The Montreal Alouettes have finished the preseason 2-0 for the first time since 2009. Here are some final thoughts ahead of final cuts as we close the preseason.

Preseason Game 1: Win Montreal (22) @ Ottawa (21)

Preseason Game 2: Win Hamilton (22) @ Montreal (25)

Quarterback Room

Cody Fajardo

Cody Fajardo looked very good in his preseason game against Hamilton. He looked very mobile and showed great ability to escape the pass rush. It has been said that he is back to 100% health after a season where he was playing through damage to his MCL. He threw only at 50% completing 7 of 14 passes. Fajardo made some very good plays including a touchdown pass to Kaion Julien-Grant and was certainly passing the eye test yesterday.

Davis Alexander

Davis Alexander had a lot of playing time this preseason and played very well. I believe based on his performance that he is most likely to receive the role of backup quarterback. He completed 18 of his 26 passes completing %71.4 percent of his passes for 203 yards. He also had a nice touchdown pass to Quartney Davis in the first preseason game. Alexander also demonstrated an ability to escape pressure in the pocket and extend plays. He added a 9-yard run in the first preseason game and a 13-yard run in the second game.

Caleb Evans

Evans did not get as good of a result as I expected. In his 2 preseason games, he had the most attempts of any quarterback for Montreal. He completed 17 of 29 passes for %58.6 completion and 155 yards.

Mike Glass III

Glass played well in his limited reps in the first preseason game completing 5 of 7 passes (%71.4) for 47 yards. He lead Montreal on their final drive which ended in Montreal kicking a game-winning field goal. I thought he played well enough to earn more playing time but he was put into the 2nd preseason game so late that his only role was to hand the ball off for run plays.

Rushing Game

It’s difficult to evaluate running backs on such limited amounts of carries and other factors such as rotating in different offensive linemen and defenses doing the same. William Stanback had the greatest yards per carry at 6.3 yards. A.J. Rose had 5 rushes for 16 yards averaging 3.2 yards. It is a little concerning to see both Antwi and Fletcher finish with carries under 3 on average but not quite cause for concern.

Receiving Room

Choosing who stays and who goes will be a really challenging task for Montreal GM Danny Maciocia. A lot of rookies made a case for themselves to stay on the team. Going into yesterday’s game there were 6 American rookies who were the likely candidates to get the final starting spot. 

James Letcher Jr. was another rookie receiver that was being used on punt and kick returns. He played pretty well showing very good elusiveness, but not sure it was enough to take the role of return man from Chandler Worthy.

American Rookie Receivers

It would seem the frontrunners after the preseason for the final spot as a starting receiver would be John Brunner or Quartney Davis. Davis had some nice catches going up over defenders including a touchdown in the first preseason game thrown by Davis Alexander. Brunner had a very impressive yard-per-catch average at 19 and led the team in yards.

Austin Mack also had a good preseason and has been with the starters in training camp frequently. Tyler Snead also proved to be a reliable pass catcher although he did not have big plays in his preseason game.

I would have liked to see Trevon Clark get more opportunities. He was reliable when targeted and had a really great average per catch. He was listed as  2nd string the first game and a 3rd string the second preseason game.

Keshunn Abram had time on the field as 2nd string in the first game and a 1st string receiver in the second preseason game. He had opportunities with time on the field but did not get the production that he would have hoped for. With so many players on the roster cycling in and out preseason can be a challenging time to stand out.

Defensive Observations

Israel Antwine

Israel Antwine played college for Oklahoma State and spent time on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad in 2022. He made a big impact in the final preseason game recording 2 sacks against Hamilton. He also had a tackle for a loss in the first preseason game.

Lwal Uguak

It was good to see Montreal’s 1st round pick, Lwal Uguak, who was taken 7th overall record a sack in the first preseason game.

J.R. Reed

Had a good stat line in the first game in which he tied for the team lead at 4 tackles and added a forced fumble.

Tyrell Richards

In the first preseason game recorded 3 tackles, a quarterback sack, and a forced fumble.

Kordell Rodgers

Recorded Montreal’s only interception in the preseason which he picked off in the 2nd preseason game against Hamilton.

Additional Comments

FB, David Dallaire

Dallaire was drafted in the 2nd round 13th overall. He had 3 receptions in the preseason for 25 yards and looked really good with the ball in his hands. It’s not often you see fullbacks making an impact on offense and to do it in the preseason when there are so many players getting touches is in a way even more impressive.

Kickers

David Cote made 3 for 3 of his field goals and Jose Carlos Maltos made all 6 of his field goals including a walk-off game-winner in the first preseason game against Ottawa.

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