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In total, the Als have 28 players that could hit  the market. But which ones are the most important?

Don’t forget to check out episode 5 of The True North Football Podcast. This week, we take you into the winning and losing locker rooms at the Grey Cup, as Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill and Ticats running back Tyrell Sutton joined the show moments after the game. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Play and Spotify.

Here are the six most important free agents the Alouettes need to bring back in 2020 and beyond.

6 – Mario Alford – kick returner

Alford was a late addition to the roster, but all he did was make big plays in the return game. For whatever reason, Alford couldn’t stick with the Toronto Argonauts, but he was awesome (when healthy) with the Als.

The 27-year-old played in just three games with the Als during the regular season and he suited up in their East Semi-Final playoff game against Edmonton, but he managed to bring back two punts for touchdowns against Calgary and Winnipeg, and he also broke a return for a touchdown in the playoffs.

Als defensive tackle Ryan Brown played with Alford in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and admitted that he wasn’t surprised by all the success he was having up in Canada.

“He’s definitely built different,” Brown said of Alford during an interview on TSN 690 early in November.

“He sees the field in a different way. A lot of people at that position have a lot of speed, but they lack the vision. He has both. I used to watch him in college (at West Virginia). When teams needed him for a big return, he got it and his resume continues to trickle down here. I want to say that the first time he touched the ball as an Alouette, he scored. He came up to me and said: ‘nothing’s changed, bro’. And I said: ‘I know, I know.'”

Alford won’t be able to score as frequently over a full season, but he’s given the Als a legitimate kick-return threat that they haven’t had in years.

.@mario_alford is a dangerous man on the returns! @MTLAlouettes takes the lead!#CFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/uPQxrkzdjJ

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) October 12, 2019

5 – Ciante Evans – defensive back

Evans signed a one-year deal with the Alouettes after the first week of training camp. He was coming off a successful four-year stint with Calgary, but he had suffered a wrist injury during his short time in the AAF.

The 27-year-old fit into the Als secondary like a glove. He’s a quality cover man that’s fully capable of matching up with any receiver in the CFL. Finding a good American defensive back isn’t the most challenging thing for a general manager, but players of Evans’ quality don’t grow on trees, either.

In 13 games with Montreal, Evans had 29 tackles and three interceptions while mostly playing the half-back position on the wide side of the field.

4 – Patrick Levels – linebacker

Like Evans, Levels also signed a one-year deal with the Alouettes after spending time with the Stampeders. The 25-year-old spent the entire year as the strong-side linebacker, which is a position that had been occupied by Als legend Chip Cox for the longest time.

Levels had a strong year in Montreal and he ended up being one of the most important free-agent signings former general manager Kavis Reed made last winter. The Baylor product finished the year with 86 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles in 18 games.

He’s already made it clear that he’d like to explore his NFL options this winter. Whether or not he can get a contract down south remains to be seen, but he should be near the top of the next general manager’s priority list.

3 – William Stanback – running back

In his first full season as the starter in Montreal, Stanback had 1,048 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go along with 33 receptions and 329 more yards receiving in just 14 games. Stanback was named an East Division all-star, a CFL all-star and he was on the CFLPA all-star team, too. There’s no denying that the Als offence looks different when he’s rolling.

William Stanback with his 3rd TD of the game! This one goes for 21 yards and gives @MTLAlouettes a 36-18 lead #CFLGameDay #SiriusXM 167 pic.twitter.com/UnUyuetYeK

— SiriusXM Canada Talks (@CanadaTalks167) July 5, 2019

The 25-year-old had a 203-yard rushing performance in a home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in July and he continued to impress as the season went on.

It’s already been well documented that he’s hoping to get a shot in the NFL and there’s a real chance he could stick. While in Montreal, he showed that he could play an important role on offence and he also proved that he’s more than capable of being a beast on special teams, too.

During Grey Cup week, TSN’s Dave Naylor reported that the Als running back already has four workouts scheduled with NFL teams. That number probably has grown since.

2- Woody Baron – defensive tackle

Unless you follow the Als very closely, you might be surprised to see Baron’s name this high on the list, but the reality is that he’s been a huge part of their defensive line for the last two years.

The under-sized defensive tackle would be hard to replace if they lost him. Like Levels and Stanback, Baron also has NFL aspirations this winter. Whether or not his body-type allows him to stick down south remains to be seen, but the Als are already lacking depth on the defensive line. Losing Baron would be a tough pill to swallow.

The 26-year-old came up with a huge interception in the East Semi-Final against the Edmonton Eskimos. He also added 27 tackles and a sack in 18 games during the regular season.

1 – Geno Lewis – receiver

Lewis was arguably the most improved player on the team in 2019. Yes, he was the leading receiver on the team in 2018, but that’s only because B.J. Cunningham got hurt. This year, he became a go-to receiver.

Lewis finished seventh in the league in receiving yards (1,133), he was eighth in the league in receptions over 30 yards (eight), and he was 12th in receptions (72). When the Als needed a big play in the passing game, they often went to their sure-handed receiver.

What a connection from Vernon Adams Jr. to Eugene Lewis! @MTLAlouettes take the lead after the extra point is converted. #CFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/q676KuR5e2

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 15, 2019

The 26-year-old gambled on himself by signing a one-year deal last winter and that paid off in a big way in 2019.

Getting Lewis back with DeVier Posey, Cunningham, Quan Bray and Jake Wieneke would be huge for the Alouettes and their quarterback, Vernon Adams.

The post Alouettes’ six most important pending free agents appeared first on 3DownNation.

Alfieri shares his interview with Alouettes linebacker Henoc Muamba moments after he was named the Outstanding Canadian in 2019.

He also takes you into the Blue Bombers and Ticats locker rooms moments after the Grey Cup was decided, as he spoke to Bomber linebacker Adam Bighill and Ticats running back Tyrell Sutton postgame.

The post True North Football Podcast Ep. 5: Adam Bighill, Tyrell Sutton and Henoc Muamba appeared first on 3DownNation.

Now that the significant move is finalized, there are a few questions that need to answered regarding Jones’ coaching staff.

Let’s break them all down:

1) Will Bob Slowik be back as defensive coordinator?

Slowik had some ups and downs during his first year in the CFL. The Als defence made some progress after their early-season struggles, but they never really found a way to get much pressure on the opposing quarterback. Is Slowik to blame for that or is there a lack of quality pass-rushers on the team? Probably a bit of both.

The Als finished last in completion percentage against at 73.6 percent and they gave up the most passing yards in the league (5,690). The Als also had the fewest sacks in the CFL with 27.

In fairness to Slowik’s unit, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. After a few rocky weeks to start the year, they managed to show some significant improvement. The defence also kept the team in a lot of games and they came up with critical stops at different times.

But keep in mind, Slowik was a Mike Sherman hire, so there’s at least a chance that Jones will want to bring in his own defensive guru.

2) Who will coach the quarterbacks?

When Jones took over as head coach six days before the season, he had the title of interim head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. In Tuesday’s press release, the team mentioned that he was going to keep the offensive coordinator title, but they made no mention of the QB coach title. That would indicate that they’ll hand those responsibilities to someone else.

3) Who will coach the offensive line?

Paul Dunn has been the offensive line coach for the last two seasons. The unit struggled in 2018, but they took some huge strides in 2019. Dunn, like Slowik, was a Sherman guy.

Luc Brodeur-Jourdain retired early last season and became an offensive assistant. His former teammates like him a lot and he’s a sharp young mind. Does Jones think he’s ready to take a step forward and become the full-time offensive line coach? I guess we’ll find out.

Both coaches found a way to get the most out of youngsters like Chris Schleuger, who was forced to play both tackle spots at different times this year. They also got former second overall pick Trey Rutherford to take his game to another level in his sophomore season.

4) Is Marcel Bellefeuille making a return to Montreal?

Alright, I want to make it clear that I have no inside information on this one. I’m just trying to piece things together. Bellefeuille was the head coach in Hamilton when Jones began his coaching career. Jones was the Ticats’ quarterbacks coach under Bellefeuille in 2009 and 2010 before serving as his offensive coordinator in 2011.

The two also worked together with the B.C. Lions in 2016 and 2017. Jones was the offensive coordinator while Bellefeuille served as the receivers coach.

The 53-year-old is currently holding down a scouting job with the Edmonton Eskimos. If Jones wanted to bring him into the fold, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to get permission from the Esks.

5) Will Mickey Donovan be back as special teams coordinator?

Look, I was critical of the special teams play early on in the season. Remember that game against Hamilton in July when William Stanback ran for over 200 yards and the Als won? Well, they nearly blew that game because they weren’t set up correctly for an on-side kick in the dying moments of the game. Thankfully, their blunder didn’t comeback to haunt them.

But after some rough stretches early, the Als got some solid play from their special teams. Shakir Ryan brought a kick back for a touchdown in the weather shortened home game against Saskatchewan and Mario Alford did some serious damage on returns when he was brought in. Alford also scored a touchdown during the East-Semi Final loss to the Esks.

https://twitter.com/CFLonTSN/status/1193603310378536961

Overall, Donovan’s unit got better as the season progressed. Is that enough to keep him around or does Jones have someone else in mind for the job? We should find out soon enough.

The post Five questions regarding Khari Jones’ future Alouettes coaching staff appeared first on 3DownNation.

Montreal Alouettes head coach Khari Jones also joined the show to talk about the growth of Vernon Adams, his emotional post-game speeches, and he shed some light on his contract situation.

The True North Football Podcast is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Google Play, but you can also listen to it in the audio player below.

The post True North Football Pod ep. 4: Khari Jones on Vernon Adams, contract negotiations with Als appeared first on 3DownNation.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for a roster of players that exceeded expectations throughout the season. The Als fought to the very end, but they ended up dropping a 37-29 decision to the Edmonton Eskimos in the Eastern Semi-Final.

I got to stand between the two benches for my sideline gig on TSN 690 radio, so I have a unique perspective on what happened throughout the afternoon.

How did the Als lose? Why did the season end this way? And what’s to come this off-season?

Here’s the 10 things I thought during and after the game.

1 – Obviously, Trevor Harris had a field day with the Als defence. Many fans on Twitter were pointing out how defensive coordinator Bob Slowik needed to blitz more, but I don’t really think that was the issue.

Heading into this game, we knew that the Als weren’t going to sniff Harris. He gets rid of the ball too quickly. So what do you do? Slowik rushed three and four defenders regularly during the afternoon, but their decision to go with a defence that was primarily lined up in zone was a problem. The defensive backs had to be in a position to be more aggressive up on the line of scrimmage. If you get beat over the top, too bad. You can’t allow Harris to chip away at your defence five to 15 yards at a time.

2 – I like Slowik, but I’m not convinced that he’ll be back next season. Do the Als have enough quality pass rushers? No way. But your defence can’t let the opposing quarterback throw three incompletions the whole game.

Slowik made strides this year, no doubt about it. He got better and got exposed and got better again. It wasn’t all negative this year, but the reality is that he was a Mike Sherman hire. If Khari Jones re-signs in Montreal, he’ll surely have the freedom to bring in his own staff. Maybe he’ll decide to keep Slowik if he stays, but that just doesn’t seem likely right now.

3 – The coaching staff was presented with an intriguing decision on special teams leading up to this week. Would they bring back Mario Alford, who missed the last few games with an injury or would they keep going with Shakeir Ryan. They went with Alford and the decision paid off in the first half. What a great find by the Als. They haven’t had a game-breaking returner in years.

The @MTLAlouettes strike right back, thanks to Mario Alford's 99-yard return #GCPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/EWpl355r9E

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 10, 2019

4 – Getting a kick-return touchdown is fantastic. Unfortunately, when Edmonton controls the ball for long stretches and you get a punt-return touchdown, it means that your offence doesn’t see the field much.

The Alouettes ran a play for a touchdown right at the start of the second quarter. They didn’t run another offensive play until there was 2:31 remaining in the quarter. Credit to the Als for scoring on that late drive, but the offence dried up in the second half. The Esks had the ball for over 36 minutes in this game. That’s way too much.

5 – When Woody Baron came up with the interception in the fourth quarter and Adams followed it up with a rushing touchdown, I thought they were coming all the way back. I had seen that movie so often throughout the season that I was confident it was going to happen again.

The Als came back against Winnipeg at home, in Calgary and they won several close games. You couldn’t help but feel like they were going to win that game when they cut the deficit to five points.

6- The reason they didn’t win the game on the ensuing drive is because Adams threw a back-breaking interception to Josh Johnson that put the game to rest. The Als had another chance to win late, but there wasn’t much time left.

Here’s what Adams had to say about that interception (his second of the game):

“That was a bad read by me,” Adams said after the game. “I was supposed to read the half-back and I kind of skipped over my read at that moment. I didn’t see the half-back sitting there where I normally hit Jake (Wieneke). Bad read.”

Despite the loss, it was a great year for the quarterback who started the season fourth on the depth chart. Adams proved a lot people wrong, including myself. It’s encouraging to see that the Als have a quarterback they can seemingly build around going forward.

7 – Down the stretch, it almost seemed like the Als knew they were locked into second place in the East and they prevented Adams from using his legs to make plays. He did run quite well in Sunday’s game and finished the East Semi-Final with 57 yards on six carries and a touchdown on the ground. He’s way more dangerous when he runs the ball.

I know that teams want quarterbacks to develop into pocket passers and they want to protect their franchise players from taking additional hits, but they should adapt the offence to their quarterback’s skill-set.

I’d like to see Adams run the ball more often next year because he’s really good at it. He also has to make sure that he’s willing to slide and run out of bounds to avoid additional contact though.

8 – How about the performance receiver Dante Absher put together in his first career playoff game? Absher led the team in receptions (five) and receiving yards (60). The 25-year-old was cut after training camp and made his way back onto the practice roster during the season. He got an opportunity to play when DeVier Posey and Chris Matthews went down to injury.

I spoke to one Alouette on offence who told me he reminded him of former B.C. Lion and Winnipeg Blue Bomber Nick Moore. If Absher can be that kind of player, the Als will definitely take that.

I like seeing cut players come back and make an impact for the team in crucial moments. Absher should have a realistic shot of making the team out of camp in 2020.

9 – By now, you’ve probably heard that Khari Jones is set to become a free agent. He’s been unwilling to talk openly about his plans for next season, but his starting quarterback clearly wants him back.

I asked Vernon Adams about the importance of bringing Khari Jones back: “Nothing else is gonna sell tickets. Not a name, nothing. Winning is gonna sell tickets. We won this year. Khari knows how to win. He’s the guy. We have to bring him back.” #TSN690 #Alouettes

— Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) November 10, 2019

Jones has all the negotiating leverage right now. He knows that if the team allows him to get away, fans and season ticket holders will be upset. President Patrick Boivin has to make sure he gets this done as soon as possible. The relationship between he and his players seems really genuine.

10 – I’ve been in locker rooms after teams have been eliminated from the playoffs and I’ve never seen such an emotional group of players. Players were hugging and crying. All along I’ve gotten the sense that this team was tight-knit, but everything I saw on Sunday afternoon confirmed it. These guys were crushed, not only because they got eliminated from the playoffs, but because they couldn’t continue playing together.

Check out this emotional exchange between veteran centre Kristian Matte and Adams.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4tEOT0nRHs/

Als players will meet the media on Monday at 11 a.m. ET. I’ll have plenty of quotes and reaction from that media session on my Twitter account @JoeyAlfieri.

The post 10 things I thought: Alouettes season ends with crushing home loss to Esks appeared first on 3DownNation.

Montreal Alouettes middle linebacker Henoc Muamba joined the show to talk about his team being back in the playoffs, why Khari Jones should win coach of the year and which award (outstanding Canadian and top defensive player) he’d prefer to win.

Former Ottawa Redblacks kicker Chris Milo also appeared on The True North Football Podcast this week to break down the situation in Ottawa and how he left the team with a poor taste in his mouth.

Check out this week’s show right here:

The post True North Football Pod Ep. 3: Muamba on Als success, Milo on Campbell vs. Desjardins appeared first on 3DownNation.

Toronto Argonauts slotback S.J. Green joins the show to talk about surpassing the 10,000-yard mark, why he’s no longer an Alouette and he also shares his thoughts on who he thinks the best receiver in the CFL is right now.

Check out Episode 2 right here:

The post True North Football Pod Ep. 2: S.J. Green on best receiver in CFL, hitting 10K appeared first on 3DownNation.

Also, NFL and CFL player agent Sasha Ghavami joined the podcast to talk about whether or not the XFL is a threat to the CFL, the first year of CFL 2.0, and CFL players needing better working conditions.

The post True North Football Podcast Ep. 1: Who should the MOP nominee be in the East? appeared first on 3DownNation.

That’s what the Montreal Alouettes handed the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium. They used beautiful wrapping paper and even put a pretty bow on it.

Despite a dominant performance from the defence, the Als found a way to put an end to their impressive three-game winning streak.

“I don’t want to say it’s a gift because (the Redblacks) made the plays,” head coach Khari Jones told me after the loss.

“That was the unfortunate part. We didn’t make the plays. Their returner was pretty dynamic. We were lacking some fundamentals there on the returns and just wrapping him up.”

Sorry, coach. That was totally a gift.

This game was huge for obvious reasons. Had the Als closed out the Redblacks, they would’ve wrapped up the season series against the East Division rival. The season series between these two teams will now be decided on Nov. 1 in Ottawa. Will that game mean anything? Only time will tell.

You know the drill. The Als scored 27 points so I’ll give you my 27 observations from the 30-27 loss.

1- The red zone offence has been an issue all season. No one’s talked about it because the Als won three games in a row, but they need to get it sorted out. They scored a touchdown on the second turnover the defence forced, but they had to settle for a field goal on the first one. When the defence gives you the ball back four times, you have to find a way to close out the game.

2- It’s not like Vernon Adams was lighting it up before he got hurt, but the offence clearly wasn’t as effective with Antonio Pipkin. I thought the turning point was when the Quan Bray touchdown was overturned.

3- Speaking of the Bray touchdown, I understand that the ball touched the ground as he was falling down but he never lost control of it. The ball never moved. In my mind, that’s inconclusive at best. I was shocked that they overturned that.

4- I spoke to Bray about it after the game: “It was a catch,” a clearly frustrated Bray said. “The official called an overturn. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

5- I was also surprised that head coach Khari Jones didn’t challenge for pass interference once the Bray touchdown was overturned. That was such an important drive from the offence because it came after DeVante Dedmon’s second kick-return touchdown.

6- I asked Khari Jones about his decision not to challenge the play for pass interference: “Just from the information that I had, it didn’t sound like it was pass interference. I didn’t get to see it. From the information up top, that’s what I went with. We’ll look at it and if there was (pass interference), we have to get better at that and make sure we’re seeing things the way they are.”

7- Jones didn’t get to see the Bray touchdown for himself? The Als are supposed to have home field advantage at home. Hey scoreboard operator, can we get the coaches a replay on the big screen, please?

8- Speaking of Bray…He finished with six catches for a modest 50 yards, but I’m really liking what I’m seeing. He’s got wheels and he doesn’t shy away from contact. I know it was a challenge for the Als to convince him to take a practice roster spot after training camp, but it’s all worked out for the best. He’s a special player.

9- Jones also called Vernon Adams’ injury a “minor concussion“. I’m not sure what that even means. He’s concussed or he’s not. It was encouraging to see him come out of the tunnel and back onto the sidelines for the end of the game.

10- Pipkin hadn’t suited up since Week 1 in Edmonton. He was clearly rusty, but one thing I noticed from the Edmonton game and Friday’s loss to Ottawa is that he holds on to the ball for way too long. His decision-making has to be sharper. The reason this offence has improved so much is because Jones was calling plays that allowed Adams to get the ball out of his hand quickly. Pipkin has to pull the trigger a lot quicker. I still like the upside but he has quite a bit of work to do in that regard.

11- I know Als fans on Twitter were quick to put all the blame on Pipkin but that’s not fair. I counted at least four clear dropped passes after he came into the game. Jake Wieneke has to come up with that long ball near the right sideline. Malcolm Carter also dropped a ball on second down which would have been enough to convert the first down on the play. Geno Lewis had a drop and so did B.J. Cunningham. It wasn’t all on Pipkin.

12- Cunningham missed the last game against Edmonton because of a knee injury. He got the bye week to recover, too, but he clearly wasn’t himself. I think the injury is still bothering him.

13- I realize that Ottawa’s defence was stacking the box, but the Als got away from the running game. You have to keep William Stanback involved, especially when you have the lead in the fourth quarter.

14- After he fumbled on the final play of the game, Stanback needed help getting off the field. Jones didn’t have an update on his status, but I saw Stanback walking around on the field after the game, so it appears as though he avoided a serious injury.

15- Bob Slowik’s defence continues to improve each week. We talked about the four turnovers they created, but they also kept Ottawa in check all night. The Reblacks only surpassed the 100-yard mark of total offence early in the fourth quarter. That’s just insane.

16- The Als still don’t get enough pressure on the quarterback, but they have arguably the best secondary in the league. Tommie Campbell is playing on another level right now.

17- Ciante Evans came up with a pair of interceptions in the game. What a pick up he ends up being. They released Ernest Jackson before training camp to free up the money to sign him. He’s fit in like a glove.

18- Patrick Levels has been outstanding at the SAM linebacker spot. I think he may have been the best signing of the winter.

19- Another newcomer, Taylor Loffler, had a fumble recovery during the game. He’s all over the field. He’s physical, he’s smart, and he’s been incredible when healthy.

20- I’m not sure how many lives Boris Bede has, but his punting placement continues to be wildly inconsistent. I can’t blame him for missing a field goal attempt from 50-plus yards because that happens, but the punting is a real issue. The Als have to bring someone else in to compete with him. If they decide to go with two kickers, it would probably have to be two Canadians.

21- I liked what I saw from Shakeir Ryan. He looked explosive at different times and I think they should stick with him for at least another week. I’d like to see them develop an offensive package for him, too.

22- Here’s a stat that stunned me: per RDS’ David Arsenault, the last time the Als gave up a kickoff return touchdown was 2010 (!!!) when Argonauts returner Ryan Christian (who?) scored against them.

23- Special teams coordinator Mickey Donovan was fuming after the second Dedmon return. I get to stand on the sideline for my gig with TSN 690 radio, so I get to hear a lot of interesting stuff throughout the game. The Donovan quote was somewhat predictable: “Wrap his ass up”.

24- Which players whiffed on Dedmon on that second return? Here’s the list: Spencer Moore, Martin Bedard, Brandon Calver, Ty Cranston, Greg Reid, Jarnor Jones (a body check, really?), Bedard again, and Bo Lokombo. Give the returner credit, but there’s no way a professional football team can allow that to happen.

25- I loved the nastiness in this game. These two cities are so close that there should be an intense rivalry. Unfortunately, the last time the Als were good, Ottawa wasn’t. And since Ottawa has been a juggernaut in the East, the Als haven’t been good. Now that both teams are battling for second place in the division, maybe we’ll see that fire like we did on Friday night. These teams should hate each other.

26- A good team would’ve found a way to close that game out. I’m not saying the Als aren’t good, but there’s clearly a lot of work left to do before they become a Grey Cup contender. Look, I’m more positive than most (I picked the Als to finish second in the East this year), so this isn’t me being negative. It’s just reality. Ottawa is bad. I know they’re 3-4, but they have some serious issues they need to address. They won’t get two special teams touchdowns every week. But it’s back to the drawing board for the Als. I said it all week: pump the breaks on them being the beast of the East. I think they’ll be fine. But good teams don’t lose back-to-back home games. They have to beat the Riders next Friday night.

27- On a non-CFL note, many people on Twitter and at last night’s game were joking around about the Philadelphia Eagles releasing me (see below). Pretty funny! All kidding aside, I wish the other Joey Alfieri all the best. Is a trip to the CFL up next for him? That would be fun!

Roster Move: #Eagles have signed TE Alex Ellis and waived LB Joey Alfieri.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/U7XWzhPhZE

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 2, 2019

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