If Dru Brown leads the Ottawa Redblacks to a long-awaited resurgence, they may have to send Zach Collaros a thank-you card.
The 26-year-old quarterback is expected to take over as the starter in the nation’s capital next season after he was acquired via trade from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, signing a two-year contract extension worth up to $740,000 earlier this week. That deal might not have been possible if Brown wasn’t forced to sit behind a two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player for three seasons and develop into the league’s most intriguing young prospect.
“(Collaros) just kind of put his arm around me and showed me the ropes,” Brown said during his first interview with Ottawa’s TSN 1200 on Friday. “I got to watch someone that has a similar skill set and a similar stature be able to be extremely productive and extremely consistent over the course of the year. I got to watch his preparation and his process and how he goes about it day to day, week to week. He was very welcoming with showing me what he does and a lot of it made sense to me.”
The Oklahoma State product first joined the Bombers in 2021, attempting only 13 passes in his first season behind Collaros and backup Sean McGuire. Though his role would grow each season, Brown mostly got a front-row seat to one of the most successful stretches by a quarterback in CFL history, as his mentor helped drive Winnipeg to four straight Grey Cup appearances and was named the league’s top player on two occasions.
Since arriving in Winnipeg late in the 2019 season, Collaros has completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 11,841 yards, 92 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. What impressed Brown more than the raw numbers was the fashion in which the 35-year-old future Hall of Famer carried himself daily and preached authenticity.
“It was a joy watching him just be him,” he recalled. “The fiery guy that you see in games is the guy you see in practice and it was very encouraging to see him express that because in the past, I had been told to not express that. It gave me some clarity on how I can go about my business as far as having a standard of execution for yourself, but also for your teammates.”
Of course, sitting behind the league’s premier passer had its drawbacks and reps were hard to come by for the youngster. His departure from Winnipeg has been in the works for quite some time, as he told Bombers management in his exit meeting following the 2022 season that he desired an opportunity to be a starter elsewhere.
“I was struggling a little bit because I had expressed that I felt like I kind of reached the ceiling of learning without playing,” Brown recalled. “I had a true desire to continue to develop and get better and for me, it felt like I couldn’t do that unless I played.”
Fortunately for him, the final year of his rookie contract afforded him more chances to see the field and he made a pair of starts, winning both. Brown completed 69.7 percent of his passes for 983 yards with nine touchdowns and zero interceptions, setting a new single-season CFL record for most touchdown passes without registering an interception.
Across three seasons, he has now connected on 102-of-153 pass attempts for 1,484 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions, adding five rushing majors. That intriguing stat line earned him a reputation as the “next one” in CFL circles and generated plenty of buzz heading into free agency.
But even in choosing his next destination, Brown leaned on an endorsement from Collaros. Newly hired Redblacks’ offensive coordinator Tommy Condell was the veteran’s play-caller when he made his own leap to franchise status with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and featured heavily in many of his lessons to young teammates.
“In getting on the phone with Tommy, it kind of felt like I knew him a little bit just from my relationship with Zach,” Brown revealed. “We spoke about him a lot and some of the things that he learned from him along the way.”
“What I heard from not just Zach but when I picked some other people’s brains in the league is Tommy’s one of the best and one of the most detailed. That’s something that I have a deep desire for, is to be coached hard, because if you strip down every ounce of my being, I just want to improve.”
With the right offensive coordinator and a couple of starts now under his belt, the five-foot-11, 191-pound passer believes he is ready to steer the Redblacks into their next chapter. While he’ll have to battle to shake the stigma of previous quarterback projections like James Franklin and Nick Arbuckle, he is emboldened by the investment Ottawa has made in him.
“People can say it’s a small sample size and I understand that completely, but experience can only be gained by experience. If that’s going to be the knock on me, then I’m okay with that because I’m going to be getting a lot more experience this year,” Brown insisted.
“I think it’s an opportunity where people believe in me as a player, but also in my character and what maybe they heard through the grapevine about how I go about my business. To me, that’s really important that someone believes in who I am and what I stand for.”
Much of that was shaped by his relationship with Collaros, which will remain a guiding star for him throughout this new adventure.
“I could go on and on for hours, I could probably write a book about him,” Brown said. “It was a true blessing to be able to learn from him but also, he’s like an older brother to me now.”
Brown and the Redblacks will begin their 2024 season when they host Collaros and the Bombers on Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
