A year ago, at the Montreal Alouettes camp, there was only one certainty: the performance, efficiency and excellence of the offensive line. However, this seemingly flawless unity will ultimately not have lived up to expectations.
These unfortunate memories are distant and like last year, the guys on the offensive line have been moving around with smiles and enthusiasm since the start of training camp in Saint-Jérôme.
Sunday, at the end of the first intrasquad match, Pier-Olivier Lestage and Kristian Matte were lugging their equipment around like two kids about to commit a bad move. A week had just passed since their arrival in the town of priest Labelle, a colossus who would probably also have played on the offensive line if he had preferred football to the priesthood.
Lestage and Matte, who affectionately call each other “the young one” and “the old one,” display legitimate confidence when it comes time to discuss the expectations of their unit.
PHOTO NICHOLAS RICHARD, THE PRESS
Pier-Olivier Lestage and Kristian Matte took time to sign autographs and chat with fans on Saturday in Saint-Jérôme.
If expectations were immense last year, they are just as high this season, with the returns of Philippe Gagnon, Jamar McGloster, Nick Callander and Justin Lawrence.
“These are the same expectations, we will just have to arrive ready at the start of the season so as not to receive the negative comments that we received last year,” stressed a sweaty Lestage after playing the intra-team match in front of 3,000 people. and under a mercury of 28 degrees Celsius.
No one doubts the talent of this offensive line. On paper, it is one of the three most robust on the circuit. However, in 2023, Cody Fajardo was the second-most hit quarterback in the CFL, with 51 sacks and 322 yards lost.
“We had matches where we weren’t fantastic, we all know that,” recalls Matte.
According to him, the new system was complicated to assimilate in 2023, but he rightly adds that “towards the end of the season, there were a lot fewer errors. »
It’s not for nothing that Fajardo was much more comfortable in his pocket in the playoffs, on the way to the Gray Cup.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Quarterback Cody Fajardo (7) in conversation with Jesse Gibbon (67)
The offensive line coach, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, wants to build on the last moments of last season. “We ended the 2023 season still having a progression and productivity curve, whether it be ground play or protection. Things were heading in the right direction. »
A few weeks ago, Lestage confided to The Press that poor communication was probably the element that could best explain the generosity of the offensive line last season. With a mobile quarterback like Fajardo, what’s more, any disagreement has the potential to harm the team’s offensive success.
But after a year of learning the new system, “everyone is a lot more comfortable,” swears Lestage. We know each other better too. You have to look at the signals, listen to what the center has to say and things should go well. »
Battle in the backfield
The Montreal attack will look very different at the start of the season. Austin Mack, the team’s top receiver in 2023, left, then William Stanback, the starting running back, also packed his bags.
So there have been some interesting battles among receivers and running backs since the start of camp. The most thrilling remains the one in the backfield. It’s difficult to know who Jeshrun Antwi, Walter Fletcher and Sean Thomas-Erlington will be Jason Maas’ right-hand man. On Sunday, Fletcher got a few more reps and started the game next to Fajardo.
In any case, this internal struggle changes almost nothing in the preparation of offensive linemen. “I don’t think the players question who the carrier is,” thinks Brodeur-Jourdain.
Honestly, it doesn’t change anything for us. Our job is just to create a hole in the offensive line.
Kristian Matte, on the identity of the running back
In a way, “each carrier has different skills,” summarizes Lestage. So whether the carrier is a lightweight, more capable of moving quickly, or a heavyweight, capable of making his own way through the trenches, doesn’t change the game plan.
“It always remains to open the same breach. Afterwards, what the carriers will do with the breach that we give them, that can be different. »
The revelation among the recipients
Charleston Rambo is not just the name of a character that Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris or Sylvester Stallone could have played in the cinema. It is above all the name of the player who stood out the most during the intra-team match.
Rambo, a pass catcher who signed with the Alouettes in mid-May, has the potential to replace Austin Mack. He catches everything, in every situation. His angles of attack, his ability to adapt to the system and his audacity in tight spaces make him a prime candidate.
Formerly of the University of Miami, the 24-year-old got his chance with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. At 6’1″ and 177 pounds, he is not the most imposing, but the Alouettes’ leaders were surprised to see how he could use his physique.
Nothing is fixed in his case, but he is making a very strong impression so far.