There was not much in the way of good news last season for the Montreal Alouettes. The Als finished the year with a 7-11 record. That certainly would not have put them anywhere near playoff contention if they played in the West Division. The good news for Montreal is that they do not play in the West. In the East, the first place Ottawa Redblacks won the division with a 8-9-1 record, which meant that with as bad a season as the Larks had, with just a couple of more wins, they could have been playing for the Grey Cup.
Big changes were made during the off-season to make a run at the 105th Grey Cup a possibility. Most of the news circled around the departure of Kevin Glenn and the arrival of Darian Durant. But the work did not stop there. Let’s take a look at the upcoming season for the team using a good old-fashioned SWOT analysis. Here is the:
2017 Montreal Alouettes Season Preview
A SWOT analysis, for those unfamiliar with the business term, breaks down a company and evaluates them according to four categories: their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Folks who use this data then determine if a company can survive in the market they exist to serve. In this column, we’ll use the data to decide if the team can stay afloat in the East and give the fans a season worth watching.
Strengths
As stated in the intro, one of the biggest off-season moves for the Alouettes came at quarterback. Montreal suffered drastically in 2016 fielding three different starters over the course of the season. Kevin Glenn started the season on a high note with a win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the team he would end the season with. From there, Glenn was either ineffective, or not even on the field. The Als rotated through Vernon Adams Jr. and Rakeem Cato under centre for the rest of the year. Neither could provide consistent play.
Enter Darian Durant. The former and long time Saskatchewan Roughrider is coming into a situation where he will clearly be the number one. He finished as the number four quarterback in the league in terms of yardage last season. More important for Montreal, he appeared in 15 games. Durant brings stability to the most important position on the field and will offer the Als something they lacked last year: leadership.
Durant will have plenty of weapons at his disposal as well. Another strength of this team is the wide receiver position. Nik Lewis returns as the eighth best wideout in the league from last season. He will be joined this year by another top ten pass catcher in the form of Ernest Jackson. The former Redblack comes to Montreal on the heels of an outstanding 1,225-yard, 10-touchdown year. He will serve as another great set of hands for Durant.
One notable loss which might prove a positive is the absence of the distraction that is Duron Carter. While he was capable of huge gains, he was equally capable of drawing attention to himself, to the determent of his team. Hopefully without him, the team can focus on winning ball games and not babysitting their players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_lmvlLC0j8
Weaknesses
While their record may not have shown it, the Alouettes did not have a terrible defence. They had the number two man in total tackles in Bear Woods and three players inside the top 15 in sacks. This season, they lose Bear Woods as well as Winston Venable, one of those top 15 sack leaders. Not having these two defensive stalwarts on the field this season will certainly hurt Montreal.
The Alouettes will lean on a mix of young, inexperienced players, as well as some who are on the tail end of their careers. It could prove to be a difficult task to keep offences from putting up large numbers. If that happens, it will put more pressure on Durant and the offence to put up equally as high point totals. That might be too much to ask.
Opportunities
Hands down, the most significant opportunity for the 2017 Montreal Alouettes is the luxury of playing in the East Division. Not only does it have one team fewer than the West, but last season it was won by a team with a sub-.500 record. All the Als have to do is beat out one more team than they did last year and they are back in the playoff picture. It can be done given the lengths the front office went to in order to make the offence more competitive. But it won’t come easy…
Threats
The threats to Montreal come from the same place as their opportunities. Ottawa may have lost their Grey Cup MVP quarterback, Henry Burris, but his backup, Trevor Harris, still packs a punch, and is a relatively sprightly 31 years old. Harris will lead a high-powered offence into the new season without having to look over his shoulder. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will start the year with a healthy Zach Collaros, something they failed to do last season. Toronto will hope that Ricky Ray can stay healthy enough to challenge for the top spot in the division.
The Alouettes can not afford to stumble out of the blocks this year, let alone trip and fall down the stretch. It will take maximum effort from every aspect of this team in order to pull ahead of the rest of the East.
They were not that far off last season. 2017 might be the year they take the last step to get back to the postseason, and from there, anything is possible.
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