Training Camp Primer: Third time’s the charm for Ticats

CFL.ca Staff

HAMILTON – With training camps opening in less than a week, CFL.ca is taking a look at the buzz surrounding each team as it heads into the 2015 campaign.

The Ticats ended last season with a heartbreaking loss in the Grey Cup, a feeling all too familiar to them. Despite that, they will look on improving last year’s 9-9 record even though it was good enough to win them the East Division. Quarterback Zach Collaros should build on the positive strides he made in his first full season as a starter, while getting offensive lineman Ryan Bomben in exchange for their first round pick will help the Ticats’ offence take another step forward.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

How will the team recover from its second Grey Cup loss in a row?

Losing two Grey Cups in a row can have a certain impact on team morale, especially the way the Ticats lost in the dying seconds of last year’s matchup with the Stampeders. The Ticats have vowed to channel the off-season’s energy in a positive way, so expect the team to bring plenty of urgency and intensity to training camp this year.

Young linebackers looking to make an impact.

Aside from Marc Beswick and Simoni Lawrence, no linebacker on Hamilton has more than two years of CFL experiece. Should one of them get hurt, it will be up to one of the younger players to step up in their place. That could have consequences for Hamilton’s defence, but it’ll also provide opportunities for four of their six recent draft picks that were linebackers.

Who will replace Delvin Breaux in Hamilton’s seconday?

The team lost one of its main defensive pieces when Delvin Breaux left for the NFL in the off-season. Who will fill the void in the Ticats’ secondary? Hamilton had the East’s top-ranked defence and second-best in the league last season and will need another strong showing should the Ticats hope to return to the post-season. Breaux was a one-of-a-kind CFL defender and will be difficult to replace.

POSITION BATTLE

The Ticats enter the season with a three-headed beast at the running back position featuring C.J. Gable, Nic Grigsby and Mossis Madu. How the team utilizes each player is something to keep an eye on, as all three have the talent to be a feature part of the offence.

BULLETIN BOARD

“Calgary is a great team, they were the class of the league all year. They had a well-earned championship and we want to be in that position they were in going into the Grey Cup next year. We want to be that team that wins 80, 90 per cent of our games and has that touchdown edge going into the Grey Cup. We want to be that team. We don’t want to be the underdog again.”

– Ticats receiver Andy Fantuz on taking the next step as an elite CFL team.

Check out the rest of CFL.ca’s training camp previews:

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