The Montreal Alouettes will enter the 2016 season with plenty of uncertainty following another busy offseason. The post-Anthony Calvillo era will continue with Montreal still searching for a franchise quarterback that can take the reigns and lead them back to a Grey Cup out of the East division. The quarterback carousel has continued this preseason with Kevin Glenn likely next in line to take the reigns after last year’s doomed experience that saw Rakeem Cato, Jonathan Crompton and Brandon Bridge all play and struggle.
Team Strengths
The return of Duron Carter could give the Alouettes the best wide receiver tandem in the entire CFL with Carter and S.J. Green lining up together in 2016. Carter has recorded nearly 2,000 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns with a highlight reel of impressive grabs throughout his young CFL career and after a stint in the NFL he is back and ready to make big plays for Montreal this season. Green is one of the best receivers in the CFL and his big-play ability will continue to create matchup problems for opposing defenses.
Also on offense, the team has a fairly strong backfield with Tyrell Sutton leading the way. He led the CFL in rushing last year with 1,059 yards. This team has excellent skill position players outside of the quarterback spot, which is a crucial weakness.
The Alouettes also have a powerful pass rush led by John Bowman on the defensive side of the football. Bowman set a career-high with 19 sacks in 2015 and the 33-year-old is back to lead an impressive cast of pass rushers that also includes Gabriel Knapton, Aaron Lavarias, Kyries Hebert and Bear Woods.
Team Weaknesses
The quarterback position has been a major area of concern for Montreal since Anthony Calvillo retired. Last year, no Alouettes quarterback had more than 12 passing touchdowns, which means no Als quarterback ranked in the top 10 of touchdowns passes. In an eight-team league, that’s a problem. Their leading passer in 2015 was Rakeem Cato, who finished the year eighth in passing yards with 2,167 but had nine interceptions to go along with his nine touchdown passes.
The Alouettes are banking on that Glenn can step in and fill the void left by Calvillo with a strong season as the unquestioned No. 1 quarterback, but there are obvious question marks as to whether or not that will actually happen. Glenn has thrown for nearly 47,000 passing yards in his CFL career but he just turned 37 years old and durability will be a concern. Montreal also has to be concerned about the change at left tackle following Josh Bourke’s exit. Bourke anchored the left side of the Alouettes’ offensive line for nine seasons but signed with the Toronto Argonauts in the offseason, creating a major void at the blindside.
Team X-Factor
Vernon Adams Jr. is on his way to Montreal where it might not be long before he gets the opportunity to show why he was one of the most exciting quarterbacks in college football during his time at Oregon. Adams threw for 26 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions last season and it might only be a matter of time before he steals the starting job away from Glenn. Adams is young, smart, mobile and has a rocket arm so he could definitely be an X-Factor for Montreal this season.
Outlook
The Alouettes enter this season with nearly as many question marks as they finished last season with and while they have some quality pieces in place, it doesn’t make sense to expect this team to contend for a playoff spot just yet. Montreal will hope that Glenn can play at a high level or that Adams can be a difference-maker in his first CFL season, but even then the team might have too many holes on both sides of the football. Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa appear destined to contend for playoff spots and right now, we have the Alouettes finishing fourth in the Eastern division behind them as a long shot to make the postseason. They need a lot to go right to get into the postseason.
Pick: Fourth in the Eastern Division. Will not make playoffs.
