Redblacks winning with depth, particularly on defence

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Riding a three-game winning streak that currently makes them the hottest team in the CFL — and off to the best start in the last 46 years of Ottawa professional football — the Redblacks managed to improve during their bye week.

By how much?

They’ve become at least five-and-a-half starters better.

Let’s begin with the offence and special teams, which have combined to average 30 points per game during the team’s run of success.

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Right tackle Zack Pelehos is set to come back from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the last two games, while DeVonte Dedmon, who also missed the last two games with a banged up lower body, is about to jump back into his role as the team’s primary return specialist and backup running back.

They were capably replaced by versatile veteran lineman Jacob Ruby and rookie Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton, who had 209 return yards, including a 99-yard TD, in the most recent outing, a 33-6 pummelling of the Calgary Stampeders.

An even greater amount of roster juggling, however, is about to come on a defence that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in more than two games.

First, the Redblacks’ best two cornerbacks, Brandin Dandridge and Alijah McGhee, have emerged from the six-game injured reserve list and are poised to make their 2024 season debuts against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at TD Place on Thursday night.

Also returning is starting weakside linebacker Frankie Griffin, who was more than capably replaced by Davion Taylor while he missed the last three.

And finally, once again practising in full is former Carleton Raven Justin Howell, who is more of a 1A to first-teamer Alonzo Addae at the safety position.

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“First off, it’s a credit to the depth that the personnel department brought in here,” head coach Bob Dyce said in explaining how the team has been able to thrive through the adversity, before praising the work done by defensive co-ordinator Barron Miles and defensive backs coach Alex Suber as well as the players they lead. “They’ve  done a phenomenal job of making sure that these guys are prepared, that they have a great understanding of what the opponent is trying to accomplish. The guys have really bought into what they’re saying.

“I think that’s one of the biggest strengths of our defence right now. The guys who played have taken care of their assignments and done their job at a very high level.”

Also practising in full on Monday was Money Hunter, an inside halfback who filled in at corner before suffering a shoulder injury in the Game 2 blowout loss to Montreal.

Where he fits in now remains to be seen.

To make room for the returning members of the secondary, the Redblacks have released 31-year old veteran Sherrod Baltimore, who did an admirable job at corner after joining the team for the last five games, and transferred Adrian Frye to the practice roster.

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They’ll also shuffle Deandre Lamont from the boundary side corner spot, where he shone as a fill-in for Dandridge, to halfback.

Getting Dandridge back from a training camp knee injury is big.

Aside from the six off-season months he spent with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022, the 27-year-old out of Missouri Western has built for himself a reputation as a playmaker with the Redblacks since 2019.

In 29 career games for Ottawa, Dandridge has made 61 defensive tackles and nine interceptions, two of which were pick sixes.

He also helps provide another great example of the Redblacks’ depth.

With Dandridge, Tobias Harris (who’s currently on six-game injured reserve), Dedmon and Pimpleton, they have four players who have returned either a kick or punt for a touchdown.

“I love having the ball in my hands,” Dandridge said when asked about being a returner. “It’s something I’ve been doing since high school. It’s always fun getting back there and having the opportunity to change the game at any moment. I do enjoy it, for sure.”

Whether or not he does any returning upon his return, Dandridge relishes the opportunity to help the team continue its winning ways from his corner position.

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“I’m anxious to get back, man,” he said. “I’ve been a part of the losing (here) in the past, and seeing our team come out with a hot start, you just want to be a part of that. Even though I am, I’m here, I’m in the room, I still want to be on the field. You want to be a part of all that.”

McGhee injured his foot while making a tackle in the first quarter of the Redblacks’ second pre-season game. He played on it the rest of the night, but when it swelled up afterwards he had X-rays that showed a small fracture.

“It’s disappointing because you have goals for yourself and for your team,” he said of missing more than a quarter of the season. “And then for something to happen like that, out of the blue, you got no control over. So you’ve just got to bounce back and just keep your team high and keep praising them. Let them do what they do.”

The Redblacks think highly of the 24-year-old McGhee, a Minnesota State product who had six defensive tackles and a forced fumble in two games last season.

At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, he has the potential to catch the eye of NFL teams down the road.

“I came in last year and around August, just to get my feet wet with professional football, and I just found myself thriving very well at the field corner position. Being tall and lanky, it suited me very well. With the CFL being a wide, long field, and me with my range of motion, I just felt like I fit right in.”

GOING DEEP

Also released by the Redblacks over the weekend was former Gee-Gees RB Amlicar Polk, a rookie who dressed for six games but did not see any action on offence and didn’t make a significant impact on special teams. “It’s a matter of numbers,” said Dyce. “Obviously we’re evaluating the roster at all times, and right now we just felt that was the the direction we had to go.”

dbrennan@postmedia.com

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