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INDEPTH: 2005 CFL PREVIEW
Ottawa Renegades
CBC Sports Online | Last updated June 21, 2005
The Renegades will need a healthy Kerry Joseph to remain competitive in the East Division.
(CP File Photo)
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2004 RECORD: 5-13-0, fourth in the
East (missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season)
ARRIVALS: DB Da'Shann Austion, DT Cameron Legault, DL Marc
Pilon, WR Markus Howell, LB D'Wayne Taylor, OL Christian Leibl-Cote,
DL Ray Jacobs, OL Jean-Francois Roy, K Matt Kellett
DEPARTURES: DB Anthony Malbrough, DL Kelly Wiltshire, OL
Mike Abou-Mechrek, FB Mike Vilimek, FB Mike Maurer, CB Serge Sejour,
WR Sherrod Gideon, DL Roger Dunbrack, DB Shawn Gallant
OFFENCE: As Kerry Joseph goes, so goes Ottawa's offence.
Last season, the Renegades jumped out to a 3-1 start, thanks in
large part to the 31-year-old quarterback. Then disaster struck
in Week 5 when Joseph went down with a foot injury, sidelining him
for a month.
Without their star pivot, the Renegades lost three of their next
four games and never recovered as they stumbled to their third consecutive
losing season.
Joseph (2,762 passing yards, 13 TDs, 10 interceptions in 2004),
is starting the season in good shape, and he'll have to remain healthy
if Ottawa has any chance of making the playoffs, as he'll be backed
up rookie quarterback Paul Peterson, unproven Darnell Kennedy and
Brad Banks, who might miss the first two weeks of the season due
to injury.
Aside from acquiring lineman Pascal Cheron in a trade with Hamilton,
the Renegades made no major offensive signings in the off-season.
Yo Murphy was the only player to record over 1,000 receiving yards
last season, and running back Josh Ranek was the only serious threat
on the ground. Why the Renegades did not feel compelled to sign
a few more offensive threats remains a mystery.
Pat Woodcock struggled last season (504 yards, two receptions) after
signing as a free agent and will have to post some big numbers this
season in order to take the pressure off of Murphy and Ranek.
DEFENCE: Ottawa finished at the bottom in 15 of 25 defensive
categories last season, including quarterback sacks (23), points
allowed (512), first downs allowed (399), total yards allowed (7,446),
and average yards allowed per game (414).
Little surprise, then, that the Renegades dove head-first into the
free-agent pool during the off-season. Key additions include linemen
Marc Pilon and Ray Jacobs, and tackle Cameron Legault.
Ottawa lost a few important players, namely lineman Roger Dunbrack
(the club's sack leader in 2004) and linebacker Kelly Wiltshire,
who led Ottawa with 76 tackles last season.
The Renegades also made changes on the sidelines. Ottawa brought
in Greg Marshall from Edmonton as the club's new defensive co-ordinator
and hired defensive line coach Richard Harris away from B.C.
With so many changes and new faces on the roster, Marshall, a former
CFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1983 with the Ottawa Rough Riders,
will have his hands full trying to mould a diverse group of players
into a cohesive defensive unit.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Place kicker Sandro Sciortino retired after
battling testicular cancer, so Matt Kellett, acquired in a trade
with Montreal, takes over the kicking duties.
Kellett connected on 37 of 49 field goal attempts (75.5 per cent)
while battling vision problems last season.
Wide receiver Jason Armestead racked up 821 punt return yards and
recorded one touchdown and added 700 yards on kickoff returns last
season.
COACHING: Ottawa not only gave coach Joe Paopao a one-year
contract extension in the off-season, they also made him the club's
general manager.
This is a critical season for the Renegades – they've had three
consecutive losing seasons and the Gliebermans have returned as
majority owners.
It'll be up to Paopao, considered a players' coach, to get the best
out of his roster and guide the club to its first playoff berth
in franchise history.
GAME BREAKER: JOSH RANEK
The standout running back is the glue that held Ottawa's ground
game together, rushing for 1,060 yards, averaging 4.8 yards a carry
and tallying eight touchdowns last season.
The all-time leading rusher in Renegades history, Ranek is a five-foot-seven,
205-pound sparkplug that is an expert at finding and exploiting
holes in the defensive line.
EXPERT OPINION: "It pains me to say this but I think it'll
be much the same in Ottawa as last season [when they finished last
in the East with a 5-13 record]," CFL on CBC analyst Darren
Flutie said. "I don't see them as talented or deep as the other
teams.
"Maybe a healthy Kerry Joseph [at quarterback] would make a huge
difference. The receiving corps is good, but there isn't an outstanding,
one-on-one guy they can go to like [Winnipeg's] Milt Stegall in
his prime or [former Calgary wideout] Allen Pitts.
"They'll need 60-80 yards from [running back] Josh Ranek every game
and I think the secondary will struggle like last year. I put them
around four to six wins. If they had a .500 season that would be
considered great."
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