Have a story idea? Contact us at sports @theotherpress.ca @ Sports Ottawa awarded third CFL team By David Hollinshead, Contributor he city of Ottawa is now preparing to enter the CFL for the third time, after the Ottawa Renegades were suspended in 2006. The franchise was awarded to Ottawa 67’s hockey club owner Jeff Hunt in 2008 and four years later all the legalities have been settled, and Ottawa is primed for their comeback. Ottawa has a long- standing history in the CFL, as the Ottawa Rough Riders (not to be confused with the Saskatchewan Roughriders) were a founding member of the league, winning nine Grey Cups in their 120 year history. The franchise would eventually come into poor ownership and was forced to fold in 1996. Five years later, the city would be awarded another franchise, calling themselves the Ottawa Renegades. The team never had a winning season and was forced to be suspended after 2006. It is up for debate which name the new Ottawa franchise will go with, the least likely being they return to the Rough Riders. If they did decide to go with their oldest name, the Saskatchewan Roughriders would fight it, and Jeff Hunt doesn’t need more legal actions to deal with. The most likely choice would be to go back to the Renegades, as the Renegades already 22 have a solid fan base following with “Gade Nation” and, since the franchise never formally folded, they could return to it. The new Ottawa team will be given every chance to start competing right away. There will be a three-round expansion draft where Ottawa will pick players from the other teams to build their roster. Each team can protect a certain number of players, and no team can lose two of the same position. The first round is the import round, and the remaining are for non-imports. The Ottawa team will also be given the first pick of every round of the CFL entry draft the year after their inaugural season. Despite only having eight picks of imports, Ottawa has several two were forced to start Kevin Glenn, who has led them to a second place standing in the West and has kept the team offense rolling strong. He will most likely not be protected, as he is a proven veteran in the league, a leader, and the perfect choice for Ottawa’s starting QB. They will most likely want to draft a second quarterback, unless they call up free agent man-child Casey Printers or go witha Canadian (unlikely). The younger quarterbacks that would be available would be Saskatchewan’s Drew Willy, Hamilton’s Quinton Porter, and Edmonton’s Matt the CFL, import or non- import, but Cory Boyd is currently sitting in free agency. Former all-star Boyd started this year for the Toronto Argonauts and led the league in rushing before being cut for Chad Kackert. He was quickly picked up by Edmonton, but was the odd man out when Canadian Jerome Messam came back from Miami. At receiver, Ottawa can look right at BC and have a whole pool of choices. Ernest Jackson, Kierrie Johnson, Akeem Foster, Paris Jackson, Keith Godding are all players that will most likely not be protected, giving Ottawa a choice of deep threat or slot possession, import or non-import, young or experienced, leaving their mouths watering. Arland Bruce might also not return to the Lions as his role has not only The most likely choice would be to go back to the Renegades, as the Renegades already have a solid fan base following with “Gade Nation” and, since the franchise never formally folded, they could return to it. quality players that can fall into their lap if they play their cards right and are aggressive in free agency. There are several quarterbacks that Ottawa can draft and still be competitive. After losing quarterback Drew Tate for the season, the Calgary Stampeders Nichols. BC’s Mike Riley would also be available, but considering how stocked the Lions are at receiver, it would be more beneficial to go there when picking from BC. At tail back, they may not even need to draft one, as tailbacks are not only easy to find in diminished, but after being injured and the emergence of both Nick Moore and Courtney Taylor leave him expendable. Hamilton’s Dave Stala, Edmonton’s Dobson Collins, and Toronto’s Maurice Mann would round out a solid receiving corpse well as Free agencies import Ryan Grice-Mullen. The Ottawa team also has a lot of potential choices on defense. Edmonton has great defensive line depth and Ottawa could probably score former NFLer Rashad Jeanty and could look at other NFL rejects to fill the other defensive end need. Canada has also recently been producing more defensive line talent like BCs Jabar Westerman, Miami Dolphins linebacker Jamar Westerman, and Dallas Cowboys Tyrone Crawford, so drafting one would be easy enough. In free agency lies defensive tackle Aaron Hunt to shore up the d-line. Former all- star Hunt is a perfect example of a team first guy, mentor, and leader. There’s plenty of talent at linebacker in the league, and the Canadian draft continuously produces them. One player that Ottawa has to target is BC non-import James Yurichuk who just lost the starting job to Adam Bighill who is having a monster season. Yurichuk, in his small role, has two interceptions on this year. CFL teams like to use a Canadian safety, so Ottawa could draft one, while also looking at Tad Kornegay, currently of the Calgary Stampeders to lead the secondary. Kornegay was a fan favourite and captain of the Saskatchewan Roughriders before he was cut after a terrible start to their season, and later helped the BC Lions turn their season around to a Grey Cup victory last year. The Ottawa franchise looks to arrive in 2013, and will have a great opportunity to compete right away.