*** 2006 CFL Eastern Preview - Toronto Argonauts *** From The My Sportsbook
Fred Williams, CFL Editor
FACTS & FIGURES: Division - East. 2005 record - 11-7-0, first in East Division. Playoff result: Lost 33-17 to Montreal in East final. Stadium - Rogers Center. Capacity - 52,595. Club Colors - Argonauts blue, metallic silver and state blue.
The Toronto Argonauts certainly filled one of their biggest needs with a bang.
Last season, Toronto's rushing attack was ranked eighth in the nine-team CFL, averaging less than 85 yards per game. That's not really surprising, considering the importance of the passing game in Canadian football. But an offense still has to be able to run the football, not just for balance but also to keep the defense from over-committing to stopping the run.
So, the Argos went out and signed none other than Ricky Williams, the Miami Dolphins running back who had been suspended for the entire 2006 season by the NFL for a fourth violation of the league's substance abuse policy. Williams, the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner from Texas, ran for 743 yards in 12 games with Miami last year after missing the first four games following his third positive drug test.
Now, there's certainly a long list of former NFL stars who've struggled to make an impact in Canada -- Vince Ferragamo, Mark Gastineau and Lawrence Phillips, to name but a few -- but Williams could certainly buck that trend. At age 29, he's still at his physical peak and four times has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his NFL career. There's also the matter of the wider, longer Canadian field and having to deal with linebackers in the CFL who weigh between 200 and 220 pounds instead of the traditional 250-pound players in the NFL.
At 220 pounds, Williams would seem to have the necessary power to be effective inside in the CFL, yet is still a lot lighter than he was in the NFL, meaning he should be quicker.
And it's not as if the Argos will count on Williams to do it alone.
Quarterback Damon Allen, the CFL's outstanding player last year, is coming off a banner 2005 campaign. The 42-year-old had a career-high 5,082 passing yards with 33 touchdowns. Veteran Tony Miles was the club's leading receiver with 91 catches for 1,275 yards and eight touchdowns to anchor a solid receiving corps that also includes Robert Baker, R. Jay Soward and Canadian Andrew Talbot.
Toronto has an interesting battle brewing for the No. 2 spot behind Allen. Eric Crouch, a former Heisman Trophy winner from Nebraska, and former NFL player Spergon Wynn are contending for the backup position.
Crouch was a third-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2002 but spent his time working as a receiver and kick returner. But he quit the first regular-season game because of a nagging ankle injury and later signed with Green Bay before spending a season in NFL Europe playing as a safety.
Crouch and Wynn are battling for the spot that last year was held by Michael Bishop, who was released outright in the offseason.
Former NFL star Lee Woodall is attempting to crack a veteran Toronto defense that had its problems defending against the run last year. Defensive end Robert Brown was the unit's top pass rusher with 13 sacks but stalwart nose tackle Noah Cantor and all-star cornerback Adrion Smith have both retired.
Toronto finished last against the run a year ago, giving up a whopping 127.1 yards per game. However, the defense was tops against the pass, giving up 240 yards per game, to stand fourth overall at 347 yards per game.
Linebacker Michael Fletcher, a finalist for the CFL's top defensive player last year, returns to lead an active line backing corps that includes veteran Canadians Kevin Eiben and Mike O'Shea. The club re-signed Antonious Bonner in the offseason, but he's coming off a leg injury.
The secondary will definitely miss Smith, but still returns veterans Orlondo Steinauer, Clifford Ivory, Jordan Younger, Ken Wheaton and Chuck Winters.
The kicking game is in solid shape with veteran Noel Prefontaine. The return game, though, will feature at least one new face. One of Toronto's offseason moves was signing Keith Stokes, one of the CFL's top punt returners. He will combine with Argos Bashir Levingston and Arland Bruce III to give the club a potent return squad.
Mike (Pinball) Clemons returns as head coach after signing a contract extension that will keep him with the CFL club through 2007, when Toronto hosts the Grey Cup at Rogers Center. Clemons has been nominated for the CFL's coach of the year award in each of the last four years but in 2004 became the first black head coach to win the Grey Cup. Clemons is one of the most popular sports figures in Toronto and generally regarded as the CFL's goodwill ambassador because of his bubbly personality and tireless community service.
He has also evolved into a pretty good coach, having surrounded himself with quality assistance like defensive coordinator Rich Stubler and offensive coordinator Kent Austin and allowed them to do their jobs while overseeing matters and stepping in whenever the big decision needs to be made. Clemons is also a terrific motivator and a player's coach who not only cares about his troops on-field performance but also how they're doing off of it. And being a former player himself, Clemons has the unique ability to approach his responsibilities knowing how they affect players.
My Sportsbook predicted finish: First.
