By Fred Williams Jun 27, 2007, 15:35 GMT
The last two years have certainly been miserable ones for the Ticats, who after going a dismal 5-13-0 in 2005 actually dropped further down in 2006, posting a league-worst 4-14-0 record to not only finish last in the East Division but also miss the playoffs for the second straight year.
But hope certainly springs eternal in Hamilton as the club, under new coach Charlie Taaffe, actually won both of its exhibition games, which is half the number of victories the Ticats earned all of last year.
Taaffe comes into Hamilton with a pretty impressive resume. He was the CFL's coach of the year in 1999 and 2000 while with the Montreal Alouettes and led the Als to the 2000 Grey Cup - where the club lost a heart-breaking 28-26 decision to B.C. - before departing for the University of Maryland.
Taaffe's coaching background is on the offense. He was the Alouettes offensive co-ordinator before he was promoted to head coach and at Maryland he was the Terrapins' offensive coordinator. And given Hamilton's struggles last year, they could certainly use Taaffe's expertise.
Quarterback Jason Maas returns as the starter after enduring a miserable '06 season, this after twice coming off the bench in '05 to rally Edmonton to playoff wins en route to a Grey Cup title. Now, Maas did complete over 60 per cent of his passes with Hamilton, but had just eight touchdown passes compared to 17 interceptions.
And the Ticats finished last in the CFL in passing with 3,906 yards and just 13 TD tosses while giving up 29 interceptions. Compare that to the league- leading B.C. Lions, who threw for over 5,200 yards and 36 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions. Any coincidence B.C. also managed to win the Grey Cup last year while Hamilton posted the league's worst record?
Backing up Maas will be Rocky Butler, obtained in the offseason from Saskatchewan, and rookie Timmy Chang.
Maas will have a different receiving corps this year. The Ticats dealt D.J. Flick to Saskatchewan, released veteran slot back Mike Morreale and just recently acquired receivers Jason French and Thyron Anderson from Saskatchewan. Also, the Ticats took University of Regina receiver Chris Bauman first overall in the CFL Canadian college draft.
Hamilton will also have a different look in the backfield, with Canadian Jesse Lumsden starting the season at tailback. The Ticats selected Lumsden with their first-round draft pick two years ago, but Lumsden opted for NFL tryouts with Seattle and Washington the last two seasons, both times joining the CFL club at midseason after being released.
Hamilton's defense led the CFL last year in points allowed (24.4 per game), TD passes allowed (30) and yards allowed (372 per game) so it's not surprising the club's top offseason pickup was defensive lineman Nautyn-McKay Loescher, a former Alabama Crimson Tide player. McKay-Loescher spent last year with the Grey Cup-champion B.C. Lions, but wanted to return east to be closer to his home town of Toronto.
The Ticats also used fourth overall selection in this year's draft to take defensive lineman J.P. Bekasiak, a six-foot-six, 300-pounder from the University of Toledo, and also have Jermaine Reid in camp. Reid, a six-foot- four, 275-pound defensive lineman from Akron, was Hamilton's second-round pick, ninth overall, in 2005.
But while these players are all talented, they're also all young and, in the case of Bekasiak and Reid, still very green about the pro game.
Hamilton lost its top defensive player last year in the offseason when defensive back Jason Goss was traded to Edmonton for receivers Richard Alston and Nicolas Bisaillon, the negotiation rights to Chang and a 2007 second-round pick.
The kicking game also features a different face as gone are kicker Jamie Boreham and punter Pat Fleming. CFL rookie Nick Setta of Notre Dame will handle both punting and kicking duties for the Ticats this season.
Hamilton is also looking for increased production from kick returner Corey Holmes. The CFL's top special teams player in '05 with Saskatchewan, Holmes was a non-factor with the Ticats last year, something the Cats desperately need to change for improvement in '06.
Sports Network predicted finish: Fourth.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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