The 3-7 Redblacks are coming off a bye week which was placed last week, Labor Day weekend and are now looking forward to facing the Toronto Argonauts who are 1-9 going into this week.
Calgary Stampeders vs Ottawa REDBLACKS
July 25, 2019
PHOTO: Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography
In just the past few weeks combined, there have been multiple injuries that have hurt this Redblacks team to win games, but this week they hope to change the sequence!
Look for some changes in #Redblacks lineup this week. WR Jerminic Smith getting first-team reps at today's practice – Caleb Holley out. Jeff Knox Jr. getting starting reps at MLB with Jerod Fernandez out. Coach Rick Campbell says final decisions will be made Friday. #CFL
A little update from Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun Sports media telling his readers who may and may not play this Saturday
In the tweet attached to this article, you will see Tim Baines mentioning that the Ottawa Redblacks will be missing Caleb Holley this week along with a possible Jerod Fernandez injury which could sideline him this week.
With Holley’s absence to the Ottawa Redblacks offense, you will be seeing wide receiver Jerminic Smith take the field.
Smith #83 makes catch at Tuesday’s practice in Ottawa, photo taken by Jordan Zlomislic
Smith played two seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes before transferring to South Baptist University. At Iowa, Smith caught 29 passes reeling them in for 455 yards and two touchdowns.
Along with the injury problems in Ottawa, the Redblacks have also signed three players to the practice squad.
Transactions
Signed American Quarterback, Bryan Schor, James Madison University
Signed American Receiver, Jaelan Austin, Texas Christian University
Signed American Linebacker, Nick McBeath, Holy Cross
Released Canadian Linebacker, Brandon Calver, Wilfrid Laurier
After the CFL season ended last year, there was a solid group of CFL players going for workouts with NFL teams. Diontae Spencer was one of the CFL players trying to make the transition down south. The former Redblacks receiver had two straight seasons where he gained over 2,500 all-purpose yards in Ottawa.
OTT Receiver/returner Diontae Spencer @DSpencer4_ just put up 496 all-purpose yards in a football game. In any league, that is nuts.
Those yards include the outstanding record he has for all proffesional leagues, which marks up of 496 all-purpose yards in a single game. That game came against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on October 27th, 2017 which had been Week 19, where the Ottawa Redblacks were still fighting for a playoff spot. Diontae Spencer shattered Christian McCaffrey’s old record which was 461 all-purpose yards which he received in his 2015 season at Stanford where he also became the first Stanford running-back to rush for 2,000 yards in one season.
The Steelers were one of multiple NFL teams that brought him in for a workout this off-season, and they were the most pleased at the time.
On January 4th of this year, Spencer had signed with the Steelers. Diontae went on to train with the team for both mini camp and training camp where it also looked as if he’d have a spot on the 53 man roster.
The week of his first NFL game, I was lucky enough to interview Diontae about his time in Ottawa and the time he hopes to spend down south with the NFL.
Diontae Spencer went through training camp just fine, spending time with the players and coaches off the field, and showing what he’s got on the field.
Here comes the pre-season! Diontae Spencer goes into the pre-season as a player fighting his way onto the roster. Spencer was listed as the 3rd receiver on the left side in depth charts, and was making his ways up.
Making his ways up onto the depth chart was something he progressively did throughout the pre-season.
With the receivers group staying the same, the Steelers became more attached to Diontae’s abilities and moved him to the 2nd string left receiver for the final game.
Before the final pre-season game, Diontae only had 2 catches for a grand total of 17 yards. His hands weren’t the key thing looked at in camp though, Spencer’s 4.34 speed is electrifying and the Steelers fell in love with it this pre-season.
The offense used him as a flex receiver where he’d run reverses out of the backfield along with routes as a receiver. After his big performance last Thursday, Spencer’s pre-season totals added up as 4 receptions for 39 yards, 2 carries for 48 yards, 1 kickoff return for 35 yards along with 8 punt returns for 108 yards. Spencer ended his pre-season showcase with 15 touches for 230 yards.
Although us Redblacks and Steelers fans liked what we saw out of Diontae Spencer, the Steelers front office didn’t see enough to put him on the roster.
A roster spot may be tough to come by, but the Steelers and every other NFL team is granted 10 practice roster positions, and the Steelers offered Spencer a spot on their practice roster.
Photo of Diontae Spencer taken by: Charles LeClaire of USA TODAY
It may have seemed like a no brainer at the time to have accepted the spot, although there were a few transactions happening in the silence that Diontae Spencer was aware of.
Spencer happily declined his spot on the Steelers practice roster due to an opening on the Denver Broncos 53 man roster.
"Put the offense in good field position and, if I can score, it’ll happen."
The Ottawa Redblacks are coming off a bye week, and playing at TD Place this Saturday, September 7th against the Toronto Argonauts. The Ottawa Redblacks who are 3-7 will face off against their East rival, 1-9 Argonauts.
Two weeks ago, the Redblacks starting quarterback was Dominique Davis. After just one quarter of play against the Saskatchewan Roughrider defense, Davis’ numbers were 3/6 for 23 yards and 3 interceptions. Luckily for the Redblacks, Jonathon Jennings was warmed up and ready to go!
Jennings takes first team reps at Tuesday’s practice, photo taken by Jordan Zlomislic
Coming off the bench, Jennings threw a 75 yard dot to Dominique Rhymes which added to his totals to the 3 quarters of football, throwing for 208 yards and the touchdown to Rhymes.
Today at Redblacks’ practice, I was able to talk to Jennings about that opportunity in Saskatchewan.
“This means everything! Its exciting, and a great time to play football. The second half of the season, things amp up a little bit and it’s fun to be out there!”
In the past few seasons that Jennings has been around for, his game has been stopped from going to its full potential due to a few aging injuries, including a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2018 season.
Although injuries have hurt Jonathon Jennings in past seasons, but this year is different! Last game, Jennings shoulder looked great as he threw for a 75 yard touchdown pass!
“It was a fun way to get back on the field and make a play. Its been something I’ve been wanting to do, and to get out there to make a big play was great! It was a confidence booster, and something we want to build upon next week.”
This weekend, it was announced that Jonathon Jennings would be the starting quarterback of the Ottawa Redblacks this upcoming game against the Toronto Argonauts.
“I’m going to go out there, lead the guys and try and make big plays! We’re all motivated and we want to let everyone know we can make plays too!”
Last week the Redblacks were on a bye week, and during the bye week Jonathon Jennings and his wife had given birth to their first child, Ava Jennings. Now that Jennings is back off the bye, he’s got one more thing to think about, football!
“Our mindset is to go out and win! We don’t have enough wins right now to get us any where, therefore we’ve got to get on track get get a few wins. We’re focused on the wins right now, and we’re going to work as hard as we can to get the job done.”
This off-season, the Redblacks lost a few big pieces to their roster which includes the 2018 starting quarterback, Trevor Harris.
After making it to the grey cup, it seemed as if we’d see a similar roster in 2019, but it was the opposite. On February 12th, 2019 CFL free agency officially opened, and the Ottawa Redblacks roster was ripped a part.
Edmonton Eskimos vs Ottawa REDBLACKS
September 22, 2018
PHOTO: Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography
Although it seems February 12th was the day of big losses, when we lost Trevor Harris, Greg Ellingson, William Powell, Sir Vincent Rogers and Rico Murray, but it all started on January 4th, when Redblacks receiver Diontae Spencer signed an NFL contract with the Steelers. By the end of free agency, the Redblacks practically lost their whole starting offense.
How are they doing?
Sure these former Redblacks were good in Ottawa, but how would their careers play out with another team?
Well, that question was answered after week two!
Trevor Harris
After week two, Trevor Harris had thrown for 6 touchdowns on 744 yards, while rushing for two touchdowns on 16 yards.
After two weeks of 300+ yard games, Harris was loved in Edmonton, and he loved Edmonton back!
Now we fast forward to week 12, Harris leads the league with 3,481 passing yards and has the fourth most rushing touchdowns at 6.
Edmonton Eskimos’ quarterback Trevor Harris (7) throws as BC Lions defensive linesmen are blocked during a CFL football game at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, on Friday, June 21, 2019. Photo by Ian Kucerak/Postmedia
Harris doesn’t only have those stats to brag about, but he also has the least amount of interceptions thrown this season at 3, and he’s also beaten his former team the Ottawa Redblacks 16-12 in Edmonton.
William Powell
In Saskatchewan, William Powell has the most rushing touchdowns in the CFL with 9, and 3 of which came against his former Ottawa Redblacks.
The former Redblacks running back who rushed for 1,000 yards in two straight seasons in Ottawa is on pace to do the same out west.
The Roughriders are on a 5th game winning streak, where William Powell has a touchdown in the past 3 games, 2 coming in a 40-18 win over Ottawa last week.
As I mentioned, Powell is on pace to break 1,000 yards once again this season, with 8 games played, Powell has rushed for 597 yards and 9 touchdowns while catching the ball 19 times for 124 yards. With those totals, he only needs 279 all purpose yards to break 1,000 yards, which is possible to do in next week’s labor day special against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Greg Ellingson
This off-season, Trevor Harris signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, and it would only be fitting if he brought his favorite target with him.
Ottawa Redblacks’ Greg Ellingson THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Bringing in Ellingson was a huge signing for Edmonton, as he already has caught 53 receptions for 710 yards in just 9 games played.
Along with the season stats, Edmonton really fell in love with Ellingson after a huge week two outing where he caught the ball 9 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Ellingson caught and ran for 1,000 yards in 4 straight seasons in Ottawa, and is on pace to do it a 5th time in different colors.
Diontae Spencer was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 4th, but has only gotten the opportunities in August.
In Pre-season football, Diontae Spencer has played 3 out of 3 games so far, tallying up 2 receptions for 17 yards, 2 carries for 48 yards, 1 kickoff return for 35 yards and 7 punt returns for 103 yards.
Although he is listed as a wide receiver, Spencer has played all kinds of roles with the Steelers this pre-season, and they sure love seeing him run a reverse. Just last week against the Tennessee Titans, he ran a reverse for 29 yards showing his explosiveness he had here in Ottawa.
Redblacks Kicker/Punter Jose Maltos tweets out about Redblacks 2nd bye week of the season
Stats and QB situation going into bye week number 2
Going into week 12’s bye, the Redblacks are 3rd in the East division at 3-7, while at 7th place in the league. Along with the Redblacks 3-7 record, Montreal who is second in the East sits at 5-4 while the first place Tiger-Cats are 8-2.
To go with the Redblacks bye week, Montreal also has a bye week this week.
The Redblacks have all eyes on the 1-8 Argonauts as they will play Toronto September 7th at 1:00 in Ottawa, a full week after the bye week. It may seem so far away, but the team needs this time to re-group, as we might see a change at the Quarterback position.
In 8 starts this season, starting QB Dominique Davis sits at 3-5 with 1,846 passing yards, 102 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns. Although those numbers may look good, its missing one very important stat…
With 14 interceptions thrown this season, the Redblacks looked towards Jonathon Jennings last week following Davis’ 3 first quarter interceptions. Before last week, Jennings had two starts this season where he is 0-2 in.
In an attempt to comeback from a 20 point Rough Rider lead, Jennings passed for over 200 yards which included a 75 yard strike to Dominique Rhymes and Jennings also had 17 rush yards to finish up a very good game on his part which leaves Rick Campbell looking his way to possibly start next week against division rivals, Toronto Argonauts.
Along with our quarterback situation going into the bye week, our running-backs have had a very interesting season.
It all started with Mossis Madu, who’s started 5 games this season rushing and receiving for over 300 to go with a two point conversion in week two against Saskatchewan. After a huge performance in Calgary week one, rushing for 112 yards and receiving for two dozen yards it seemed as if he’d be the starter all season. With all eyes on Madu, the Redblacks brought in John Crockett to return kicks and back-up Madu in week 5 against Montreal.
In the match-up against the Alouettes, Crockett had a 31 yard kick return which would pair with 62 rush yards.
While Crockett had 93 all-purpose yards on just 13 touches, it gave the front office something to think about as the Redblacks faced off against Winnipeg a week later. Mossis Madu did not make the trip to Winnipeg, while John Crockett would start his first CFL game, rushing and receiving for 108 yards, Crockett was full-filling his great opportunity in Ottawa.
Now we fast forward to Today, August 26th, John Crockett just came off a game where he rushed for just 12 yards as he suffered an injury in his upper body. With this injury occurring in the first half, the Redblacks spent a full second half with Greg Morris at running-back. On just his second touch of the season, Greg Morris was turning heads, with a 19 yard rush which also ended in an unnecessary roughness penalty against Saskatchewan which led to a 34 yard gain for the Redblacks.
Unfortunately for Morris, the Redblacks were behind for the whole game, playing pass first where Morris wouldn’t be able to show his full potential. Even though Ottawa didn’t run the ball much, Morris found him self in the pass game also, catching the ball 6 times for 50 yards to go with his 28 rush yards and 19 yard kick return.
Morris finished the game against Saskatchewan with 97 yards on just 14 touches. If John Crockett’s injury sidelines him for another game or two, Morris will be a reliable back-up to Madu, or even if Crockett stays in the lineup, we don’t have to worry about the running-back depth.
Going back to the pass game, our receivers in Ottawa have yet found themselves showing their full potential.
With the team changing quarterbacks every few games, and struggling to spread the ball around, the Redblacks top receiver this season is currently Dominique Rhymes. Rhymes has 3 touchdowns this season, 2 going for 75+ which matches up with 621 receiving yards on 40 catches.
After Rhymes, the receiving group takes a big drop to Brad Sinopoli, who was a leading receiver a year ago is held to just 398 yards and two touchdowns.
With trust not an issue, Brad Sinopoli has yet to find chemistry with either Davis or Jennings which drops his record breaking 2018 season to one of his most unfortunate seasons yet.
After Rhymes, the Redblacks have another big play maker in the receivers group that may have been forgotten after missing time due to a knee injury. Receiver R.J Harris is finding himself in his second season with Ottawa, where he is hoping to be a leading receiver in the league, but heading into week 12, Harris has only played 6 games. Two of those 6 games, he has been injured, therefore his stats went down, and he now sits at 339 yards, and a touchdown on 27 touches.
Going past the offense and towards the defense, the Redblacks defense has one of the best secondary’s in the league, surrounding Jonathan Rose, Antoine Pruneau, Sherrod Baltimore, Corey Tindal and CFL veteran Chris Randle. The secondary has 5 interceptions on the season, but its only possible because of the pass rush and line-backing group the Redblacks have.
Calgary Stampeders vs Ottawa REDBLACKS
July 25, 2019
PHOTO: Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography
With the Redblacks starting 7 containing Michael Wakefield, Avery Ellis, George Uko, J.R Tavai, Avery Williams, Jerod Fernandez and Anthony Cioffi, the team has 15 sacks and 10 fumble recoveries to go with the 5 interceptions in the secondary.
Along with the turnovers, the Redblacks defense have the second best tackler in the league with Avery Williams who has 68 tackles, 1 quarterback sack, a forced fumble and 3 fumble recoveries. The second year linebacker has found himself in a great position in his career, where he may receive an award for being such a great defender on the Redblacks defense.
Tune in September 7th
On September 7th, the Redblacks are back from their bye week and facing off against theToronto Argonauts at 1:00 at TD Place.
This East rivalry game is also going to be the Redblacks’ Family Day game, where the Redblacks will showcase activities for kids while they will also have the opportunity to meet their favorite super heroes and characters from their favorite shows, such as Spider man, Iron man, Paw Patrol and Sponge Bob!
Come out to TD Place September 7th to cheer on your Redblacks and meet your favorite super hero!
The Ottawa Redblacks went to Regina, Saskatchewan to visit the Roughriders on Saturday, and their visit wasn’t too long.
After the first quarter, starting running back John Crockett was out due to a shoulder injury while Jonathon Jennings was taking over for Dominique Davis who’d thrown for 3 interceptions in the quarter.
Photo of Stefan Logan at Redblacks practice, taken by Jordan Zlomislic
Nearing the end of the half, things started to brighten up in Saskatchewan, as Jennings connected with Dominique Rhymes for a 75 yard touchdown and Lewis Ward going 2/2 leaving the half down by 12.
After a promising second quarter, the Redblacks defense continued to show potential, while the offense leaned towards Lewis Ward going 2/2 in the second half.
After ending his previous streak last week against Hamilton, Ward’s new streak has already improved to 6 straight field goals!
Bright spots
Other than another huge performance by Lewis Ward, the Redblacks have shown us some great football! It may not seem like a great football game on the scoreboard, but the guys on the field are pushing to get every yard possible, no matter the score and it has been proved.
Running back depth
Early in today’s match up, John Crockett went down with a shoulder injury which would sideline him for the rest of the game.
OTTAWA, ON – JULY 25: Ottawa Redblacks running back Greg Morris (22) receives a kick during Canadian Football League action between the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Redblacks on July 25, 2019, at TD Place at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire)
Lucky enough for the Redblacks, backup Greg Morris had a 19 yard rush moments after Crockett’s injury.
Even though it was a pass first game for the Redblacks, Morris was able to show off what he’s got in the run game and a little pass game!
The Canadian back finished the night with 7 carries for 28 yards along with 50 receiving yards on 6 catches.
After a big 11 touch game for Morris, the Redblacks might lean towards him if Crockett’s injury sidelines him after the bye week.
Jennings, the starter?
Going into the game, quarterback Dominique Davis was 3-4 as a starting quarterback this season, while Jonathon Jennings was 0-2.
After a quarter of play, Davis was 3/6 for 23 yards and 3 interceptions. The unfortunate stats lead to Jennings getting the nod to lead the Redblacks to a hopeful comeback.
Down 20 in the second quarter, Jennings led the Redblacks to 3 scoring drives to close out the half along with a 75 yard connection with Dominique Rhymes.
Jennings ended the game with 208 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 17.
As the Redblacks head into their second bye week of the season, they will decide whether Jennings or Davis will start against Toronto on September 7th at TD Place.
Special Teams win championships?
Last week, Lewis Ward ended his field goal streak at 69 straight field goals made, but he and the special teams came back and started the streak from scratch.
Lewis Ward went 4 for 4, kicking a longest 44 yard field goal in tonight’s loss to Saskatchewan as he extends his new streak to 6 straight field goals.
If you want to win a Grey Cup, you’ve gotta have more than a kicker and the Redblacks have a whole group of specials! Along with Ward, the Redblacks punter, Richie Leone had 6 punts for 305 yards while he kicked a 65 yard punt.
Saskatchewan has former NFL punter Jon Ryan out there, but we have someone to return his kicks, that would be Stefan Logan this week.
Logan, a 38 yard returner who goes by “Age is only a number” shows off all his speed as he achieves the 4th most return yards in CFL history with his 243 return yards to go with his 54 yard punt return with seconds left in the week 11 battle.
With the Redblacks heading into a bye week, we will wait until September 7th at 1:00 to see our special teams take on the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place.
Going into week 11 of the CFL season, the Redblacks are 3-6 and going up against the 5-3 red hot Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Roughriders are on a 4 game winning streak while they face-off against your Redblacks who are on a 2 game losing streak at 7:00 on Saturday night.
Looking back at it
The Redblacks have already played the Roughriders this season, a 44-41 win for Ottawa for the Redblacks home opener.
In the game on June 20th, the Redblacks Dominique Davis threw for 354 yards and 3 touchdowns while Lewis Ward went 6 for 6 to set up a few massive defensive plays which added up to six tackles for Chris Randle, Jonathan Rose and Danny Mason.
Whats new about tomorrow’s game?
In the last meeting against Saskatchewan, the Redblacks offense was missing a spark. That spark being at the running back position.
When we last played the Roughriders, Mossis Madu played at running back and rushed for just 50 yards. This week, we’ll see John Crockett back in the lineup as the Redblacks face off against the western opponent
What to look forward to
Receiver Caleb Holley is on his old turf
For the last few seasons before 2019, Caleb Holley has played for the Roughriders, where he caught for over 1,000 yards just last year.
This week, Saskatchewan welcomes Holley back to play against him while he wears red and black. This might be a big outing for Holley after a game last week where he caught for over 70 yards.
John Crockett is back
John Crockett, who has 394 rush yards in just 4 starts will be back in the lineup after missing last week’s game due to injuries.
John Crockett is yet to have a 100 yard rush game, and this might be his perfect opportunity.
John Crockett, running back for Ottawa has been nothing but awesome for the Redblacks this season. Rushing and receiving for over 400 yards in just 4 starts has been an incredible start to his Canadian career.
Before coming to Ottawa, Crockett played at the University of North Dakota where he’d play with former Redblacks QB Brock Jensen and 2016 NFL second overall pick, Carson Wentz and rush for over 3,000 yards in two seasons as a starter before going to the big leagues.
After playing on a tremendous North Dakota team, the running back was signed by the Green Bay Packers to play with QB Aaron Rodgers and company.
With the Packers, Crockett only played one game, where he’d rush the ball 9 times for 21 yards. The game he played, was the same game Aaron Rodgers found Richard Rodgers for a hail Mary touchdown. One thing a little un-noticed about the play would’ve been the running back who blocked Aaron Rodgers’ way to scramble for that hail Mary throw. Yes, John Crockett was on the field blocking for Rodgers when Rodgers threw for his first ever Hail Mary.
About three years after the iconic Rodgers to Rodgers Hail Mary hookup that Crockett was a part of, John Crockett would find himself at Redblacks 2019 training camp with an interview with me.
Going into the season, Crockett sat behind Madu for a few games. Mossis Madu who is a veteran running back in the CFL rushed for 268 yards and before the Redblacks’ plugged John Crockett into the lineup.
Crockett: “Mossis Madu is a great player! I love him as a person and a player. He’s one of those guys I look up to, because he’s had so much experience within the league, and I’m glad to say he’s my teammate!”
Now we fast forward a few weeks, Crockett has now started four games after taking the job away from Madu in week 6 and the Redblacks are set to play their 10th game of the season which will come against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday. Coming into week 11, Crockett has 394 rush yards and 48 receiving yards on the season and is looking to find the endzone for the first time this week against Saskatchewan.
Crockett: “It’s a little tough to see a zero under the touchdown stat, I’ve been fortunate to have some big runs that can make it easier on the team, but I’d love to help the team get in the endzone and when I do get a touchdown, I hope it comes in bunches!”
To go with the 400 all purpose yards he is now over this season, Crockett was also announced top rookie so far this season by TSN.
This week following a loss to Hamilton, the Redblacks announced that running-backs coach, Joe Paopao would change roles and become the offensive play caller while also coaching Quarterbacks.
Today at Redblacks’ practice, I was able to catch up with Paopao about his coaching change.
Paopao: I’ve been a play-caller most of my life. Making decisions is almost like second nature for me. As a quarterback and as a coach, I’ve called plays throughout my football career, and I look forward to calling plays this season.”
Joe Paopao entered his 27th coaching season as a running-backs coach, where he’d have the opportunity to coach both John Crockett and Mossis Madu. Both Madu and Crockett have a combined 777 yards on the season, and along with the coaching change, I talked to Paopao about those numbers and the running backs they are.
Paopao: “They work hard! Their mindset is to do it all right, and they do it in practice which all carries into the games. I’m not surprised of the success they’ve had this season. The numbers are just numbers, we know what they’re capable of, and as long as it helps to win games, I’m happy!”
Paopao hasn’t spent all his time as a quarterback’s coach, entering his 27th year as a coach, Joe Paopao is experienced as a head coach, and offensive coordinator, a quarterback and a general manager.
As a quarterback, Paopao spent 10 seasons where he started a significant amount of games, tallying up 19,000 yards, 117 pass touchdowns and 251 rush yards.
Paopao: As a quarterback, I didn’t win a lot of games, as a head coach, I didn’t win a lot of games. I have a lot of experiences that I’ve learned from, and my timeline will have a big help for me calling plays this season, I look forward to getting some wins as we move on to the second half of the season.”
JZ MEDIA 