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<\/p>\nOnly Parish spent last season with Toronto (five sacks) before being released in January. Defensive end Andrew Chatfield Jr. had a team-high seven sacks as the Argos (41) were fourth overall, but linebacker Aaron Casey was second on the squad with six as the defensive line had trouble mounting a consistent rush.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Enter Holley, who, from his position, has the most direct line to the passer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always believe the closer to the ball, the better your team has to be,\u201d said Mike Miller, Toronto\u2019s first-year head coach. \u201cRalph coming back makes us better.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just from a player standpoint but from a person standpoint, from a human being. Definitely the type of guy you want in your locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
GM Mike (Pinball) Clemons said Holley gives Toronto more than a dominant tackle.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a character standpoint, he makes us better from the word go,\u201d Clemons said. \u201cAs well, he\u2019s a tremendous leader on the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe plays hard every down, he\u2019s a great example of what Coach Mike has really been speaking to this entire off-season. We\u2019re tickled to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Predictably, defence was a priority for Toronto (5-13) after missing last year\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Argos dipped into free agency to sign linebacker Adarius Pickett, defensive tackle Dewayne Hendrix, Canadian defensive end Jonathan Kongbo and veteran defensive backs DaShaun Amos, Robert Priester and Canadian Enock Makonzo after leading the CFL last season in most offensive points (28.8 per game) and offensive TDs (54) allowed.<\/p>\n
The Argos also signed Canadian defensive end Parish Shand, a \u201925 draft pick who spent time with the NFL\u2019s Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n
Toronto finished tied with Calgary for most defensive TDs (five) while allowing the fewest pass attempts (500) and second-fewest completions (352). But the Argos were second-worst against the run (105.7 yards per game) and last in completion percentage (72.4), 30-plus yard completions (39) and TD passes (35).<\/p>\n
The return of Amos and Priester will bolster Toronto\u2019s secondary. Both won two Grey Cups with the Argos (2022, \u201924) before spending last season with Hamilton and Ottawa, respectively.<\/p>\n
A big hole Toronto must fill is at middle linebacker with the departure of veteran Wynton McManis (Hamilton Tiger-Cats). The six-foot, 220-pound McManis also helped the Argos win two Grey Cups and twice was a CFL all-star over his four seasons with the club.<\/p>\n
McManis missed 11 games the last two seasons with injuries, allowing Issac Darkangelo to get playing time. Last season, the 25-year-old Darkangelo had 82 tackles (60 defensive, 22 special teams), two sacks and two forced fumbles.<\/p>\n
Pickett\u2019s return \u2014 he was the East Division\u2019s top defensive player with Toronto in 2023 \u2014 will certainly help. He joins Canadian linebacker Cameron Judge, who posted a team-high 83 tackles (79 defensive, four special teams), three sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a TD last season.<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s most important returnee, though, will be quarterback Chad Kelly. The 2023 CFL outstanding player didn\u2019t play last season after suffering a broken leg in the \u201924 East final.<\/p>\n
Among Toronto\u2019s off-season moves was signing Canadian offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley. The six-foot-five, 290-pound Windsor, Ont., native spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2019) as well as in the NFL with San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Indianapolis and the New York Jets (2018, 2020-25).<\/p>\n
Miller said Kelly, 32, has been cleared medically to participate in training camp, which opens in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe continues to work and as I\u2019ve said before, we have no reason to think otherwise,\u201d said Miller, who served as Toronto\u2019s quarterback coach from 2022-25. \u201cHe\u2019ll be ready to start training camp, and he\u2019ll be our No. 1 quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, veteran Nick Arbuckle set career highs in starts (15), passes (504), completions (365, 72.4 per cent), yards (4,370), TDs (26) and interceptions (15). He\u2019s under contract through 2026.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Only Parish spent last season with Toronto (five sacks) before being released in January. Defensive end Andrew Chatfield…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82,3302],"class_list":["post-571546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571546","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=571546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}