in the capital for the 2019 CFL season but soon will be extremely familiar to R-Nation because of the success they’ll have this season.
Out of everything that the Ottawa Redblacks’ fans should keep eyes on and could expect for the 2021 CFL season from their favourite team, the biggest would come at the quarterback position. In 2019 the Redblacks had three different quarterbacks start games for them in Dominique Davis, Jonathon Jennings and Will Arndt but with the addition of Matt Nichols, a CFL veteran quarterback this off-season the team expects him to start each of the team’s 14 games this season. One large prediction coming from Matt Nichols would come from his efficiency. Nichols, in each of his 7 wins from the 2019 CFL season in the 9 games he played prior to suffering injury with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers kept his incompletion and interception numbers down, finishing with a 15:5 touchdown, interception ratio for all 9 games. If one were to predict how he performs for Ottawa in 2021 it would be a prediction of his 2021 touchdown: interception ratio at 20+ touchdowns and less than 8 interceptions. The quarterback, in 18 games over his 2017 CFL season threw for 28 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, so he has done it before and with a new look offence in front of him and a familiar Paul LaPolice calling the shots for him it is very much possible to do it again and potentially do it better.
Catching passes from Nichols this CFL season will be number one receiver R.J Harris, and a committee of Daniel Petermann, Jordan Smallwood, Nate Behar, Anthony Coombs, DeVonte Dedmon and Marco Dubois. Some predictions coming from the receiving core would include R.J Harris going over the 1,000 yard marker. A milestone he has come very close to the last two seasons in Ottawa in 2018 and 2019 but now with an expanded role it will happen for Harris. Staying in the receiving core, CFL rookie Jordan Smallwood who has had experience with the Kansas City Chiefs and the XFL’s LA Wildcats following his career at Oklahoma University is in for a big year. After a huge training camp performance and with need for big plays at the receiver position in the 2021 Ottawa offence, Smallwood should be found in a similar role as R.J Harris’ when receivers Greg Ellingson, Brad Sinopoli and Diontae Spencer were in the offence. Expect him to break the 700 yard marker for the Redblacks this season. The Ottawa Redblacks also have shifty, speed receivers with Ryan Davis, Anthony Coombs and DeVonte Dedmon who have the ability to not only catch passes but run with the rock as well. Expect that trio to combine for a minimum 1,250 yards of scrimmage this season while Canadian Daniel Petermann should have some where around 50 catches this season, finding his way into the Sinopoli, possession catch role while also having the ability to run after the catch the Canadian pass catcher is in the right position here in the nation’s capital.
Shifting over to the defensive side of the ball, on the front seven, potentially one of the best front sevens in all of the CFL the Ottawa Redblacks should be able to, at the minimum match their sack totals from 2019 with 28 or more. The Redblacks have brought in key defensive linemen Davon Coleman, Cleyon Laing and Stefan Charles this off-season who are each expected to make large impacts to the defensive side of the ball while also bringing back Avery Ellis who had 7 sacks in 2019 and has 16 in the three seasons with the Redblacks and signing Frank Beltre, Praise Martin-Oguike and Stansly Maponga who each have the ability to get to the quarterback and have shown it previously in their football careers. Along with the sacks, the Ottawa Redblacks have also brought in quite the defensive secondary, which paired with a great front seven could force a lot of turnovers. In 2019 the Redblacks forced 35 turnovers. If the Redblacks defence plays to the best of their abilities, with Don Unamba, Sherrod Baltimore, Antoine Pruneau and Abdul Kanneh placed behind Cleyon Laing, Micah Awe, Avery Williams, Avery Ellis, Jerod Fernandez, and Davon Coleman they could get somewhere around 27 turnovers in 2021. Some specific predictions on the defensive side of the ball would come with Don Unamba having a monster 50-plus tackle season with 5 sacks and minimum 3 takeaways, Avery Williams having an 85 plus tackle season, the interior defensive line of Cleyon Laing, Davon Coleman and Stefan Charles combining for 15 plus sacks and a dynamic duo of Abdul Kanneh and Sherrod Baltimore making a total 12 interceptions together in the defensive backfield.
Last but not least, the Ottawa Redblacks’ special teams unit is always among the best in the league. Expect nothing different this year as Bob Dyce returns to the coaching staff for the 2021 CFL season as Ottawa’s special teams co-ordinator and the kicking duo of both Lewis Ward and Richie Leone stays in tact. Kickoff returner and punt returner DeVonte Dedmon has high potential heading into year two with the Redblacks and R-Nation could see a similar special teams unit as the one they saw in 2018. Ward and Leone handling everything kicking, L.P Bourassa doing his thing as the long snapper and DeVonte Dedmon filling in at that Diontae Spencer role on special teams but also on offence potentially alongside speed receivers Ryan Davis, Anthony Coombs and Michael Klukas.
Expect a much different team than the one you last saw in 2019 when they kickoff against the Elks next Saturday.
After a long three weeks of non stop CFL training camp the Ottawa Redblacks and their front office have made their final decisions to their roster. The team announced 13 cuts following the last training camp practice on Thursday and have since added 5 others to that list while also announcing the practice roster for the 2021 CFL season.
The cuts include receivers Joe Walker, Shannon Smith, Terry Williams, Kendrick Rogers and Wesley Lewis, offensive linemen Nick Buchanan, Jack Kramer, Taylor Tappin, and Josh Dunlop, linebackers D’Juan Hines, Kean Harelimana and Jawuan Johnson, defensive lineman Thomas Grant and defensive backs Jonathan Alston, Marcus Roberson, Ironhead Gallon, Dominique Hatfield and Nate Hamlin. Among that list is 4 Canadians, 14 Americans, and 5 returning Redblacks.
Ottawa has also announced that there will be 16 players on their practice squad to begin the 2021 CFL season. Those players include quarterback Taryn Christion, running backs Justin Davis, receivers Rafael Araujo Lopes, Jerminic Smith, Michael Klukas and Guillermo Villalobos, offensive linemen Ketel Asse and Jamar McGloster, defensive linemen Clement Lebreux, Darius Jackson and Reshaan Davis, linebacker Shaheed Salmon, defensive backs Tony Anderson, Brandin Dandridge and Brad Muhammad as well as kicker Jose Maltos. The list includes 4 Canadians, 9 Americans and 3 globals. 8 of the 16 on the practice squad have been on CFL rosters before, 7 with the Redblacks in 2019.
Also on Friday the Redblacks announced that Canadian fullback Mitch Raper has been placed on the suspended list and global offensive lineman Chris Ferguson has retired.
When the Ottawa Redblacks won the 104th Grey Cup in Toronto over the 15-2-1 Calgary Stampeders their defensive secondary was their best asset. The defensive secondary that year consisted of defensive backs Forest Hightower, Mitchell White, Jeff Richards, Jonathan Rose, Abdul Kanneh, Jerrell Gavins, Nick Taylor and Antoine Pruneau. They forced league MOP Bo Levi Mitchell to throw three interceptions and 13 incompletions, including the final pass of the game which now Ottawa Redblacks defensive back Sherrod Baltimore watched on ESPN2 in the states as a free agent. He says coming into the 2021 CFL season with the opportunity to play with Antoine Pruneau and Abdul Kanneh who were among that 2016 group, “I’ve got the upmost respect for Dooley (Kanneh) and Pruneau because I watched them in 2016 before I got up to Ottawa. When I came to Ottawa I told coach Ike (Charlton, former Redblacks DB coach) that I wanted to be a part of that team because they were making plays, I don’t know what that secondary was and coming here in ’17, Abdul was gone but Pruneau was here so I studied the game from Pru and asked him millions of questions.”
Photos of Sherrod Baltimore taken by Jordan Zlomislic
Like that 2016 Redblacks defensive backfield, the one coming into the 2021 CFL season that Baltimore is now a part of following his 3 seasons in Ottawa has plenty of potential and lots of expectations as well. The backfield has Abdul Kanneh and Antoine Pruneau coming back from the Grey Cup run in 2016 as well as Sherrod Baltimore, Randall Evans, Gump Hayes and Brandin Dandridge who were in Ottawa in 2019 but have also added free agents this off-season Don Unamba and Marcus Roberson. Looking at the majority of those names, a lot of those resonate with CFL fans across the country and have made some key plays in the past. Pruneau, who has been a part of the Ottawa Redblacks franchise since day one in 2014 has played in 93 regular season games, making over 375 tackles and forcing more than a bakers dozen of turnovers is in for a bounce back year following some injuries he suffered in the 3-15 season in 2019 while Don Unamba and Abdul Kanneh look to become fan favourites in the nation’s capital as well. Unamba and Kanneh have each played over 70 regular season games over their CFL careers, Unamba making 228 tackles, 11 sacks and forcing 14 turnovers, returning two for touchdowns and Kanneh making 252 tackles, 7 sacks and forcing 21 turnovers. The two are well experienced defensive backs alongside Antoine Pruneau who often make other veterans feel very young in the Redblacks’ secondary. Baltimore said in Saturday’s media availability, “Theres so much experience out there, even me (after playing 3 years in the CFL) I’m still growing myself better everyday and I still feel like I’m the youngest out of the group.”
All in all though, Sherrod Baltimore is extremely excited to be a part of the 2021 Ottawa Redblacks defence, and he believes they have the right mentality moving forward into the season which starts on the road August 7th against the Edmonton Elks. “Its an honour to be a part of this secondary.” he said, “They bring the best out of me everyday; our expectations are high. Dooley (Abdul Kanneh), Pruneau, Unamba, everybody, we want to win the grey cup period. We want to be the best defence point blank.”
Photo of Sherrod Baltimore taken by Jordan Zlomislic
Baltimore himself has played in 42 regular season games since the 2017 season in which he won the team’s rookie of the year award and has made 95 tackles, 2 interceptions has forced and recovered one fumble. He has also intercepted two passes in the playoffs including a Grey Cup interception in 2018 against Bo Levi Mitchell and the Calgary Stampeders but is yet to reach his peak performance in the CFL. Since joining the team in 2017 he hasn’t been given the best of opportunity on the defensive side of the ball, having been placed on the practice squad even following a rookie of the year performance in 2017 by defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe but now with Mike Benevides in charge of the defensive group and with a great group around him, Baltimore could really have a breakout season in 2021. He will also be playing alongside defensive stars Avery Williams, Cleyon Laing, Micah Awe, Davon Coleman, Stefan Charles, Avery Ellis, and Jerod Fernandez who headline the Redblacks’ front seven and headline what could be the best defence in the league this season.
Watch out for Sherrod Baltimore and the Ottawa Redblacks defence as they look to make that impact they have in mind, going to the 2021 Grey Cup in Hamilton.
This has already been an eventful week in the CFL. As each of the league’s 9 teams approach the final week of the 2021 CFL training camp period the rosters have began to see cuts. Ottawa has only made a couple of moves here and there to trim down the Redblacks roster, however in other locker rooms where there are less positional competitions there have been a large number of cuts, including over 40 transactions made to cut down rosters around the league.
The Ottawa Redblacks released four players; defensive back David Jones, linebacker Dimitri Holloway, defensive end Samson Abbott and running back Detrez Newsome while signing linebacker Fredrick Chagnon out of the University of Montreal and activating both offensive linemen Nick Buchannan and Jack Kramer off of the suspended list. Around the CFL, the Alouettes and B.C Lions made a number of cuts including former Ottawa Redblacks William Arndt (B.C Quarterback) and Michael Wakefield (Montreal defensive tackle). Both Ranthony Texada and Kevin Brown were released by their clubs (Winnipeg, Edmonton) who each spent time in Ottawa previously, but some names that headlined Monday’s roster cuts were Naaman Roosevelt, Colton Klassen, Mathias Bockru, Reggie Corbin, Ethan Makonzo and Kayden Johnson.
Naaman Roosevelt, a 5 year CFL veteran receiver out of Buffalo University and former Buffalo Bills receiver is a 33 year old who’s name resonates well around the CFL. He has broken the 1,000 yard marker twice in his professional career, reaching 2,140 yards and 10 touchdowns on 151 catches in just 25 games over the 2016 and 2017 seasons as a part of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. During that time he averaged 86 yards per game and 6 catches per game and in his entire CFL career he has reached the 4,134 yard marker in 67 total games. Roosevelt joins former Edmonton Elk Kenny Stafford as veteran receivers available to sign. Outside of him, Canadian skill players Kayden Johnson, Colton Klassen and Mathias Bockuru were each released by their teams and headline the open market as rookies, as does Ethan Makonzo, a linebacker/safety from Montreal University who was released by the Alouettes.
With the CFL cut down date creeping up this Friday there will be more transactions to come this week, and considering the Ottawa Redblacks have yet to make a lot of decisions, a number of the cuts will come from the capital late this week but with all of the other releases happening league-wide there could also be some signings in the headlines from Ottawa.
On Saturday the Ottawa Redblacks opened up TD Place to a few hundred fans. The last time fans were at TD Place was for the team’s 2019 CFL season finale when Ottawa hosted the Alouettes in November of 2019, making the inner-squad game even more exciting for not only the fans but the players as well, being able to get back into game situations once again in front of fans.
The Ottawa Redblacks’ inner-squad game was a success. Fans got to see exactly what they wanted, despite not being able to see some key starters play so many snaps however that was expected considering that it was treated as a pre-season game, and an opportunity for the young, new comers to prove themselves.
Jordan Smallwood at Redblacks’ scrimmage. Photo: Jordan Zlomislic
In the game, Redblacks fans got to see the defence take the ball away, having Brad Muhammad and Brad Cowan get tip-ball interceptions, Cowan’s going all the way back for a touchdown, they saw young receivers making plays; both Joe Walker and Jordan Smallwood caught touchdown passes while national receivers Nate Behar, Daniel Petermann and Wesley Lewis each made a number of catches, the best of the day coming from Wesley Lewis on a 37 yard diving grab at mid-field from Taryn Christion’s arm and they also got their very first look at a new look offensive line which made room for newly signed running back Justin Davis who displayed his elusiveness, breaking for a long run and getting a few other carries here and there. For the most part though, the Redblacks’ inner-squad game was just a good sign to have football back in the nation’s capital once again following a long off-season.
Ottawa Redblacks receivers at Saturday’s scrimmage, Photos: Jordan Zlomislic
Fans were happy to be back and the players were even happier, even showing it when they began and finished the practice, coming around the Northside stands, thanking R-Nation for the continuous support they’ve given over the pandemic and now almost post-pandemic.
Unfortunately Matt Nichols and Timothy Flanders weren’t seen in the backfield due to some training camp injuries and some of the veterans on defence like Antoine Pruneau didn’t get too much action, making room for the younger guys to prove themselves but overall it was a good start to the 2021 CFL season for the Ottawa Redblacks and they showed glimpses of why R-Nation should believe in them moving forward to the August 7th game against the Edmonton Elks.
Today, for the very first time since November 1st of 2019 when the Ottawa Redblacks had their 2019 CFL season finale against the Montreal Alouettes at TD Place there will be fans at the stadium. TD Place will have a maximum of 1,000 fans watching the team’s inner-squad game, giving fans their first look at the 2021 new look Ottawa Redblacks. The practice runs from 11:30 through 1:30 and fans will be able to have drinks and snacks while they are there but the main reason why some fans will be there would be to answer all of the questions they have had surrounding the team this off-season.
One of the biggest questions, who will step up for the Ottawa Redblacks in 2021, showcasing that they have indeed improved since the 2019 season when they went 3-15?
Some names to watch out for to answer that question during today’s inner-squad game would be returning Ottawa Redblacks R.J Harris, DeVonte Dedmon, Mark Korte, Nolan MacMillan, Avery Ellis, Avery Williams, Sherrod Baltimore, Randall Evans and Antoine Pruneau. These players were key contributors in the 3 wins that the Redblacks had in 2019 and will be key components to the 2021 Ottawa Redblacks, a major reason why the front office wanted each of them and more players back from the previous years.
Alongside the familiar faces from the 2019 CFL season in Ottawa, Ottawa Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins and his front office have brought in quarterback Matt Nichols and running back Timothy Flanders this off-season to pair in the backfield. The two spent time together under head coach Paul LaPolice’s offence in Winnipeg with the Blue Bombers and have each had success in the CFL. Bringing their veteran presence, previous success and everything else the two will suddenly improve the backfield as soon as you see them behind the line of scrimmage in today’s practice. Also on the offensive side of the ball is a trio of Canadian receivers in Michael Klukas, Daniel Petermann and Anthony Coombs who will all play with new Americans Kendrick Rogers, Ryan Davis and Jordan Smallwood who will all provide the Redblacks with threats in the pass game and will prove that the team has improved since November 1st of 2019.
All photos by Frankie Benvenuti
The offensive side of the ball for the Ottawa Redblacks has improved since the 2019 CFL season, but the defence is and will be the team’s best asset this season. Ottawa brought in defensive stars Cleyon Laing, Davon Coleman, Micah Awe, Don Unamba, Abdul Kanneh, Marcus Roberson and rookies Adam Auclair, Brad Cowan, Reshaan Davis, Treshaun Abrahams Webster and Dan Basambombo who will all be great additions, pairing with the returning Redblacks from the 2019 CFL season. Out of all of the additions the ones to make the largest improvement would have to be Don Unamba, Cleyon Laing and Micah Awe who have each made huge impacts previously in their professional careers and will do the same here in Ottawa, making today’s practice and scrimmage the best opportunity for all of R-Nation to see how they will do moving forward.
The city of Ottawa as of recently has been known to have some premier defensive linemen. Three of the four players to make it to the NFL from Ottawa have been defensive tackles. Neville Gallimore and Eli Ankou are both in the league putting on for the nation’s capital as we speak but sooner than later there will be more than just the two of them. Defensive tackle Ebenezer Dibula from Ottawa who measured at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds last season when he played at Clearwater Academy International in Florida is headed off to play division one football with Bethune Cookman University. Dibula is one of two Ottawa-raised athletes playing football for BCU in the fall as he prepares to be reunited with defensive back Benjamin Chombe.
Bethune Cookman is getting a quick off the line, strong, smart and hungry football player in Dibula and he has already caught the eyes of CFL’s Montreal Alouettes defensive tackle Michael Wakefield. Wakefield, who has spent 3 seasons in Ottawa with the league’s Ottawa Redblacks has yet to see Ebenezer Dibula in person but on film he describes him saying, “He’s big so they’re going to put him on the line but when you watch him you can tell that he is a great player. He moves fast for his size and he also does a good job of using his hands and can get away from the blockers very well.”
Dibula also caught the eyes of Sports Illustrated All-American writer John Garcia Jr from the games he watched in person at Clearwater Academy International. He said, “He is a great player.” and “You can tell that he has played on the offensive line as well because he does a great job reading the plays and given his size and speed it shows that he can read plays effectively.” As he prepares for the next opportunity to play football which will now be at the big stage at the division one level Ebenezer Dibula has been busy training and making sure he is at the best of his ability when he gets back to Florida, but overall he is super excited. Talking to Jordan Zlomislic of JZ Media following a training session he took part in with the College de Vieux Montreal CEGEP football team in Montreal Dibula commented, “I am super excited to get back to Florida…I am excited to compete at the division one level.”
Watch Ebenezer Dibula very closely as he continues to strive across the Canada-USA border because in no time he will be playing on the same fields as Gallimore and Ankou who are Ottawa-raised defensive tackles in the NFL right now.
After an extra long 2020-2021 CFL off-season in which the Ottawa Redblacks made more moves and transactions than they can count the front office still hasn’t stopped working. During week two of 2021 CFL training camp, following the releases of 9 players on Monday and two receivers in Jaquan Blair and Terry Wright the team has signed offensive lineman Taylor Tappin. Tappin is a Windsor, California native and played his collegiate career at Sacramento State University just prior to playing in the Spring League with the Aviators.
The offensive lineman is 25 years old and with the losses of Alex Mateas, Alex Fontana, Jason Lauzon-Seguin and Evan Johnson along that offensive line this off-season he will have a perfect opportunity to battle for a spot with projected starters Na’ty Rodgers, Jamar McGloster and Brandon Hitner.
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JZ MEDIA 