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Pat Steinberg CFL.ca @Fan960Steinberg After falling one game short of a second straight trip to the Grey Cup last season, the Montreal Alouettes will enter the 2025 campaign as legit contenders once again. The Als have plenty of options as we continue highlighting one reason to be excited for each CFL team. And while the buzz surrounding new starting quarterback Davis Alexander is well placed, it’s Montreal’s stacked defence that gets the nod for us. 2024 saw the Alouettes finish second overall in offensive points allowed while also finishing as the league’s second-best team defending the pass. With a couple savvy additions in free agency and numerous crucial holdovers, Montreal looks poised to pick up where they left off last year, if not take a step forward. RELATED » Top of the Depth Chart: Toronto Argonauts » Who has the best hands in the CFL? » Top of the Depth Chart: Montreal Alouettes » Subscribe to the CFL’s official YouTube channel » Subscribe to the CFL’s newsletter for exclusive offers and league updates It starts in the middle of the field with linebacker Tyrice Beverette, one of the CFL’s most impactful defensive players. Beverette is coming off a year with 102 defensive tackles, five sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Seemingly glued to wherever the ball is, Beverette’s high level versatility gives defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe so many options on every snap. He’s also a perfect partner for MIKE linebacker Darnell Sankey , who’s a perennial threat to hit triple digits in defensive tackles himself. Paired together, Beverette and Sankey are as terrifying a defensive duo there is. Then there’s Montreal’s front four, which is anchored by a pair of interior menaces. Mustafa Johnson returns to the Als for a fourth season after racking up six sacks and 35 tackles in 15 appearances last year. And don’t sleep on Montreal’s sneaky signing of Shawn Oakman, who was as disruptive as ever in 2024 as a member of the Edmonton Elks. The Alouettes made sure they added to their edge presence in free agency, too, by signing local product Joshua Archibald in free agency. The McGill graduate is coming off a breakout season with the BC Lions, recording four sacks and two forced fumbles. Still just 27, it feels like Archibald is just scratching the surface of what he can do in this league. And in the secondary, Montreal leans on two of the very best at their positions: Kabion Ento and Marc-Antoine Dequoy . Entering his third CFL season, Ento has established himself as one of the league’s very best lockdown corners and finished near the top of Pro Football Focus’s year end rankings. The same is true of Dequoy at safety after another stellar year for the former 14th overall pick. The Als enter 2025 with one of the league’s most star-studded and balanced defences. It’s the leading reason we feel you have to consider them a bona fide Grey Cup contender once again. RANKING THE CORNERBACKS It’s been fun putting together our list of positional rankings ahead of the 2025 season, and this week we’re onto one of the league’s most challenging and high leverage spots: cornerback. With names like Ento and Jamal Peters finishing just outside the top three, you know it’s another stacked position. 1. TYRELL FORD | EDMONTON ELKS CB Tyrell Ford finished 2024 with seven interceptions (Jason Halstead/CFL.ca) And while there was debate rounding out the top three, there was absolutely no doubt who was finishing at the top of this list. A blockbuster free agent signing for Edmonton earlier this winter, Ford is the position’s gold standard after his stellar 2024 that saw him record seven interceptions and 51 defensive tackles. Patrolling at field corner, no one excels in coverage quite like Ford. He’s virtually impossible to gain separation on, which allowed Winnipeg defensive coordinator Jordan Younger to frequently isolate him last season. Ranked as PFF’s No. 1 corner last year, and still just 27 years old, Ford looks like he’ll be at the top of this mountain for a little while longer. 2. MARCUS SAYLES | SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS Sayles re-established himself as one of the CFL’s best field corners in his first season with the Roughriders in 2024…and then some. Sayles was a massive part of a Saskatchewan defence that finished second overall in net defence, and he signed a deserving two-year extension earlier this winter. Sayles was stellar across the board last season, recording four interceptions, 57 defensive tackles, one fumble recovery, and one defensive touchdown. Sayles also racked up 12 pass knockdowns, which tied him with Ford for second in the league. 3. GARRY PETERS | BC LIONS CB Garry Peters is entering his seventh season with the BC Lions (Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca) Entering his ninth CFL season, and seventh with the Lions, Peters has been setting the standard at boundary corner for almost a decade now. Signed to a one-year extension in February, Peters recorded one interception, 55 defensive tackles, and one sack last year in BC. Always strong in coverage, Peters also excels in run defence unlike most at his position, which helped break a few ties in rounding out the top three. Get all the top stories from across the league delivered to your inbox.
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