The Alouettes have announced that they have signed a pair of National players to add Canadian depth to their 2023 roster. Defensive End Vincent Desjardins returns to the Alouettes after getting limited playing time during the 2023 season. They have also signed wide receiver Jake Harty, who comes to the Alouettes from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Let’s look at the value these National players bring to the Alouettes 2023 roster.
Harty comes to the Alouettes after starting his CFL career with the Ottawa Redblacks and continuing his career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Ottawa Redblacks drafted the 6’2″, 210-pound wide receiver in the 2nd round of the 2015 CFL Draft. During his two years with the Redblacks, Ottawa lost in the Grey Cup championship game in 2015 and won the Grey Cup during the 2016 season. Harty forced a fumble in each of those Grey Cup championship games. During the Redblacks training camp in 2018, Harty tore his ACL and could not play again until 2021.
The native of Calgary made a CFL comeback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2021 and continued to play with the Roughriders in 2022. During the 2022 season, Harty produced 11 catches for 66 yards for Saskatchewan. Harty has played in 57 games in the CFL and has accumulated 48 catches for 378 yards and one touchdown. He has also contributed to special teams during his CFL career and has collected 24 special teams tackles.
Defensive end Vincent Desjardins is a native of Quebec City and played U Sports football at Laval. During his four seasons at Laval, he was a part of two Vanier Cup victories in 2016 and 2018. While at Laval, the 6’1″, 275-pound Desjardins played in 25 games and accumulated 51 tackles, 11.5 sacks, forced three fumbles, and recovered one fumble. He was selected as a U Sports All-Canadian for his last three seasons with the Rouge et Or.
The Calgary Stampeders drafted Desjardins with the 17th pick in the 2019 CFL Draft by the Calgary Stampeders. During his two-year career with Calgary, he played in 18 games and had three defensive tackles, one forced fumble, and recovered one fumble. During the 2022 season, he played four games for Montreal and produced one defensive tackle.
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