Ask the Experts: Halfway Point Of The CFL Season

With the Labour Day Classic in the rearview mirror, we are officially past the halfway point of the 2016 CFL season. The Ticats sit second place in the East Division with a 5-5 record heading into Week 12. Who is the Ticats MOP and the midway point? Which free agent signing has made the biggest impact so far? We assembled an expert panel to gather their thoughts on the Ticats season thus far.
The Panel:
Marshall Ferguson: TSN 1150 Ticats play-by-play man and co-host of Tatti and Marsh.
Matthew Scianitti: Reporter for SportsCentre and CFL on TSN.
Drew Edwards: Ticats beat reporter for Hamilton Spectator and founder of 3DownNation.
Steve Milton: Columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and inductee into the CFL Hall of Fame, Football Reporters of Canada wing.
Who is the Ticats MOP at the half way mark?
Ferguson: This is a fun conversation because of Zach, because he hasn’t been back long enough to establish himself as a CLF MOP. I think the most consistent player this year has been Luke Tasker. To me, he’s kind of the heart and soul of the team. He gets completely underrated because he’s surround by the new guy in Chad Owens, who has been sensational as well, and the big body national guy in Andy Fantuz. There’s a lot of reasons why you may not think of him as being your best player or your most outstanding player so far.
Scianitti: I have to give it to Simoni. Simoni has just been a leader. He’s been consistent and this has been a team offensively that was in flux up until about a month ago with Zach coming back. To have Simoni play the leadership role that he has, be as active on defence as he has, it’s undeniable that if not for his leadership and his presence, the Ticats might have struggled to kind of stay at about .500, which they did.
Edwards: I think Collaros is clearly the team’s best player, but if you look at the duration of the season he hasn’t been around long enough to earn that MOP honour. You have a bunch of receivers with excellent stats but nobody that is clearly above everybody else. I’d give it to Banks right now, but if Collaros plays as well as he’s playing at the moment by the end of the season, it will be Collaros.
Milton: Luke Tasker. He’s the leading receiver on this team. It’s his possession game. It’s a team that hasn’t fully established a run game and so those second down possession numbers are extremely important and he’s done it with both quarterbacks.
What has been the strongest aspect of the Ticats game during the first half of the season?
Ferguson: I think it would have to be your front seven. The production they’ve gotten out of John Chick, in combination with Adrian Tracy exploding in Montreal for those 11 tackels, Simoni Lawrence being on pace for 100-plus tackles this season; there’s a whole bunch of names in that front seven including Larry Dean who’s been absolutely unbelievable so far, and Ted Laurent is on career marks for sacks and then Drake Nevis has been a playmaker in the backfield. I just think that front seven has what’s defined the Ticats season so far this year.
Scianitti: I think they’re depth. You start at the quarterback position with Masoli coming in and setting the completion record in one half and really holding down the fort for much of those first weeks. And receivers, I think they’ve shown that there are weapons there. Defensively as well. As much as there’s been depth, consistency has been an issue. Obviously Coach Austin has alluded to that a few times. But Chad Owens has come in, Emanuel Davis has again been fantastic, Maher’s been great kicking, John Chick, just everyone can be relied on to make a contribution and I think that’s been a big strength of the team so far.
Edwards: Their resiliency. Their ability to comeback from what appear to be insurmountable deficits. They’ve fell behind in a number of games this season and found a way to come back and win a number of those games. The ability to overcome slow starts and be generally resilient I think has been their strongest quality.
Milton: Comebacks. I think it’s there resiliency. I think two years in the biggest game and one year of getting close to the biggest game has produced a belief that every team thinks it has, but a belief the Ticats actually have in their ability to rebound. That is actually a fault as well because it allows them to have a little less urgency at the start and I think they need more urgency at the start of the game.
Which Ticats player has been the most pleasant surprise this year?
Ferguson: Larry Dean. When Taylor Reed left for Calgary in free agency I think a lot of people looked around and said ‘what are we going to do to fill this void.’ Larry Dean comes into training camp, he’s kind of unknown, you do some background research on him and all of a sudden when he gets going in the regular season, you think ‘that is the perfect Canadian football league middle linebacker.’ He’s a guy we don’t talk about a ton on the broadcast because he just kind of silently makes really good plays all of the time.
Scianitti: Terrence Toliver. It’s not necessarily a surprise, but his level has increased, especially over the past few weeks. He said to me coming off the field one time, ‘I’m not mic’ed up right now, but I’ll tell you, they can’t cover me.’ He’s raised his level with Zach coming back. CJ Gable over the last few week too. This is a guy who’s dealt with a lot of injuries, but the team has stuck by him. To get those yards in a key pivotal game against the Argos last week was tremendous. Adrian Tracy as well. He’s just come in and been what a lot of guys have been for Orlondo Steinauer’s defence the last few years and become another piece on that line along with Ted Laurent and John Chick that teams now have to be aware of.
Edwards: I think you’re pleasantly surprised that John Chick and Chad Owens are still performing at a high level despite questions about their age. I think that it’s a pleasant surprise that Zach Collaros has come back from knee surgery and been every bit the Zach Collaros he was when he left. In terms of individual players, I think you look at guys like Terrence Toliver who I think is a pleasant surprise to be playing as well as he is playing right now. And Brandon Revenberg I think has contributed more as a rookie than I would have expected him too.
Milton: I think Courtney Stephen as safety. It’s not a new position for him, but they were committed to him. They don’t say ‘you’re going to play this or that, the corner or the safety.’ He hasn’t really played safety a whole bunch since his first year, and he’s done a really fine job there and he has shown an ability to execute his part of the safety blitz, which is a really big part of the CFL game.
Which free agent signing has had the biggest impact so far?
Ferguson: I thought it was going to be Alex Hoffman-Ellis and he was traded by Week 2. Chad Owens has to be the answer to me. John Chick is right there. They have to be 1-A and 1-B. Chad was an interesting signing at the time. I thought it was the Ticats trying to fill a void left by a couple of receivers who might not be around coming into camp, but he’s actually played very well and he’s shown flashes of 2012 Chad Owens and a guy that was MOP nominee for the Argos several times over.
Scianitti: I go back and forth between Chick and Owens. Chad Owens has come in and added to the veteran presence that already existed in the leadership core. The one thing that he has that no one else in the receiving core has is he was the Most Outstanding Player. He’s educating guys like Collaros, Fantuz, Tasker and Toliver. Brandon Banks loves it too because he gets to chew the ear off of a guy, like Banks is now, used to be the most dangerous returner in the league. They go to him willingly and ask questions. For John Chick, he’s still a formidable pass rusher and taken a lot of the emotions of being ditched from Saskatchewan and turned them into positive production. He’s turned it into a way of making sure the Ticats are getting the best out of him.
Edwards: Again, I think we’re back to John Chick and Chad Owens. That’s only if you are not including Ted Laurent as a free agent. Ted Laurent was actually a free agent when they signed him and the ability to resign him has been significant given his elite level status as a Canadian player. If we’re taking Laurent out of the equation, than probably John Chick.
Milton: John Chick. As advertised. Game hasn’t slowed down. I realize he probably had something to prove, as everyone who got kicked out of Saskatchewan is trying to prove. They’ve replaced essentially both starting defensive ends. And the rush is really starting to show now. I think he’s just been terrific.
If there was an unsung hero award, who would you give it to on the team?
Ferguson: Probably Drake Nevis. He eats up a lot of double teams from offensive linemen. Simoni’s on pace for over 100 tackles. Larry Dean’s a standout player. None of that happens if Drake Nevis isn’t taking on two offensive linemen almost every play. Drake Nevis has made a lot of plays this year where we haven’t said anything about him but he’s gotten in the backfield or he’s held up blockers and allowed other players to make big plays.
Scianitti: Dyakowski. Whatever happens on that offensive line, whatever his age, and whatever state his body is in, Peter is always there. A lot changed in 2013 when not only the Ticats lost the Grey Cup, but Peter’s knee basically exploded. But he’s just always there. He may not be the best or most important piece, but there’s a reliability to him that just says ‘Ticats football.’ He’s just consistent. You also have to give Jeremiah Masoli so much respect for what he was able to do. It’s an untenable position for anybody to come in at the beginning of the season, as much confidence as you might take from ‘hey, I’m the guy I’ve got the ball,’ it’s ‘I’m the guy, I’ve got the ball, but only until the number one guy comes back.’ A lot of people can suffer through that and Jeremiah didn’t. Peter first but Masoli deserves a lot of respect.
Edwards: My favourite unsung hero on this team is CO Prime [Carl-Olivier Prime], who as a fullback gets very few touches but does a lot of dirty work on offence, plays a bunch of special teams, sticks his nose into every situation and is physical. He never misses a day of practice and never misses a game, and nobody ever talks about him. He’s also a really thoughtful and interesting guy off the field. But to me he’s always been one of those guys that never gets any attention and just does his job really well.
Milton: Brett Maher, especially given that he’s at 19 straight field goals right now, just short of the club record. That allows you if you’re having any red zone troubles scoring touchdowns to at least get the three. We weren’t even sure at the start of the season whether it was him that was going to make the team, so I think you’d have to put him in the unsung category. The kicking is just so important. I think one of the big problems heading into the season was, ‘how are they going to replace Justin Medlock.’ Maybe he’s not fully replaced but it’s getting there pretty quickly.
If you could describe the first half of the Ticats season in one word, what would that word be?
Ferguson: Can I use a hyphen? Roller-Coaster. They’re up and they’re down from quarter to quarter and from half to half. It’s a fun ride, just like any roller-coaster is, but it’s one that I don’t think a lot of people assumed they would go on. They thought Zach will come back and it’ll be smooth sailing. It’s a journey, it’s not about the destination right now. The Tiger-Cats are finding their way through that roller coaster ride. It’s fun to watch though.
Scianitti: Acceptable. I wouldn’t say it’s been great. Hovering around .500 before Labour Day is never a bad thing but it’s never a great thing either. When you look at how every other team in the East has played, and you look at how the Ticats have played against every team in the East, if you’re a Ticats fan you have to be optimistic. They’ve already won the season series against Toronto and they don’t face Ottawa until the end of the season, who has struggled with consistency themselves. They’ve also gone into Montreal and beaten the Als, Of all the teams in the East right now, the Ticats have their destiny in their own hands. They can make or break their path to the playoffs.
Edwards: Promising. They’re in the thick of the East Division playoff race. Zach Collaros is back, healthy and playing well. No one has run away with the division. They have a bunch of games at home to end the season. The goal the first part of the season was to not get themselves into such a hole that they couldn’t get themselves out of it, and they’ve done that. They are in a position to legitimately win the East Division and they have all of their significant pieces back and healthy for the most part.
Milton: Unpredictable. Sometimes you expect them to come up a certain way and they don’t. Sometimes you expect them to use the previous game as a great way to come out of the gates. That hasn’t shown, but sometimes it has, like their first series against Toronto and against Saskatchewan, which is two of the last three games. Part of that has been based on situations at corner back, where they’ve had an awful lot of traffic through there, and because they’ve had to use two starting quarterbacks.