Random Quasi-Coherent Thoughts: Bye Week Edition

With the Riders enjoying a bye week, we get the rare chance to pause and reflect on the regular season before the anticipation/crippling stress of playoff football sets in. In no particular order here are some thoughts I had as I looked back on a successful 2025 regular season. 

-        Corey Mace deserves credit for his growth as a coach. You could tell from day 1 he was the right hire but he made a lot of game management mistakes in his rookie year. I’m not saying he was perfect in year 2 but you could tell her learned from his mistakes and a better coach overall this year.

-        Once again you could triple the salary we are paying OL coach Edwin Harrison and it would not cover the value he brings to this team.

-        Last year many were questioning why the Riders bothered brining in AJ Ouelette. This season was why. Very few highlight reel plays but a consistent workhorse who got it done all season when it mattered. Also he just drives around town in a jacked up half ton full of dogs… he was clearly meant to live in this province.  

-        We openly worry about Harris’ age and durability but only 2 QBs started more games than him this year (one of which was old man Mitchell).

-        In back to back years O’Day has managed to find a new left tackle (Reid last year, Collins this year), that’s impressive.

-        KeeSean Johnson was 4^th in the CFL in receiving yards and 3^rd in receptions despite missing 2 games.

-        Can we put some love on Jorgen Hus? He is so good at what he does we pretty much forget he is even out there.

-        Speaking of putting some love on… AJ Freakin’ Allen! People rightly praise Cam Judge for his outstanding play and being arguably the top Canadian LB in the league. Allen was better than Judge in every single statistical category except tackles for a loss. Allen started as a special teams plater and excelled at that. So we gave him some rotational reps on D and he excelled at that. So we made him a starter and low and behold he excelled at that. Based on his track record we should let the guy kick FGs.

-        Micah Johnson has more sacks since turning 35 than many guys do in the entirety of their 20s. He is like the old fridge in your parent’s basement… it will outperform and outlast anything coming onto the market in the past 5 years.

-        If the CFL Commissioner wants to endear himself to the fans all he has to do is abolish the CFL Replay centre. Coaches challenges and scoring play reviews only. That or allow a live 2 way mic into the command centre so we can hear what they say and they can hear us curse at their failures. 

As for this weekend, while I think both home teams should win I can’t count our Calgary or Winnipeg. In the West I would much rather play BC. In the east I would much rather Winnipeg be put out of their misery early and emphatically.

Enjoy the bye week.