The Alouettes | Davis Alexander ‘ready for the next step,’ says Jason Maas

If some might be worried about seeing the Alouettes entrust their offense to a young quarterback who has only a handful of games as a starter behind the tie, Jason Maas is certainly not in the mix.

The Als head coach says he is convinced that despite his relative inexperience, Davis Alexander has all the skills necessary to maintain the offensive unit at a high level of performance and lead the club to great honors.

“People talk about his inexperience, but I don’t see it that way. Our offense will hit full speed with Davis because there is no learning curve with him in that regard. He just needs to implement all that in match situations more often,” Maas explained during a video conference on Monday morning.

Since his arrival with the Birds, Alexander has played five games as a starter, including four last season. During these four meetings in 2024, all of which he won, Alexander has indeed looked very good. This is, among other things, what convinced the Alouettes management to grant the 26-year-old a three-season contract in November, before trading Cody Fajardo.

Maas also highlighted that in addition to Alexander’s prowess on the pitch, his skills and demeanor off the pitch made him the perfect candidate to take over in the starting lineup.

“I know he only started five games, but he’s been in our system for two years. He knows what it’s like to prepare. When our starter was preparing during the week, he was the one who led the meetings between the quarterbacks and the receivers,” he said.

“To have a franchise quarterback, you have to know how he is in the building, as well as the leadership and competitiveness qualities he possesses,” added Maas. The level of preparation he has, and making sure it gets better every year. This is what Davis showed us. »

“He is ready for the next step,” summed up the pilot.

Fajardo: “not in the plans”

Fajardo, who led the Alouettes to the fifth Gray Cup in 2023, was traded to the Edmonton Elks in exchange for veteran quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The Alouettes also announced, shortly after Maas’ press conference, that the latter had signed a one-season contract with the team.

Maas, who has developed close ties with Fajardo over the years, said he spoke with the pivot before his departure from Montreal, even though the player’s fate had become inevitable.

“We knew how the cards would be played and in which direction we would go with Davis,” he said. […] If he had returned as a reserve, would he have been comfortable? We never really discussed how bad it would have been. »

Regardless, Maas judges that Bethel-Thompson’s arrival in the nest will bring “better leadership” within the club and make the Alouettes “a better football team.”

In 16 games last season, the 36-year-old American had 3,748 passing yards and threw 24 touchdown passes, good for second in the CFL. He also won the Gray Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022.

“He’s not slowing down,” Maas analyzed. He’s not considered a running quarterback, but he can move his feet really well, the same way Tom Brady did towards the end of his career, I would say. He’s a guy who knows his stuff very well, who still has a strong arm that makes good decisions. Even though he’s a little older, he’s definitely capable of winning matches. »

“McLeod knows the CFL very well and knows how to win in this circuit. I can’t wait to see him work with us. He will know how to properly support our young quarterbacks with his experience. He will bring a lot of depth to this position,” said Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia in a press release.

Even greater depth thanks to the presence of Caleb Evans and James Morgan in the organization, according to Maas. “We have a really competitive group of quarterbacks. The Alouettes are in a very good position in this regard,” he said.

Finally, on another note, Maas announced that receiver Tyson Philpot had undergone the last operation planned for him and should be ready for the next training camp. Philpot saw his season end in August during a game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats following a foot injury. The Canadian had at that time caught 58 passes for 779 yards and 5 touchdowns.