{"id":531918,"date":"2026-03-12T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/531918\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:00:09","slug":"montreal-alouettes-anticipate-major-competition-to-replace-marc-antoine-dequoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/531918\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Alouettes anticipate ‘major competition’ to replace Marc-Antoine Dequoy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Montreal Alouettes<\/p>\n

The Montreal Alouettes are looking for a C-word to fill their vacant free safety position \u2014 the kind with 11 letters, not four.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a competition, I can tell you that. That\u2019s\u00a0what our team\u2019s been built on,\u201d head coach Jason Maas told local media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about C-words\u00a0on our team a lot, and competition\u2019s one of the biggest C-words that we have. Culture and\u00a0competition \u2014 you gotta love it, you gotta want it. That\u2019s what training camp is all\u00a0about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Alouettes are in need of a new man in the secondary following the retirement of veteran Canadian starter Marc-Antoine Dequoy in February<\/a>. The two-time All-CFL selection had reached a deal to return to his hometown team after a drawn-out contract negotiation, but had a sudden change of heart and opted to step away from the game instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maas indicated he was aware of the physical toll the last few seasons had taken on Dequoy, so his decision was not entirely unexpected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith injuries, and you\u2019re getting older, and you\u2019re\u00a0more towards the end than the beginning of a career, I can always see how that weighs\u00a0on people,\u201d he said. \u201cAm I surprised? No. Disappointed? Yeah, I\u2019d love to have\u00a0the guy back and competing and doing those things. But not every player\u00a0gets to determine when they\u2019re done, and for him to look at it that way, and believe this\u00a0is what\u2019s best for him, I can\u2019t agree more with that. I always wish him the best and, going forward, I\u2019m glad he\u2019s healthy enough to walk away\u00a0and be able to do things in the next chapter of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if Dequoy had returned this season, it would have been under the guise of a competition. Montreal has built quality Canadian depth at the position with incumbent backup Arthur Hamlin and 2025 second-round pick Nate Beauchemin, boosted by the much-anticipated signing of 2023 first-round pick Jonathan Sutherland in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A highly-touted selection out of Penn State, the Ottawa native arrives after bouncing around with three different NFL franchises over the past three seasons and has his head coach excited about the possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe drafted him where we drafted him for a reason,\u201d Maas said. \u201cHe comes from\u00a0a very prestigious program down south. He was afforded a couple of opportunities\u00a0in the NFL, things happen, and he\u2019s up here now. I know when we drafted him, he came into our building right away, and you could just tell by talking with him, he\u2019s a very mature guy. He loves football. I think he adds value\u00a0to us from the get-go; it\u2019s just a matter of where and how. But he\u2019s the right\u00a0type of individual, and watching how he plays, the competitiveness in him, he fits to what\u00a0we are. I\u2019m obviously very much looking forward to a guy like that competing to get on our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the moment he was drafted, Sutherland has been speculated as the heir apparent to Dequoy. That their arrival and departure should line up so exactly feels fortuitous, but the reality might not be so simple. Dequoy was a college cornerback who made the transition to safety thanks to his elite speed and playmaking ability. Sutherland forged his reputation playing down in the box with the Nittany Lions, and could be more at home as a coverage linebacker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s a little bit different in how they play. Sutherland played\u00a0a different position than what Dequoy played in college, so he has physicality. No matter\u00a0what, that\u2019s just the type of player he\u2019s been,\u201d Maas said. \u201cHe\u2019s had to be that, being closer to\u00a0the box. Dequoy played further away from the box. He was still able to come down into the box\u00a0and play around it, blitz off the edge and make tackles in space, but they played\u00a0a different position altogether. I think anytime you\u2019re in that linebacker mode, those\u00a0guys are always looked at as physical players first before they are anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think (Sutherland) believes he can play free safety in our league, which I don\u2019t doubt. When I watched his film at Penn State, tackling is a big thing. He can do that, he can cover\u00a0people, he can cover space, I know he can play special teams. I watched him play\u00a0special teams and I watched him run down and tackle people, so I think he fits to our game. Now, whether that\u2019s at the SAM linebacker position, WILL Linebacker position, or free\u00a0safety \u2014 I think he\u2019s multi-talented, to be quite honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Hamlin fits more of a traditional free safety mould, Beauchemin has also spent time in the box. At points during his rookie season, the 2024 Presidents\u2019 Trophy winner was listed as a backup at weakside linebacker.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s current plan is to audition both of them for the vacant position, with the flexibility to pivot to another spot if either loses out in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re both gonna dictate where they play, to be honest with you. I think\u00a0they\u2019re both capable of playing multiple places on our defence, on our special teams. I don\u2019t think you can pigeonhole either\u00a0one of them,\u201d Maas said. \u201cIs (safety) where they\u2019re gonna start? Sure, but I know (defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe) will have\u00a0a couple of ideas in his mind. The best players play, and the best players play all over the\u00a0place. I think we\u2019ll find homes for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maas insists that all three players \u2014 Sutherland, Hamlin, and Beauchemin \u2014 have a legitimate chance to fill Dequoy\u2019s shoes. None can be counted out of a position battle that should take top billing throughout the preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a major competition\u00a0in camp. It\u2019ll be one of those things I think everybody will be looking at, who can take\u00a0advantage of this opportunity being given. What\u2019s best for the Alouette defence?\u00a0That\u2019s who\u2019s gonna play,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a good battle for those three\u00a0guys starting out at free safety, and I know Noel will do a good job\u00a0of whoever starts, the other guy\u2019s probably gonna have another position to play,\u00a0another package to play. And then of course, all three of those guys are gonna be stout\u00a0on special teams for us. We\u2019re in very good hands in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes are looking for a C-word to fill their vacant free safety position…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,50470,3179,208578,49,48,7028,521,522,520,527,50472,178369,2002,183363,2338,208579,186704,82],"class_list":["post-531918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-alouettes","tag-als","tag-arthur-hamlin","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-jason-maas","tag-jonathan-sutherland","tag-league","tag-marc-antoine-dequoy","tag-montreal","tag-nate-beauchemin","tag-noel-thorpe","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}