Jake Ceresna traded for draft pick / negotiation list player

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS were involved in pair of trades on Friday. In their first transaction, they dealt defensive lineman Jake Ceresna to Edmonton in exchange for defensive lineman Odell Willis. 

Ottawa followed that up by dealing Willis to the BC Lions in exchange for a fourth round pick in 2018 and a player off the Lions' negotiation list.

Much is being made of this but I find it a little overblown.

Defensive tackle is a tough position to evaluate because it's not easily defined by its statistics. It's difficult to ascertain whether Ceresna had an impact in eating up blockers and freeing up other players, for example. There's just no statistic for that.

It's hard to believe he did, however because Ottawa tried several players at the defensive end position and no one was particularly successful. His own stats were nothing out of the ordinary; 18 tackles and two sacks in 14 games.

Derek Taylor is an excellent stats analyst and he provided the following assessment.

Those are the numbers that aren't widely reported. it's hard to get a solid stat for pass knockdowns and pressures. In Ceresna's case, they're good, but I'm not sure they're irreplaceable.

Perspective reminder: Jake Ceresna was picked up in May of 2017. At the time, we were wondering who would replace Cleyon Laing after a strong playoff performance through to Grey Cup 104. Ceresna was a complete nobody at opening kickoff of the 2017 season.

So while on the surface losing a young player for a fourth round-pick may not seem to make sense, I think the front office believes he is a commodity that can be replaced relatively easily whereas quality Canadian players (acquired through the draft, mostly) are more valuable players. They may also believe his replacement is already on the roster, like Ceresna was last year.

I want to revisit this after the draft to get a better picture of what trading Ceresna led to. Putting a face to the draft choice will help up evaluate this trade far better.

REDBLACKS acquire J.C. Beaulieu from Alouettes

It may not appear like it, but this blog still has a pulse.  There have not been any posts since I added the article about the formation of the (eventual) Ottawa Rough Riders last July but several pages that used to exist on my Capital Region Football website have been restored recently.

I do want to include local football news as well going forward and the trade of Patrick Lavoie seemed like a good place to start. The Redblacks hardly need my help in spreading word of their activities so I'll typically be more focused on the amateur scene in that respect, and history of football in the region in general, but this move was noteworthy.

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have acquired fullback J.C. Beaulieu from the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for fullback Pat Lavoie, the club announced Tuesday. 

"Pat has been an integral part of the REDBLACKS from Day 1 and our franchise would not have accomplished as much as we have if not for his contributions. We wish him the best in Montreal," said REDBLACKS General Manager Marcel Desjardins.   "We are also excited to acquire J.C. Beaulieu and look forward to seeing him on the field as a member of the REDBLACKS."

Beaulieu has played four CFL seasons, all with Montreal. Last season, the 27-year-old native of Trois-Rivieres rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown while suiting up for 10 games with the Alouettes.

Lavoie has spent the last four seasons with the REDBLACKS after spending the first two years of his career with the Alouettes. The 30-year-old Laval University product had 35 catches for 280 yards last year after winning the Grey Cup with Ottawa in 2016. 

For context, let's add some comments from the Ottawa Sun article by Tim Baines related to this move.

“We’re trying to find a way to maximize our (salary) cap space,” Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins said. “We’re really trying to maximize our money, put our money into our starters, not having to invest as much in players who are not necessarily full-time starters. J.C. was a guy we felt would be able to come in and do a lot of things Pat does for significantly less money, and he’s also younger, which never hurts. That’s how it all came about.”

Lose experience, gain youth and save a few bucks. I think this is a locker room loss as well, said from the outside looking in, of course. Lavoie seemed like a popular player among his peers.

With this move, only three players remain from the REDBLACKS expansion draft of December 2013; OL Matt Albright and DLs Zach Evans and Andrew Marshall. Marshall is the only one currently under contract for 2018.

The Formation Of The Ottawa Football Club, Sept. 1876

A blog or website about the history of football in Ottawa, or the capital region as a whole, needs to begin with the formation of the Ottawa football club. There was "football-based activity" prior to that that point, but this is, for all intents and purposes, the launching point (even if the red and black colours had yet to come into play at that point).

I've copied the original news report as closely as I could, including the over-reliance on the comma. ;-) There was no specific writer credited for the story.

The meeting advertised to take place at the Cricket Ground on Monday afternoon for the organization of a Football Club was adjourned until last night, and accordingly a goodly number of gentlemen assembled at 8:30 in a private room at the Russell House, and at once proceeded to business. 

Mr. C. Brodie was appointed chairman of the meeting and Mr. G. H. Scott Secretary.  The following gentlemen were then enrolled as member - the Club to be known as the "Ottawa Football Club: - 

C. B. Brodie
G. H. Scott
A.F. Cotton
M. K. Dunlevi
P. Sherwood
M. J. Dunlevi
A. C. Welsh
V. Nicholson
L. Jarvis
F. Newby
K. Early Wilmot
J. Brunel
J. Bruce McDonald
G. R. Robertson
E. S. Skead
J. Leslie
G. Thompson
J. Albert Grant
J. E. Prower
A. Stewart
J. M. Johnston
A. Morginstein
G. Tempest
J. B. Monk
J. Fletcher
Dr. Powell
W.R. Baker
F.A. Dixon
J. J. Gormully
T. M. Morton
G. E. Millar
-- Henry
J. Morkell
-- Piddington 

The following officers were next duly elected:
Mr. Allan Gilmour, President; Mr. K. Eardly Wilmot, Vice-President; Mr. James Fletcher, Secretary-Treasurer.
Committee -- A. Stewart, E. S. Skead. G. H. Scott, P. Sherwood, Dr. Powell.  

The jerseys, stockings and caps have already been ordered from England by Morgan & Sons, and are expected in the course of a week or ten days. The colors of the club are cerise and French Grey. The jerseys and stockings will be these colors, with navy blue knickerbockers. Candidates for admission to the club, must in future be proposed and seconded by members, and their names then handed to the committee for approval. The making out of by-laws, choosing of a standard game, ground, etc, is all left in the hands of the committee. After a vote of thanks to Mr. Brodie, for the manner in which he had filled the chair, the meeting was adjourned. 

I have seen some debate as to the exact date and for that reason I regret not writing it down when I copied the article at the library downtown. I found it nearly right away on my first attempt years ago and failed on subsequent tries. I was finally able to confirm that it came from the September 20th Ottawa Daily Citizen, meaning that the meeting took place the previous date, the 19th.