Firebirds Friday - NEW SIGNINGS

Hey Flock, welcome back to Firebird Friday.  This is an exciting week as Albany has brought in a few new faces to the team.  These are the first signings of free agency for the team as they look to make it back to the championship.

Who’s New

    The first signing for the Firebirds this free agency is Mohamed Diallo.  Diallo was at Arizona Western College for two years before getting an offer from Texas A&M and played there for one season before transferring to Central Michigan.  In his time with the Chippewas, Diallo racked up 11.5 tackles for loss and in his second season had three sacks as well as a forced fumble and fumble recovery which earned him first team all conference honors.  This season with Central Michigan allowed Diallo to transfer to Arizona for the 2021 season.  In his Senior year with the Wildcats, he had nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

    The season with Arizona was enough to earn him a chance in the CFL where in 2022, he was drafted 19th overall in the third round by the Hamilton Tiger Cats.  He played there for the 2022 and 2023 season where he played 27 games, and added two sacks and 17 tackles.  Diallo brings great size to the Firebirds at 6 '5”, 305 pounds and will be a tough task for any offensive lineman trying to stop him.

    The second signing this week for the team is wide receiver Timothy Conerly.  Conerly was at UNLV for his first two seasons he played at UNLV where he racked up 110 yards and had nine receptions.  After a few seasons at UNLV, Conerly entered the transfer portal and was listed as a 3 star transfer according to 247 Sports, where he then transferred to Sacramento State.  In his lone season at Sacramento State, he had five receptions and 26 yards while dealing with injury.  Conerly adds to a loaded receiver room in Albany and will look to make an instant impact here with the Firebirds.

The Team

    Albany adds another defensive player in Diallo who will help the defensive line in a big way.  Him and Khris Walton will look to create havoc on the line throughout the entire season.  They are the only two players on defense for now, so there is still work to be done on that side of the ball.  On offense, Conerly is now the fourth receiver in Albany.  He joins Agiye Hall, Tyrese Chambers, and Cam Alves in a stacked room.  There should be ample opportunity for him to make an impact with Josh Kulka under center as well.  As of now, there will be more players signed for Albany over the coming weeks so look out for that as Albany looks to rebuild another contender roster this season.