The Tiger-Cats closed out their preseason schedule with a hard-fought contest against the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night at Tim Hortons Field. Toronto escaped a visit to Tim Hortons Field with a preseason victory, but there were numerous positive storylines to take from the Ticats performance. Let’s focus on three key takeaways for the Black & Gold, ahead of next week’s regular season opener in Toronto.
- Tiger-Cat draft picks make an impact
Coach Austin and the Tiger-Cats coaching staff gave their 2017 draft picks plenty of playing time on Friday. The rookies seized their opportunity and impressed in game action.
First round draft pick Connor McGough turned in a particularly noteworthy performance as he produced admirably on the defensive line in relief of starter John Chick. The Calgary Dinos product battled around the edge and sacked Argo QBs on two occasions. McGough looked strong and confident, making the most of his reps in the second half.
Sean Thomas-Erlington, the explosive running back out of the University of Montreal, was strong on special teams. He put a stop to a Toronto return that would otherwise have found the end zone, acting as the final line of defense when he caught a Toronto returner by the shoelaces. Late in the fourth quarter Thomas-Erlington saw action with the defensive unit, as he teamed up with Kilgore in the backfield to put up some positive yards on the ground. The Tiger-Cats will have a plethora of Canadian depth this season, and will have the ability to play around with the ratio game in and game out.
- Davon Coleman followed up a strong showing in Ottawa
Last week in Ottawa, Ticats defensive tackle Davon Coleman had a big game, recording a sack and a pass knockdown against the defending Grey Cup champs in the Nation’s Capital. As a result, he earned attention from Tiger-Cats fans and media, and a second consecutive starting spot at defensive tackle, this time in front of his home crowd.
Coleman managed to repeat his impressive stat-line and record both a sack and a knockdown in Hamilton, solidifying himself as contributor on the Tiger-Cats defence. Coleman’s production on Friday was complimented by strong showing from the full breadth of the defensive line, including a sack from veteran Adrian Tracy and rookie McGough.
The d-line also benefitted from some solid performances by Canadian depth, with Justin Capicciotti picking up a sack.
- Tiger-Cats have depth at running back
It’s no secret the Tiger-Cats love to pass the ball. On a scoring play orchestrated by quarterback Zach Collaros, the Tiger-Cats offense ran seven straight aerial plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown by Bryan Tyms in the first quarter.
But it was the Tiger-Cats running backs that stole the spotlight on Friday night. CJ Gable looked powerful early on in the game, before giving way to second year back Ross Scheuerman.
Scheuerman handled the bulk of the reps behind Gable, picking up right where he left off last week against Ottawa. Scheuerman’s biggest plays were a 28 yard gain from scrimmage, and a 2 yard run where he punched it into the house.
With Alex Green also at Coach Austin’s disposal, the Ticats should have a strong 2017 at running back.
Now, onto the regular season!
