<img src="
http://www.thecfl.net/images/players/hurst.jpg" width="294" height="200" alt="Landon Hurst" title="Landon Hurst" align="right">
[bc05720c]Charleston Monitors
Last year's performance - 13-3[/bc05720c]
After a great regular season, Charleston worked their way through the playoffs to win their second championship in 2008. They mostly relied on their offense, which was excellent all year, averaging 388.1 yards per game during the season and 30.7 points per game in the postseason. Landon Hurst won his second CFL Bowl MVP award. His first came in 2003 when he lead Oregon to the title.
[bc05720c]Strongest Unit - Defensive Line[/bc05720c]
The Monitors are pretty strong everywhere, but they have two outstanding defensive ends in Kasey Cha and Casey Bousquet that can take over games. Last year the two combined for 9.5 sacks and 74 hurries. That's a lot of disruption. Richard Cassidy mans the nose and is an excellent d-lineman, though obviously not the pass-rusher that the other two are. The primary concern on along the defensive front, along with everywhere else on the team, is depth. There is a massive drop off after the first team guys and injuries could be fatal this year.
[bc05720c]Weakest Unit - Defensive Backfield[/bc05720c]
Charleston doesn't have a truly weak unit, but the secondary is the weakest they've got. They got roughed up some last year, allowing 224.6 passing yards per game. Robert Lucas gives them a top tier corner on one side, but Gary McCaleb is closer to mediocre on the other side, and options at nickel and dime are rookies who ideally aren't ready to be thrown into the fray just yet. An injury to either starting corner would be disasterous. The safeties look a little better, especially in run support.
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Key Unit - Wide Receivers[/bc05720c]
The quarterback, Landon Hurst, is amazing and he's going to make plays and win games. His tight end, Andrew Bidwell, will be his top target and will put up good numbers. There is some depth at wide receiver, but question marks remain. Their number one receiver has remained something of a mystery: Terrence Ryan has been a solid, steady receiver his entire career when he should have been a superstar. He has yet to have a 1000 yard receiving season and has only caught 4 touchdown passes in each of his seasons in Charleston. Guys with significantly less skills than him have been twice as productive. He disappears at times. 7 times last year he had 50 yards or less receiving in a game. I think they'll need him to step up if they're going to continue playing at a championship level.
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Impact Newcomer - S Tony Cook
Key Loss - S Arthur Duncan
Outlook [/bc05720c]- Cap problems will make it hard for the Monitors field a full roster of 53. Their starting 22 will be great, but there will be a massive drop off when the second stringers come in. If they can manage to stay healthy, they'll be in the mix for another title, but they are a couple injuries away from 8-8. It'll be a down year overall in the Atlantic, which should help Charleston. [bc05720c]Projected record: 11-5
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Tampa Bay Torpedoes
Last year's performance - 3-13[/bc05720c]
Tampa had another long year in 2008, going 3-13 for their fourth straight non-winning season. They let rookie quarterback Nolan Shannon man the wheel on the offense, but his development was slow despite getting all 16 starts. The offense suffered tremendously, producing just 13.8 points and 281.6 yards per game, both of which are the worst in franchise history.
[bc05720c]Strongest Unit - Linebackers[/bc05720c]
Tampa has 4 good starters manning the middle of the defense plus some pretty good depth. They are lead by WILB Scott Greico, who excells at both stopping the run and rushing the passer. It appears that Tampa split time between a 3-4 and 4-3 last year. To play to their strength, they will most likely switch to a 3-4 full time this year.
[bc05720c]Weakest Unit - Defensive Line[/bc05720c]
The Torpedoes have 3 mediocre starters and a slew of undeveloped depth behind those 3. The best of the bunch is NT Lincoln Dart, who is decent stopping the run, though a little undersized at 270 pounds. The real weakness is at the defensive end spot where starters Arthur Beckman and Dannie Hickerson will struggle to generate much of a pass rush.
[bc05720c]Key Unit - Quarterback[/bc05720c]
Tampa has raised their overall talent level significantly in the past few seasons. They have the makings of a decent passing attack this year with superstar TE Wes McGregor and a solid receiving corps lead by newcomer Damion Tabb and explosive youngster Trent Muir. Solid quarterback play is the missing ingredient offensively. I happen to think they could get it out of Maurice Brown and really surprise some people this year. I have my doubts about whether or not Nolan Shannon will ever be capable of succeeding in the CFL.
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Impact Newcomer - WR Damion Tabb
Key Loss - T Paul Emery[/bc05720c]
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Outlook[/bc05720c] - On paper Tampa Bay is the second most talented team in their division. Their talent is spread across their roster in an odd way that makes them pretty decent everywhere and great nowhere (expect maybe at linebacker). If this team goes to a 3-4 full time and lets their linebackers lead the way on defense and goes with Maurice Brown at quarterback, they could actually finish second in the Atlantic division. That puts them a Landon Hurst injury away from taking the division. That'd be a fun season, eh? They'll improve over last year, but drop some of the close ones. [bc05720c]Projected record: 8-8[/bc05720c]
[bc05720c]Baltimore Bombers
Last year's performance - 9-7[/bc05720c]
The Bombers opened the 2008 season in exciting fashion, losing a nailbiter in overtime to the eventual champion Charleston Monitors, 31-28. That game was sort of a microcosm of the Bombers' season
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