The Ottawa Redblacks have done an admirable job of spreading the ball around all season long. With players like Justin Hardy, Jaelon Acklin, Bralon Addison, and Nathaniel Behar on the roster they decided it was still time to overhaul their receiver room. Bringing in Dominique Rhymes, Nick Mardner, Kalil Pimpleton, Eli Stove, and Andre Miller before the season. Since then, they have seen four different players’ top thirty receptions through ten games, and six total pass catchers have topped three hundred yards. The surprising part about those numbers? Nick Mardner, who just went off with three receptions for ninety-five yards and two touchdowns last week is not among those six yet.

Injuries Have Caused a Constant Rotation

Unfortunately, due to injuries to Bralon Addison, Jaelon Acklin, Kalil Pimpleton, and Devonte Dedmon there has not been much opportunity for Dru Brown to see what a fully healthy group can do to a defense. The emergence of Nick Mardner could not have come at a better time as in that game Jaelon Acklin took a scary hit and was hospitalized after the play. He would join Bralon Addison, and Kalil Pimpleton on the six-game injured list. All three of these men are among the top six pass catchers on this team in 2024.

Typically, it is not this late in the season when a team like Ottawa in need of reinforcements can bring in a guy like Rasheed Bailey who has the kind of history, and talent that he does in the CFL. There are also not many players that can fill the role of Bralon Addison as a hybrid type player that can get involved in the run game as well. Bailey checks all those boxes for Ottawa and does so bringing prior experience with their starting quarterback Dru Brown from their time together in Winnipeg.

Having been released a month ago by the Toronto Argonauts, Bailey’s availability could not have come at a better time for the Redblacks who have been hit by a rash of injuries that would leave most teams devoid of talent. Luckily for Ottawa they still have Hardy, Mardner, and Dominique Rhymes available.

Where and How will Bailey Fit?

Bailey has twenty-nine carries for 230 yards an average of 7.93 yards per carry in the CFL. This season the Redblacks have been using a combination of wideouts in the backfield as the depth behind starting to run back Ryquell Armstead. Bralon Addison, Devonte Dedmon, Justin Hardy have all taken carries and lined up in the backfield at one point or another this season. Addison is the leader in that category this season.

Addison being injured along with the other injuries at wide receiver leaves the Redblacks thin at the position and needing to get creative to fill these needs. As I mentioned before, there are only so many players that can fill the role that Addison has for the Redblacks this season. Bailey is one of those players. He is also a much bigger and more durable version of what Addison brings to the table as a runner.

At 6’1 217 pounds, you could line Bailey up as a running back, and if fans did not know he played primarily wide receiver normally no one would bat an eye at this. He looks like a running back, and often runs like one after the catch as well, which is part of what has made him so dynamic over the years.

Bralon Addison has been on the injury list multiple times this season. When the Redblacks signed him, he was injured, and they allowed him to sit until he was 100% again in 2023. However, at some point you must acknowledge there is a pattern for Addison and these injuries. He suffered a torn ACL in college. He missed the first half of the 2021 season due to an injury. He would be reinjured twice more playing in just a few games.

In 2022 he played eight games before being carted off the field. He signed with Ottawa for 2023 and as mentioned missed the first part of the season due to rehabbing his Achilles injury he suffered in 2022. Bailey, however, played in all fourteen games in 2021, and all 18 in 2022 and 2023. He also played in all six games this season before being released by Toronto. His only lost time injury issue in the CFL came in his first season back in 2019.

Bailey will try and take over right where Addison left off playing in this hybrid runner/receiver role and even see some time on special teams as well. He is a veteran presence that brings a lot of experience winning in his past. It is clear the Redblacks feel this season is their time to make a deep playoff run, and bringing in Bailey could pay dividends late.

When Will He See the Field?

If recent indications across the league are accurate for the Redblacks, he could see the field as soon as next week’s game. The Redblacks have so far this season shown restraint in rushing free agents onto the field if it can be avoided. When they signed Sherrod Baltimore, a player who had familiarity with the system, they waited two weeks before being forced to insert him in the lineup.

The same could be said for Tarvarus McFadden, Levante Bellamy, Winston Rose, and Tj Rayam. They have let these players acclimate themselves before calling upon them to play. We already know unless something changes at the last minute, that Bailey will sit out this weekend’s game versus the BC Lions who have recently signed two CFL veterans and returned them to action immediately.

We also saw Montreal do the same with Austin Mack. Meanwhile, the Redblacks will take a more measured approach to his introduction into the offense. A smart move when they are playing out an impressive win streak. I have a feeling that we will be seeing Bailey in some capacity next week at home versus the team that released him earlier this season.

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