Let’s not forget that Andrew Wetenhall has only been truly in charge for roughly a year. It doesn’t excuse the fact that he has tried to rush things through to be competitive this season by meddling in football ops. However, I am somewhat hopeful (although that sentiment may change in a few months) that he will be wiser and be more patient with the process of being competitive again.
As for Kavis Reed, I give him an additional season to show he can build a respectable team and recruit well, both in Canada and the US.
For me, the main factors explaining the results are the ratio shakeup and the OL depth. Going with 2 Nationals at DT and 2 Internationals at OL is madness, especially since the only true ratio-breaking DT in free agency is Cleyon Laing. That thinking led Kavis to draft Fabion Foote, who seems nowhere ready yet, as his 1st pick, instead of reinforcing the OLine with players like Schram, Roy or Spooner.
Wally Buono has assessed that both Shologan and Westerman are effective when they play half of the snaps and he was right. Both have not been able to pressure the QB on a regular basis, while we see Toronto being stacked with quality DLinemen.
Moreover, Kavis has misassessed the OLine, with LBJ and Simmons not being able to withstand pressure from opposing pass rushers. The money spent on Simmons would have been better spent on a guy like J’Michael Deane, who was available on free agency until late March and who was a starter for Ottawa. The fact that he let go of both Ryan White and Jacob Ruby, who are in my opinion better than both Greaves and Vonk, obviously do not help our OL woes and depth.
Patience is the key here. If Kavis misassessed the players on the roster and repeats the same mistakes as in this season, he deserves to be fired. Until then, I won’t mind the turbulence right now.