The Montreal Alouettes have big names, but they also have some big questions

Finishing our CFL previews, here's a look at the Montreal Alouettes, who open the season Thursday night at home against Ottawa. Also take a look at our previous pieces on B.C., Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, and Ottawa, plus league-wide storylines!

The Montreal Alouettes' 2014 season was full of highs and lows; the team started 1-7, but a quarterback change from Troy Smith to Jonathan Crompton and midseason hires of assistant coaches like Jeff Garcia and Turk Schoenert helped them. They went 8-2 down the stretch to make the playoffs, and went all the way to the East Final, but then fell to Hamilton. Ahead of 2015, they've made some splashy additions, but they've also suffered some key losses, and there are questions about if their second-half success is sustainable. How will things work out for the Alouettes in 2015?

Montreal brought in some big-name players this offseason, adding veteran receivers Fred Stamps, Nik Lewis and Sam Giguere in particular. All of those guys have found substantial CFL success in the past. However, they're also aging: Lewis is 33, Stamps is 33, and Giguere will be 30 next month. The Alouettes also lost all-star receiver Duron Carter (who led the team with 1,030 receiving yards last season) to the NFL, so this receiving corps isn't necessarily better despite the additions. Having Lewis, Stamps and Giguere around could be nice, and bringing back S.J. Green was a key offseason move for them, but there are still questions about how good the aerial attack will be.

That's not all about the receivers, either. While the team started winning with Crompton under centre last year, his stats weren't all that great. He only completed 58.1 per cent of his passes, which is exceptionally low for the CFL. He did throw for 2,482 yards in half a season, and he tossed 11 touchdowns against eight interceptions; he also has an impressively strong arm. The accuracy's going to have to improve, though. If it doesn't, Montreal does have options in waiting, including free agent pickup Dan LeFevour, veteran Tanner Marsh and drafted Canadian quarterback Brandon Bridge. None of those guys are all that proven in their own right, however, and they don't have famed former QB Garcia around to develop them anymore. (They do have CFL all-time-leader passer Anthony Calvillo, who's now the team's receivers coach, but he has much less experience actually developing other QBs than Garcia did.)

The ground attack also carries questions, as the Alouettes averaged just 4.8 yards per rush last season. They've made some bold moves on that front this offseason, cutting veteran Brandon Whitaker and extending the contract of Tyrell Sutton, a rookie who impressed down the stretch last season. If Sutton can deliver consistent yards on the ground, that would help take the pressure off Montreal's QBs, but if not, they'll be in a lot of second-and-long situations.

The defence should be a strength of this team, though. Defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe did a tremendous job over the last two years, and he has some excellent pieces to work with, including linebackers Bear Woods and Chip Cox and defensive end John Bowman. The Alouettes conceded just 324.1 yards (fourth-best) and 21.9 points (tied for fourth-best) per game last year, and they have most of their key players on that side of the ball back. That defence should hopefully keep them in a lot of games. Whether they'll win a lot of those games likely depends on just how much production they get from the offence.

Prediction: 9-9, second in East, loss in East semi-final.