The Alouettes are hoping to fill some gaps with the help of the Canadian Football League draft, but there remains a question mark over pass recipients.
“The training camp is in about 10 days and I’m concentrating on the positions of the passport recipients with all transparency,” said general manager Danny Maciocia on Thursday. We still lost two big plays with Eugene Lewis [à Edmonton] and Jake Wieneke [en Saskatchewan]. We’ll be bringing a few more receivers into camp than usual because we’re still looking for two or three that can impact our airplay.
• Also read: Alouettes: The first election is already in Montreal
Maciocia admits he kept tabs on Cole Tucker in the draft. However, he was picked very early on by the Calgary Stampeders fourth overall, just before the Alouettes’ pick of defensive end Jonathan Sutherland. Whatever the case, it’s primarily a solid American receiver currently being targeted by the Alouettes for being a preferred target for quarterback Cody Fajardo.
“For our Canadian recipients with [Tyson] Philpot and [Keion] Julien-Grant, we are more than happy, Maciocia specified. We need Americans who can replace Lewis and Wieneke.
A relationship to rebalance
This is where the recent draft could have benefited the Alouettes, who were trying to rebalance the Canadian players’ offense-defense ratios. Sutherland and Lwal Uguak, both selected in the first round, both appear to have the potential to be a Canadian defensive starter.
“If you look at our ratio of Canadian starters, the minimum of which is seven, we had six on offense and only one on defense, namely Marc-Antoine Dequoy to develop the GM. That could now give us the flexibility to use American players elsewhere.”
“It was a great concept for us,” commented head coach Jason Maas. The team did a great job identifying the players we wanted.
Coach loves Dallaire
Maas had particularly good words for David Dallaire, former Laval University Rouge et Or, who was voted into the second round (13th overall).
“I saw the videos of his games last year and met him in combination. I immediately recognized what kind of guy he is and how he can play football, Maas remarked. As a central defender, he plays well. It’s fast and quite fierce when it hits a grounded opponent. David brings depth to our team in this position and can do many other things.”
Lavallée: hidden map?
Maciocia, who is also enthusiastic about Dallaire’s versatility on offense and special teams, hopes to have pulled off another good shot by drafting his former Rouge et Or teammate, defender Maxym Lavallée, in the eighth round (68th overall). has.
“If we look at the draft history of the last few years, our department was able to pick up a few pearls in the eighth round,” said the Alouettes’ general manager. We can cite the example of Zach Lindley last year or Brock Gowanlock in 2020. It’s possible that Lavallée could be another of those gems.
► The Alouettes announced the hiring of American wide receiver Austin Mack on Thursday afternoon. He played four seasons with the Ohio State University Buckeyes. The 25-year-old played in the NFL with the New York Giants, the Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers.