Roster Overhaul: New-look Argos eyeing top of East Division

CFL.ca presents ‘Off-Season Depth Chart’, a series of articles reviewing every team’s depth chart at is stands to date. Note that these are not official team-issued depth charts, but projections based on insight and analysis from around the league.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.cfl.ca/2021/06/10/roster-overhaul-new-look-argos-eyeing-top-east-division/
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I think this roster is an improvement comparing to previous ones from the last seasons and I think it will be a battle for the second place against the Alouettes. Altough I still think that the Als will finish second in the East, I also think that we wont have a crossover. Of course everything can change.

Argos roster has two problems in my opinion. First is at the QB position. If Arbuckle is a James Franklin 2.0, I doubt that MacBeth is the guy that will lead the team to the playoff. Second, a lot of key players are kinda old and will have to be replaced sooner than later.

If Montreal had the same team as last year then yes. But i have feeling there wlll be no cross over this year. Toronto and Hamilton east final

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I find Montreal’s 2021 roster strengh similar to the one of 2019, but way better than the one of 2020. Offensive is mostly the same, but the return of Stanback will be an upgrade from James Wilder Jr. In defense Muamba was a big lost, but the return of Chris Akie and Patrick Levels, who can play on the second or third line, will help. Biggest improvement is the Defensive line, while the biggest issues are the secondary + the kickers.

My concern is with the coaches. 1st year HC/OC, DC & ST. Saw this before with BC in 2019 where you had some very new to coaches.

Before anyone puts Toronto as number two in the East id ask. Where are the fans. Toronto's pathetic fan attendance needs to be corrected before this team can crow about anything. A team with no fans has no revenue and is nothing more than a drag on the rest of the league. With 5,000 being your average attendance it won't be long before you're back in the board room looking for league handouts. With the league being in severe financial hardship it would be a clear waste to continue propping up this team.

Without a team in the largest city in Canada, the CFL’s days would be numbered.

Why? a team doesn’t have to be in the city limits.
New York city doesn’t have an NFL team in the city, they are both across in New Jersey.
The CFL would still have a team very close to Toronto, the Tiger-Cats.
The region is having trouble supporting two CFL teams.
No it wouldn’t be the end of the CFL if the Argos were gone. You think that Rider fans would walk away without a team in Toronto?
The CFL survived for a number of years without a team in Montreal, it survived without a team in the nations capital.
It would survive without a team in Toronto

I have been a loyal supporter of the Double Blue for over 45 years. The Argos have nowhere to go but up, after finishing 4-14 the previous two seasons. The Argos need to market their team much better, with any luck they may be able to fill the empty seats in Canada's largest city ? In my humble opinion signing MBT makes no sense at all ! :laughing: :arrow_up: :canada: :thailand:

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The XFL merger will help market the team and league.

I doubt a merger will happen

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Some kind of partnership will. I would love to see the Grey Cup champs take on the XFL champs in an international bowl.

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Yup , that should get you and the other 5 football fans in the city interested in actually supporting the team and the league . Nothing says Toronto like U.S. of Eh does . :star_struck:

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Can't be that the region can't support 2 teams. When I was a kid CNE Stadium was packed for Argo games (30,000 plus), and the Ti-Cats were sold out constantly (they were the 'Beast of the East' in those days). Toronto's population was less than a third of the GTA's population today. So lack of population to support 2 teams isn't the issue. The fact that the CFL in Toronto must now compete with MLS Soccer, MLB, NBA - and even the NFL (Buffalo Bills) - for the sports dollar is likely an issue. There's a reason the CFL is hell-bent on the Argos surviving. First, it is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) professional sports franchises in North America. So, it's a flagship for the League. Secondly, the subtext is: If the League can't survive in the country's largest sports market, what does it say about the game?

You might be right. The League might survive. But there would a pall over the whole League if the Great Ship Argonaut sinks...

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I remember those days as well Nunes-Vaz. The reality is 90% of those fans have died. The Argos have never been able to replace this lost generation of fans. Toronto will always be a Hockey town first in my humble opinion ! :face_with_monocle:
Leo Cahill & Joe Theisman

Toronto is not only a hockey town. Argos have been around a long time. We lost a lot of fans because the Skydome was not a place to watch CFL football or even NFL games. CNE stadium had many fans attending and enjoying. Somehow management has to lure back fan support for BMO field.

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