The Ottawa Redblacks have had a lot of success over the past few seasons, bringing in players from their negotiation lists. In recent years we saw them bring in a quarterback in Dustin Crum who ended up starting the majority of the 2023 season, while in 2024 they signed wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton who took the league by storm before suffering an injury landing him on the 6-game injury list. With that in mind let us take a look at the players Ottawa will try to woo for 2025 and beyond.
Quartet of Quarterbacks on the Negotiation List
Despite finding the quarterback of the present and near future in Dru Brown, Ottawa has targeted four more players at the position as potential options moving forward. Judging by how Brown has played in 2024, these are most likely players they would bring to develop as depth behind Brown. Regardless we have already seen Jeremiah Masoli, and Dustin Crum start games this season due to injury, and I for one am a firm believer in the right situation you can never have too much depth at quarterback. See the 2023 season when Ottawa was forced to start four separate passers.
Max Brosmer, New Hampshire/Minnesota
Max Brosmer is a six’2 225-pound quarterback hailing from Roswell, Georgia. He attended Centennial High School where he made a name for himself. As his high school career came to a close, he tried to garner more attention by attending Junior Day with Appalachian State, and later attending camp with North Carolina. Ultimately it was neither of the schools he would begin his college career with, instead ending up in New Hampshire.
He would compete with fifth year senior and transfer Brian Dolan, redshirt freshman Bret Edwards, and sophomores Stephen Hedburg, and Tommy Herion, beating out all challengers for the job. Being named the starter as a true freshman is impressive enough, what he did next only helped cement him as the starter going forward.
He immediately led the team to a better record than their 2018 season. Finishing 5-5 is not the most impressive number, but it was an improvement over their 4-7 record the season before, and he did so as a first-year student. His second season would amount to just one game due to the spread of a global pandemic.
He would go 20 of 35 for 128 yards and two touchdowns but lost the game. Early in 2021 he tore his ACL further delaying his ascent into stardom. In 2022 however, the gloves came off and Brosmer showed what he could really do. He led his team to a 9-4 record, completing 62.6% of his passes for 3,157 yards, twenty-seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. He rushed seventy-five times and scored two more touchdowns on the ground.
His final season as a Wildcat he put up even better numbers with career highs in completion rate 64%, passing yards 3,464, touchdowns thirty-four, while also throwing just five interceptions his lowest number in any season he had played more than one game. Finishing on a high note, he could have taken his chances in the pros but opted to move on to Minnesota as a graduate student for the 2024 season.
In his first game in 2024, he managed a 61.9% completion rate having compiled 166 yards passing and rushing for one touchdown but lost to a school he once tried to attend in UNC. The second week of the season he faced University of Rhode Island. Brosmer helped lead his team to a 48-point victory before exiting the game allowing Drake Lindsey to get some snaps. He finished 24 of 30 for 271 yards and two touchdowns.
Brosmer has the size to make it at the professional level, while he is not regarded as a dual threat, he has enough mobility to evade the rush within the pocket to find an open receiver or roll out. He shows the ability to improvise when needed and seems to get through his progressions quickly. He has above average arm strength and shows good anticipation when throwing the receiver open.
He is regarded as a potential NFL prospect, but if that does not pan out for him, he has the size to come up to Canada and serve as a short yardage option while continuing to develop as a passer.
Dante Chachere, Portland State
While Brosmer is a pocket passer who can run when needed, Chachere is regarded as one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the FCS. Chachere is an athlete that happens to play quarterback but could see NFL offers to play other positions or serve in a slash role similar to Taysom Hill.
Originally arriving at Portland State as a six’3 170-pound first-year student, he has since put on thirty pounds and could likely add another 10-15 pounds at the next level and still be an above average to elite athlete as a quarterback. Chachere did not immediately start for Portland as Davis Alexander current Montreal Alouette held that position until graduating in 2021.
Even when Alexander started Chachere found himself getting occasional Snaps as a runner. During his first ten appearances, he threw just two passes but carried the ball twenty-two times for 135 yards and two touchdowns averaging 6.1 yards per carry. (I personally would have seen if he could have played some wide receiver as well, but that is just me)
Finally in 2022 he was handed the reigns and over the next two seasons he rewarded his coach’s faith in him. Completing 60% or more of his passes, he threw for 3,529 yards and thirty-five touchdowns while adding 223 carries for 1,545 yards and another seventeen touchdowns. Defenses were struggling to contain him in the run game which helped open up the passing lanes for him as well. More importantly he has now started twenty-four straight games for Portland showing his durability.
Even though he is only two hundred pounds he runs strong bouncing off of tackles and even at times leaving would-be tacklers on their backs. He has above average agility as a quarterback, he is dangerous in the open field due to these traits alone. If I have one complaint about his game it is his tendency to bail out at the first sign of pressure, then ahain this could be due to coaching. With his speed and burst, it is likely more productive to allow him to revert to his athleticism to take what he can on the ground.
Chachere based on athletic ability alone SHOULD pique curiosity in the NFL enough for him to get a look in a newcomer minicamp, whether that is as a quarterback, or teams ask him to move to wide receiver remains to be seen. He seems to have adequate arm strength, and he has an ability to throw with accuracy while on the run. I am just not certain he has all the traits that the NFL looks for in a quarterback.
The CFL, however, could be the best path for him. His mobility on a wider field would be deadly for opposing defenses, in the short term he can serve as a short yardage option while he develops under Tommy Condell until its his time to shine. I really like this move, and I think Chachere should strongly consider the CFL if the NFL does not immediately come calling.
Kyle McCord, Syracuse
Kyle McCord is an interesting player in the sense that he has not yet gotten enough playing time in college to truly know what he can be long term. For his first two seasons at Ohio State, he was the backup to Cj Stroud. During that time, McCord saw just one start in twelve appearances, playing 162 snaps.
He would drop back sixty-four times, attempting fifty-eight passes. He completed 41 or 70.6% of his passes for 606 yards. He had three touchdowns to two interceptions but also fumbled three times. Adding five carries for nineteen yards.
In 2023 Stroud left for the NFL, and McCord competed with Devin Brown. McCord was named the starter for the season opener, but Ryan Day was clear that he had not earned the title of starting quarterback yet. McCord responded by completing 34 of 53 passes for 497 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in his first two games, it was then he was named the starter going forward.
McCord proved he was an accurate passer completing 60% or more of his passes in 10 of 12 games. This was not due to conservative play either, 139 of McCord’s 354 attempts went for ten yards or more. He threw as many 20+ yard passes as he did screen passes (48). He accounted for eighteen big time throws, but also fifteen turnover worthy plays with an adjusted depth of target of 9.6 yards.
What did not help his case was the sixteen drops his receivers accounted for, the four passes where he was hit as he threw the ball, or the six passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. He was pressured ninety-three times on 358 drop backs and being sacked eleven times. This is considering his average time to throw was only 2.58 seconds, and he had three games where he logged 2.3 seconds or less. After the season Ryan Day remained non-commital about who would start leading McCord to enter the transfer portal.
McCord would land at Syracuse where he ended up playing for a coach that he had known since he was in little league football. In two games with Syracuse, he looked like a super star. Dropping back ninety-two times, throwing eighty-six passes. He would complete 68.6% of his passes for 735 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception. That includes four dropped passes, six big time throws, and three turnover worthy plays. All while being pressured twenty-one times. If he can keep this up, he could force his way into the NFL Draft consideration.
Cam Miller, North Dakota State
Cam Miller is headed into his fifth season with North Dakota State. In 2020 he played eight games but started just two. In 2021 he would start the season on the bench, before finishing week eight, and taking over as the starter.
He would start the next eight games completing 64.3% or more in every game but one throwing fourteen touchdowns and just three interceptions. He accounted for eight big time throws, and four turnover worthy plays. Finishing with a 10.4 adjusted depth of target. He also ran sixty-six times for 303 yards and four touchdowns.
Over the next two seasons he played in thirty games throwing 531 passes. He accounted for 4,663 yards thirty-two touchdowns to nine interceptions, but where he really did damage was on the ground. He would rush 257 times for 1,190 yards, and twenty-eight touchdowns over this same stretch. Showing exactly what he could do given a chance to start.
During this time, he had an adjusted completion rate of 75.5% with it seemingly rising every year. Peaking at 78.3% in 2023. He returned for his third straight season as the full-time starter in 2024. In two games he played against Colorado University, and Tennessee State. He hit a career high in adjusted completion rate with 80% racking up 458 yards passing, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed seventeen times for 123 yards and three more touchdowns.
Miller is a dual threat quarterback who could easily play as a short yardage option in the CFL. He is compact at 6’1 212 pounds, he collected 750 yards after contact so far in college. He forced twenty-seven missed tackles. Putting up sixty-three runs of ten yards or more in 384 attempts. He had fourteen designed runs of fifteen yards or more as well producing 149 first downs.
From Passers to Pass Catchers, Looking at the WR’s on the Negotiation List
While every quarterback they released is still in college, the wide receivers on the list cannot say the same. Tarik Black graduated in 2020, while Asante graduated after 2023. The Redblacks found Kalil Pimpleton through their negotiation list, could they find another gem in Black or Asante?
Tarik Black, WR Michigan/Texas
In terms of college programs, a wide receiver should want to attend, Michigan and Texas would likely be atop that list. To put into perspective here are some of the players that Black played with during his college career: 2017 NFL Draft: 3rd round pick Amara Darboh 5th round pick Jehu Chesson 2020 NFL: 6th round pick Donovan People-Jones, 3rd round pick Nico Collins, 3rd round pick Devin Duvernay, and 5th round pick Collin Johnson as well as 2023 7th round pick Ronnie Bell. During this time, he was coached by men like Jim Harbaugh, Pep Hamilton, Josh Gattis, and Andre Coleman.
In his college career, Black was often fighting for snaps as a wide receiver. He played in a total of nine games over his first two seasons, breaking his left foot in 2017, and right foot in 2018. He collected fifteen receptions for 182 yards, and one touchdown. When he was injured in 2017, he was leading the team in multiple categories.
His career season in college came in 2019. Catching twenty-five passes for 323 yards and one touchdown. In 2020 he played in eight games for Texas catching ten passes for 240 yards and one touchdown. After college, Black had an impressive performance at his pro-day that piqued interest in the NFL.
At 6’2 ¾ 213 pounds, he ran a 4.53 40-yard dash, with a 1.58 10-yard split. He had a 40-inch vertical leap, fifteen reps in the bench press, a 6.91 3-cone drill, a 4.26 shuttle. and an 11-foot broad jump. He initially signed with the Colts and made it on their practice squad before being let signing with the Jets practice squad. He was called up for week seventeen and saw two targets catching one pass for ten yards.
He would spend time with the practice squad again in 2022, moving on to Baltimore later on, and then competing for a roster spot with Pittsburgh in 2024 but would not make the team. He was released with an injury settlement, and this could be the final straw in his NFL chances for now, could he look to the CFL next?
Ayir Asante, WR Holy Cross/Wyoming
Ayir Asante is a five’9 175-pound wideout that would seemingly fit well in the Canadian game. He is a solid athlete who could benefit tremendously from high motion, he does not have the first step, or top speed you might want to see out of a five’9 receiver at the NFL level, but he is a plus athlete in many other categories.
He put up a 36-inch vertical, fourteen reps in the bench press, as well as a 4.14 shuttle, and 7.03 3-cone drill. His strength is agility, and strength after the catch. Get him on the run before the snap, and he could embarrass some CFL defensive backs. All of this is conducive to producing yards after the catch as well, which lines up with his highlight tape.
In forty games at Holy Cross, he corralled 117 receptions for 1,718 yards, and sixteen touchdowns. Adding four carries for sixty-six yards and one touchdown on offense and twenty-six kick returns for 485 yards, three punt returns for two yards, and six tackles on special teams. After transferring to Wyoming, he played in thirteen games catching twenty-one passes and taking four carries. He collected 383 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns. He also had eight kick returns for 166 yards.
After college Asante signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent and stuck with the team until final cuts. He played in all three preseason games for New York. He played a total of seventy-four snaps including time on kick return, punt return, and punt coverage. He played primarily in the slot, but also saw a handful of snaps out wide.
He would do most of his damage on special teams with two kick returns for seventy-one yards, and two punt returns for thirteen yards. He was targeted three times in the final preseason game and caught just one pass, being credited with one drop.
https://www.espn.com.au/video/clip/_/id/38660688
Offensive Line Help on its Way?
Andrew Trainer, OL William & Mary
Andrew Trainer is a six’7 320-pound offensive tackle out of William & Mary University. The trainer was a member of the 2022 NFL Draft Class. While he was not selected in the NFL Draft process, he was signed a 3-year $2.5 million contract as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers. While it was not a very linear path, Trainer spent nearly two full seasons with the Chargers before they opted to release him in May of 2024.
Ironically, Brendan Nugent the offensive line coach of the Chargers at the time had previously served as a coach on the William & Mary staff in his career. (Nugent is also a former CFL coach working under Marc Trestman in Montreal.) This likely helped Trainer get his first NFL opportunity, and ultimately helped him stick with the NFL for a little over a season. He saw action in just one preseason game in 2023, playing just eleven snaps, all of which came at Left Tackle, and all of which were run blocking plays.
He graded out favorably in this limited action with a 66.8 run-blocking grade in 2023. In college, he had an interesting path to being a starter. Originally attending Illinois, he did not appear in any games for his first two seasons. It was not until his third year that he managed to see just three snaps. After 2018 he opted to transfer to William & Mary for a chance to start.
It did not happen immediately, but by week 2 Trainer had stepped in due to injury. He would go on to start six games playing a total of 342 snaps as a swing tackle/sixth offensive lineman. He would see eighty snaps at right tackle, with the rest coming at left tackle. In 2020 he was relegated back to the bench and only saw action in three games playing another 166 snaps, all at left tackle.
He would again see starting time in 2021, but he was still coming off the bench as a swing tackle. He started at both right and left tackle, but also started a game at left guard. He would finish the season playing sixty-eight snaps at guard, one hundred at right tackle, and 276 snaps at left tackle. It appears the Redblacks seek out this cross positional versatility on the offensive line. They have religiously gone into games with no more than seven active linemen so Trainer’s documented starting time at three different positions in college adds value to the Redblacks. He should be a guy Ottawa is already trying to sign.
Is Ottawa Preparing for a Potential Future Without Their Dynamic Duo at Defensive End?
Levi Bell, DL Texas State
Levi Bell is a recent UFL player who signed an NFL contract following the 2024 season, he theoretically could sign with the Redblacks right away if he were interested. It is not quite as easy for CFL teams to scout players recently released by NFL teams than it is for UFL teams. The rules, being so much different than the NFL, prevent some of the top borderline NFL talent from signing players that will consider UFL because it likely won’t create any extra roadblocks.
The ruleset is very similar, and players are out of the UFL season before the NFL goes to training camp. Meanwhile the timing of the CFL creates overlap with the NFL another roadblock. However, there is a growing number of UFL players that have chosen to finish their season and head to the CFL when the NFL does not call. The Redblacks just signed a player like this in Ronheen Bingham.
Levi Bell is a unique player, who is slightly undersized for the NFL in terms of height at 6’1, but the 275-pound former college linebacker intrigues most teams because of his strength, and athleticism. Bell was a Health Science Major, and he has applied that to his career outside of football, personal training.
Coming out of high school Bell was 240 pounds and playing primarily as a defensive end. He attended College of Idaho where he saw action in seven games logging seventeen tackles, and 1.5 sacks as a true freshman. In 2019 he attended Tyler College adding forty-one tackles, and 3.0 sacks to his resume.
In 2020 he transferred to Louisiana Tech where he played under Birmingham Stallions Head Coach Skip Holtz for two seasons. He would collect 4.5 more sacks seeing time at linebacker and defensive end for La Tech before Holtz was let go. Bell would transfer for one final season in college with Texas State. This final season amounted to a career year for Bell. At Texas State he played in twelve games, collecting sixty-six tackles, 13.5 for a loss, and five more sacks. He would graduate with fourteen sacks.
In 2023 he would spend time with Baltimore and Seattle in the NFL before signing with the Michigan Panthers where he spent the next two seasons. Unfortunately, he missed the 2024 season due to injury but still found NFL interest signing with the Colts. At just 25 years old with a 9.5 relative athletic score, Bell had one of the most impressive performances from a 275-pound player I have ever seen:
4.59 40-yard dash
1.53 10-yard split
33 reps of 225 lbs
37.5 inch vertical
4.4 shuttle
7.32 3-cone drill
Bell is likely a year or two away from seeing his NFL opportunities die down and I would not anticipate seeing him commit to playing full-time in the CFL, given the points made above. Bell is likely still going to do whatever he can to continue pursuing the NFL, especially if he knows that involves playing in the UFL for a long-time NFL defensive coordinator and head coach. However, this could be a move that pays off in the long run if Bell is not able to find an NFL home by the end of the 2026 season when he will turn 27. I could see reality setting in and realizing long-term playing in the CFL or double dipping with the UFL and CFL is his best bet for his career.
Andre Carter, DL Indiana
Andre Carter has not yet played in any NFL alternative football league, but that could change sooner rather than later now. Carter actually competed against a couple UFL signees in camp with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024.
Playing in fifty-eight career games in college for Western Michigan, and Indiana. He was able to collect 184tackles, 40 of which went for a loss. He collected fifteen sacks, five forced fumbles, five deflected passes and one interception.
Carter came to Western Michigan as a six’3 255-pound defensive lineman. By the time he graduated from Indiana he was 273 pounds. He would weigh twelve pounds heavier on his pro day. He was preparing to play more interior defensive line at the next level. Strength is not a concern for Carter given that he had thirty-three reps of 225 at his pro day. He also managed a 4.78 in his pro day according to this article:
http://hoosierhuddle.com/hoosier-blog/2024-indiana-university-football-pro-day-notes/2024/3/8
He has all the tools to find success in the right scheme, however if you are Carter and you are not currently on an NFL roster, what does it hurt to sign with a CFL team to finish out the season? It only allows him to get high-quality film playing more on the interior for NFL teams. With the CFL season a little over two months away from over, what do you really lose?
Curtis Brooks, DL Cincinnati
Curtis Brooks is another recent NFL player; however, he is not currently on a roster and has not been since 2023 when he was signed and placed on IR 5 days later by the Washington Commanders. Drafted in the sixth round by the Colts in 2022, Brooks did not even make it a full season with the Colts. He spent most of 2022 on their practice squad before being released in December.
The division rival Titans signed him on their practice squad not long after he was let go by the Colts. Less than a week after signing the season ended and he was offered a futures deal. He was let go in July landing with Washington and getting injured.
Brooks is another interior defender who Ottawa can bring in to try and help bolster the run defense. A very similar athlete to Andre Carter, he put up 33 reps running a 4.90 measuring in at 6’2 287 lbs.
Negotiation Lists
The CFL negotiation lists are as large as forty-five players for each team, yet as fans we only ever get to see twenty names a year, and often we are given duplicate names. With that in mind, we have no idea what prompts these teams to release the names they do but not others. This has always made these lists more interesting to me. Trying to piece together a team’s strategy using only breadcrumbs is a fun exercise, and one that happens at least twice each season due to the CFL’s rules. I wish they would require teams to release all forty-five names at the beginning of each season, or at least the names that have not been on the list in the past. With the amount of recent success, the Redblacks have had using the Neg list the way it was intended, I could see one or more of these players becoming a factor for Ottawa sooner rather than later. My eye is on Andrew Trainer, and a couple of these quarterbacks. I would love to see Chachere on the Redblacks roster in 2025 or beyond.
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