It might just be the Winnipeg Blue Bombers most consistent subtle flex. And it’s become an annual occurrence in these parts.

Yes, year after year after year the faces change in the Blue Bombers secondary. Some seasons that turnover is significant, some it’s not so dramatic. Yet, despite pieces regularly moving about in the club’s air defence, the results seldom waver.

Here’s the proof: the Blue Bombers ranked first in opponent passing yards against in 2023 (229.4 yards per game), shaving that number down from 253.6 yards in 2022 – which also ranked first in the Canadian Football League. Just for the record, the club topped the entire league in the same category in 2021 – 216.4 yards – as a critical component in the emergence of the notorious ‘Dark Side’ defence.

And as we continue with the next installment in our Positional Preview Series with our focus on the defensive backs, the script heading into training camp and the 2024 regular season is going to feature the exact same storyline as more change is coming to a unit that somehow doesn’t often generate a lot of chatter across the league.

CFL All-Star and interception leader Demerio Houston signed in free agency with the Calgary Stampeders this winter, and veteran Winston Rose – currently unattached to any team – is also no longer in the team’s plans, a development we saw unfold at the end of 2023 with Jamal Parker taking over that cornerback spot.

Of note: Winnipeg used four different field corners a year ago in Desmond Lawrence, Abu Daramy-Swaray, Rose, and Parker and three different players at the boundary in Houston, Rose and Daramy-Swaray. Three different players also started at the dime spot in Alden Darby, Jr., Redha Kramdi and Jake Kelly (who started the regular-season finale when some starters were rested).

Yet, with all that change there were some constants in Brandon Alexander at safety and Evan Holm at halfback, both Western All-Stars, and with Deatrick Nichols – criminally unrecognized in all-star balloting last year — at the other halfback spot. Those three men, along with Kramdi, who has quietly wrapped his mitts around the dime gig, return again in 2024 to bring stability to the unit.

The versatile Parker is the front runner at one corner spot – he can play across the secondary, if need be — and the return of Canadian Tyrell Ford from a stint with the Green Bay Packers could offer the club an intriguing option and some ratio flexibility.

The leading candidate to replace Houston at the other corner heading into camp would be Tyrique McGhee, the former University of Georgia product who played in one regular season game after spending most of the year on the practice squad. As of this writing, eight other American defensive backs, all new, have also been added this offseason by the same crack scouting staff of Danny McManus, Ted Goveia and Cyril Penn that regularly finds talent like the current crew of Nichols, Holm, Alexander and Parker while also delivering Dee Alford (Atlanta Falcons) and Houston before that.

What shouldn’t be overlooked here, too, is this: one of the reasons this outfit perennially performs is because of the coaching they’ve received over the last few years. That will also see a subtle change this season, with Jordan Younger being elevated from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator and with Richie Hall, one of the most respected men in the league, continuing to be an integral voice but now with the title of defensive assistant.

The challenge will remain the same in piecing together a mix in the secondary that can dominate, even with the changes. Based on the results from the last few years, odds are they’ll roll up their collective sleeves and get it done once again.

POSITIONAL PREVIEW ‘24

The Defensive Backs

The Returnees:

Safeties: Brandon Alexander, Nick Hallett*, Noah Hallett*, Jake Kelly*
Halfbacks: Deatrick Nichols, Evan Holm
Cornerbacks: Jamal Parker, Tyrique McGhee, Tyrell Ford* (returns after spending time with Green Bay)
Dime: Redha Kramdi*
Newcomers: Travon Fuller, James Campbell, Juan Lua, Marcus Hillman, Anthony Blue, Marquise Bridges, Anthony Witherspoon, Isaiah Norman, Bret MacDougall*, Nico McCarthy*
Departed: Demerio Houston (Calgary), Winston Rose, Kerfalla Exumé (Toronto), Alden Darby, Jr., Desmond Lawrence, Abu Daramy-Swaray
*Indicates Canadian

Keep an eye on:

CB Tyrique McGhee, #22

A guy doesn’t appear in 50 games at a variety of positions in the secondary for a powerhouse like Georgia if he doesn’t have skills. McGhee was nicked during rookie camp a year ago and that hurt his chances to make an instant impression, but the club saw enough to keep him around on the practice roster. The departures of Houston and Rose seemingly swings the door of opportunity wide open now for him.

Did you know?

We trot this stat out every year because it is so jaw-dropping – back in 1990 the Blue Bombers defence set a CFL record that still stands with 48 interceptions. That total included 26 picks by the two corners, both in the Blue Bomber Hall of fame, with Less Browne finishing with 14 and Rod Hill an even dozen.

Notable Number: 11

A Blue Bomber player or players has led the CFL in interceptions – or tied for the league lead – on 11 occasions. That list includes Houston (seven in 2023), Rose (nine in 2019), Maurice Leggett and T.J. Heath (seven in 2016), Jovon Johnson (eight in 2011), Juran Bolden (tied for league lead with six in 2001), Less Browne (10 in 1991), Browne (14 in 1990), Rod Hill (12 in 1989), Roy Bennett (13 in 1987), Merv Walker and Chuck Wills (tied for league lead with seven in 1976) and Ken Ploen (tied for league lead with 10 in 1959).