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How the CFL's expansion plans worked out perfectly for the Ottawa Redblacks

What a difference a year can make.

Twelve months ago, Ottawa football fans were wondering just what happened to the CFL's best-laid plans to make their new team competitive.

A friendlier draft set-up and a few other adjustments were supposed to ensure that the latest reincarnation of three-down football on the Rideau wasn't going to be as disastrous as the last one involving the late Ottawa Renegades. But after the neophyte Redblacks turned in an abysmal 2-16 record in their first year -- worse than the Renegades' debut -- it appeared that something had gone terribly wrong.

The alleged crop of prime draft picks managed to throw away games in creative fashion while looking like, well, an expansion team.

Flash forward 12 months and the Redblacks find themselves in the Grey Cup game, playing for a championship in only their second season.

While it didn't look that way in 2014, the fact is that the CFL's plan to get the Redblacks off to a good start worked beautifully -- with more than a little help from Henry Burris and some ready cash.

There's little doubt that Ottawa's rabid fan base -- and when was the last time you heard that phrase? -- is complaining about having to wait a year for a competitive team.

Frankly, while few expected them to be as bad as they were in 2014, nobody thought they'd be this good this soon.

There are three key components to the Redblacks' rapid rise.

One was the draft of graduating college players.

The year before they played their first down, the Redblacks got a head start by taking part in the CFL amateur draft. Three of the four players they selected that year -- Nolan MacMillan, Connor Williams and Kalonji Kashama -- are still on the team.

Of the seven graduating college players chosen in 2014, three are wearing Redblacks jerseys.

That's good drafting, an indication that the Redblacks scouting staff knows what it's doing. But that head start didn't hurt.

The second factor was the expansion draft, which gave the Redblacks a big advantage over the heap of warm bodies the Renegades were handed in 2002.

That draft gave the Redblacks a greater choice of quarterbacks and, more importantly, Canadian players. The Redblacks didn't waste that opportunity.

Of the 24 players taken by Ottawa, 12 are still on the team. They include standouts Justin Capicciotti, J'Michael Deane, Moton Hopkins, Keith Shologan and Patrick Lavoie. They also include John Gott, who was obtained in exchange for draft pick Marwan Hage.

Five starters on Ottawa's defence, one of the best in the league, were taken in the expansion draft.

They also traded their first import pick, quarterback Kevin Glenn, for an amateur draft choice that turned out to be star linebacker Antoine Pruneau.

Of course, all of that might not have mattered had the Redblacks not signed Burris as a free agent. Outside of the fact that doing so allowed them to trade Glenn, it gave them instant credibility.

Well, not exactly instant. In fact, it really took a year that credibility to pay off.

With the future Hall of Famer on board, the Redblacks upgraded their woeful receiving corps last winter by signing a boatload of quality free-agent pass catchers. One of those was Greg Ellingson, whose performance in the CFL East final on Sunday put the Redblacks in the Grey Cup.

While money played the largest role in those signings, the lure of receiving tosses from Burris no doubt was a huge factor.

The Renegades certainly didn't have that luxury.