By Jack Bedell
MontrealAlouettes.com
It seems like it’s really been a long time coming, but the Alouettes are finally set to kick off their first pre-season game.
Thursday night against the Toronto Argonauts, the Als will debut a brand-new coaching staff, different schemes on both sides of the ball, and a ton of new talent on the roster.
As much as I’d like the game to answer the laundry list of questions I’ve been chewing on all off-season, I’ve seen enough pre-season tilts to know I’ll most likely come out of the game with more questions than resolutions. Even so, getting a chance to watch all those issues sort themselves out before Week 1 comes around is the main reason I enjoy the pre-season so much.
Game plans might be vanilla, veterans might be making brief appearances or taking the night off, and the good look we get at several players might be the last look in many cases. But the next two games will offer a great gauge of the team’s depth, not to mention an early peek at its attitude and the chemistry being built in camp.
Here’s a quick look at a few other things I’ll be scoping out come game time this week.
1) TEMPO: Even though the Als are sure to be rotating personnel heavily, and there will no doubt be the normal spate of pre-season penalties to slug through, I’m very interested to see how fast the team is able to play on offence, defence, and teams considering how little time they’ve had to digest new playbooks.
2) QUARTERBACKING: With Anthony Calvillo most likely sitting this one out, the game will be a great opportunity to see Marcus Brady, Adrian McPherson, Ricky Santos, and Brad Banks in action. While Brady’s number-two job is probably safe, the other three pivots will need to use their chance to impress.
3) SAFETY PLAY: Étienne Boulay’s spot in the secondary is up for grabs now that he’s moved on to the New York Jets, and with Matthieu Proulx taking reps at linebacker, Pascal Masson and Joel Wright will duke it out for the starting job. I’ve always admired Masson’s special teams play. It’ll be interesting to see how his range and tackling ability translates to playing safety full-time.
4) LINE PLAY: Trestman singled out line play as one of the primary issues facing the team during the Als’ State of the Franchise news conference. I can’t wait to see how the offensive and defensive lines respond to his call for improvement.
5) RETURNS: One of the most exciting additions to the roster has to be Jason Armstead. He adds speed and game-breaking ability to the Als’ return game, and I have to admit I’m very anxious to see if he can provide the spark and the field position everyone is counting on him to provide.
Win or lose, the Als start their road to the 2008 Grey Cup when pre-season kicks off Thursday night. And while no games count in the standings until June 26, there’s still a lot on the line.
You can bet I’ll be hanging on every play.
