Monday Morning Sentimonies: Ridiculously Early Award Predictions

As the title of this post suggests, today I will be taking a look at potential year end award winners for the Riders. Some might think its too early since we don’t even know who will be making the game day roster. Some might think this is a desperate attempt to create content during a dead zone in the CFL offseason. Some might think that based on my track record I may end up inadvertently cursing anyone I mention as a potential winner. Well just because you may be right doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shut up and just go along with it.

To make things a bit more interesting for each award I will make two predictions: a favourite and a long shot.

Most Outstanding Player

Favourite: Obviously Trevor Harris is the betting favourite. Not only does this award have a general bias towards QBs, but when he is on his game Harris remains one of the best in the league. His issue is not talent but longevity (happens to the best of us). If he strung together 18 games of his best (well let’s be more realistic and say 16 at his age) then he’d not only be our MOP but also in contention for the league award.

Long Shot: Mario Anderson. After last season, I am fairly confident in Ouelette’s durability but I could see a scenario where Ouelette gets hurt and Anderson steps into the starting role. He rushed the ball 24 times in 2025. 20% of his carries went for 10 yards or more. 20%! Now I know that is not sustainable over a full season but if he finds himself in a starting role, Anderson has all the potential to be a breakout star.

Canadian

Favourite: Without a doubt Sam Emilus is our top Canadian on the roster. Injuries were the only reason he did not post his third straight 1000 yard season. His pace over 7 games in 2025 could have positioned him for his best season ever over a full season.

Long Shot: Nelson Lokombo. Just kidding. I have a better chance at being named this team’s top Canadian. My actual pick is Lake Korte-Moore. We are in desperate need of people to step up a D-end with the departure of Carney, Baldonado and Ray. Entering his 4^th season, the former 3^rd overall pick should see his role grow. Following a year cut short by injury I expect him to have a career year and see no reason why he could not be the one to step into Baldonado’s role. 

Defensive

Favourite: This is a two horse race between Milligan and Thurman (the team nominees the past 2 years). I am going to go with Milligan. After what should have been an MOP season in 2024 he had a “down year” in 2025. Ho hum, he only had 4 interceptions. I don’t think he gets back to 2024 numbers but I think his stats trend up enough that he gets the vote once again (CFL voters are not exactly the most enlightened out there so unless there are flashy numbers they tend not to vote even if the on-field play is at an elite level). 

Long Shot: Not sure this is a super longshot but I’m going with Antoine Brooks. People lamenting the loss of Reavis are quick to forget that Brooks was our starting Cover LB to end the season and through the playoff run. He has NFL caliber talent (with a Super Bowl ring to prove it). Even Reavis himself praised the abilities of Brooks. I think he is going to have a breakout season. 

O-Lineman

Favourite: Take your pick between Hardrick and Ferland. Hardick is the reigning League Most Outstanding Lineman. Ferland is so good that I think he could legitimately win this award regardless of which position he starts in. If its not one of these two then something has gone horribly wrong (and I am probably coping with rye). 

Long Shot: Going with Daniel Johnson here. Injuries cut his first season on the active roster to just 7 games but in that time he was deemed good enough to start at tackle… and he played pretty darn good. Coming out of college he got an invite to mini-camp with Indianapolis and was always viewed as having all the athletic ability but being raw as a prospect. In 2025 we saw him start to take a leap forward in his development. I think he is poised cement himself as fulltime starter in 2026. 

Rookie

Favourite: This one is the hard by far to figure out in March. We know next to nothing about the rookies currently on the roster and the winner could even be someone we will be drafting in May. Given that our offseason plan at D-end seems to be sign a million new recruits and hope at least one turns out awesome, I am going to play the odds and say whichever rookie emerges from that D-end competition has great odds at being our Rookie of the Year (great movie by way... Rookie if the Year). Of that group I am going to go with Sundiata Anderson… in doing I have most likely cursed to Anderson to be an early cut in rookie camp. I apologize.

Long shot: With the amount of Canadian WRs we start, depth is going to be needed. That makes a guy like Daniel Wiebe very interesting to watch. He caught my eye during his time in training camp last year and ended being a finalist for the Hec Creighton trophy in 2025. He could be an injury away from legitimate playing time and he strikes me as a guy that will not relinquish his spot once he gets it.   

Special Teams

Favourite: This one is easy. We currently have no long snapper. Kicker is an open competition. And while our punter from the end of last season is back, he is anything but a lock to keep his job. So by virtue of being the only legitimate guy in the group, new returner James Letcher is the overwhelming favourite to win this one. I expect him to have a good year and be an upgrade over what Alford was by the end of the season (which was still pretty good).

Long Shot: Ending with the most outrageous long shot prediction. The winner of this award will be none other than Brett freakin’ Lauther. Hear me out!

Yes, we did just cut him and yes, he is currently unemployed. But there is a very real scenario where the Americans we brought in to replace him flame out. And then what are we going to do? Call Cambell Fair again? Just like an ex-girlfriend at 2am on a lonely night, Lauther could suddenly start getting "you up?" texts from O'Day. Hell, Paul McCallum got a second go round with the Riders and for those who weren’t around in the early 2000’s I assure you his break-up from the Riders was far messier than Lauther’s.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Tailgating

It was raised as a possibility last year and this year the Riders made it official… tailgating is coming to Saskatchewan. Well, legal tailgating. This is the prairies… people tailgate their kids’ sports games. 

Season ticket holders are eligible to enter a lottery from which they will randomly draw the lucky people who will get one of the limited tailgating spots (consisting of 2 parking spots). Oh yeah and you have to pay $500 for the season. 

Now many people are mad about the $500 fee. Maybe I have just become too used to the current state of things but I honestly expected more gouging. Look, free was never going to be an option. If the Riders can’t make money on something they are not going to put effort into it. The only reason we don’t have toll bathrooms in Mosaic is because Reynolds hasn’t discovered an efficient way to monetize it yet. I actually assumed they would sell individual games because I guarantee they could have made $500 per spot just for Labour Day. Also you can’t charge for parking but let people tailgate for free (which is essentially just parking with benefits). 

My name is in the lottery… mostly our of sheer curiosity. I want to see how this is going to go. Because done right, this could be an awesome addition to the game day atmosphere. But done wrong this could add all the energy a senior’s group going camping (and not the fun seniors, the ones who call the park rangers when kids are running in the road). 

I fully expect year 1 of tailgating to be super lame (not my spot, you’ll hear a bit later how awesome I plan to be). Its going to take some time for people to figure this all out and I guarantee it will be over-policed at the start. You as a fan may want us to be like Buffalo. Those organizing this want it more like a church bake sale. So there will be a feeling out process as fans test the limits of what will fly. 

For example, without some kind of security what would stop me from bringing back happy hour myself and selling $5 beers out of my cooler as for-profit business venture for myself? Or running a pancake breakfast for afternoon games? The Riders are already very begrudgingly entering tailgating despite the potential for it to cut into their food and booze sales. They aren’t going to let me compete against them. At least I assume not. Can I play a friendly game of cornhole with passers-by? Maybe. Can bring a pro-level cornhole buddy and hustle people by playing for cash? Maybe not. Do I need to run an illegal casino operation to profit from drunks and gambling degenerates to enjoy game day? No. But if they’ll let me without consequence it’s an option. Can I blast AC/DC on my stereo? Maybe. Can I blast DMX? We’ll see. We are going to have feel this dynamic out. 

As I said, early on I think they will lean heavy on enforcement and it will take until late this season and even into year 2 or 3 people things stabilize and it starts to get really fun.

As for my plans if I get a spot? It will be the place to be… probably for fans and security alike.

I won’t be selling beer (wink) or running and illegal casino (wink, wink). But I will be running game shows like Family Feud and Rider Jeopardy. Running theme nights… actual original ones that involve more creativity than asking Chat GPT for an alternate way to say Country Night. If they let me tailgate I can assure you by year 2 there will be at least two new rules that I can point to and say its because of me that’s a rule now. 

Honestly if they want to make tailgating awesome they should do away with the lottery and have people submit video applications like on a reality TV. Let people vote on the ones that will give the best party atmosphere.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Forgot About O’Day

Nowadays, everybody wanna talk like they got something to say

But nothing comes out when they move their lips

Just a bunch of gibberish

And people act like they forgot about O’Day

In the wake of free agency there is an epidemic of amnesia going around. Somehow people who just 3 months ago were praising Jemery O’Day for building a championship roster are now complaining that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I assume I am preaching to the choir here, as if you are able to tolerate my drivel it means you are most likely an educated fan (or a gluten for punishment, I appreciate your support either way). But I feel like I need to put a reminder out there to the football world that O’Day does in fact know what he is doing.

Do I like the outward migration of talent we just endured? Absolutely not. Tough to see starters like Allen, Carney, and Reavis or role players like Baldonado and Nield go. But maybe we can just breathe for a second before mashing the panic button like me when I used to play Mortal Kombat. We have our work cut out for us to replace what we lost. But O’Day and his team have a pretty solid track record of scouting talent. 

Don’t believe me? Consider this…

-        Half of the Grey Cup roster was guys that O’Day brought to the CFL.

-        Half of the starters on the Grey Cup roster were guys that O’Day brought to the CFL.

-        16 of the 21 Canadians we dressed in that game (5 of which were starters) were O’Day draft picks.

I’ll note that this doesn’t include O'Day guys who were on IR like K Johnson, D Johnson, Duncan-Busby, Avery, Korte-Moore and Robustelli who have contributed significantly.

We have had a consistent pipeline of American talent under O’Day’s watch: Reavis, Milligan, Reid, Collins, Brammer, K Johnson, Myers, Saunders, Brooks, Miller, Lanier, Avery, Sterns, Robertson, Marino (yeah he was a douche but he had talent through the roof). 

O’Day has drafted well. Emilus, Korte-Moore, Wiebe, Busby, Saad, Ford, Fry, Lokombo (I mean he starts), Kian Schaefer-Baker, Allen, Dalke, Bertrand-Hudon, Straker, D Johnson, Ajou. The last 7 names on that list were drafted in the fourth round or later. 

Hell, O’Day has even found top end global talent like Korsak and Baldonado.

Still don’t believe me? Look across the league at how many guys that O’Day originally recruited now fill the rosters of other teams. 

BC

-        James Butler

-        Justin McInnis

-        Deontai Williams

Edmonton

-        Joe Robustelli

Calgary

-        Miles Brown

-        Tevin Jones

-        Damon Webb

Toronto

-        Demarcus Christmas

-        Jake Herslow

Hamilton

-        Charbel Dabire

-        Jake Dolegala

-        Braxton Hill

-        Trevor Reid

Montreal

-        Alexander Gagne

-        Jereth Sterns

Ottawa

-        AJ Allen

-        Habakkuk Baldonado

-        CJ Reavis

-        CJ Coldon

-        Amari Henderson

This list doesn’t even include free agents that O’Day signed when they were so-so and he turned into hot commodities like Tommy Nield, Malik Carney and Jake Maier.

So, while there are definitely some holes currently on our roster, we should have at least a shred of faith in the guy running the team. 

Let’s end how we started.

Now you wanna run around talkin' 'bout scouts like I ain't got none

What, you think I fired 'em all 'cause I stay well off?

Now all I get is hate mail all day sayin' O’Day fell off

What, 'cause I been on my phone with guys that find the endzone

Tryna get this damn repeat off?

Monday Morning Sentimonies: CFL Valentines

This past Saturday was Valentine’s Day. And if that is news to you it might explain the bad mood your significant other has mysteriously been in.

In honour of St. Valentine’s Day I present to you, the Top 10 CFL Valentine Cards

10. 

9. 

8. 

7. 

6. 

5. 

4. 

3. 

2. 

1. 

Monday Evening Sentimonies: Free Agency

Free agency official opens tomorrow. Which means that we get to confirm all the things that were leaked out during legal tampering. Which is really just all the things that were sorted out during illegal tampering… which totally does not happen (wink, wink). 

We already know the Riders’ roster is taking some hits. Starters like Reavis, Allen and Carney as well as depth guys like Maeir, Baldonado, Nield and Robustelli are all gone. To compensate we will be adding James Vaughters, James Letcher (a very dangerous returner) and Josh Woods (veteran depth at LB). 

So what does this all mean for the Riders?

Well before people start their annual freak out that O’Day does nothing remember a) the most active teams in free agency are the crappiest teams and b) O’Day has already successfully extended 22 of our pending free agents. He put in the bulk of his work before free agency in trying to keep together as much of the core as possible. This includes top end talent like Emilus, Campbell and Johnson. So yes losing guys like Carney, Allen and Reavis sucks but its not end of the world. O’Day has done a great job of building depth. The development of guys like Brooks and Miller are factors in letting Allen and Reavis go.

Defensive end still concerns me at this point. Vaughters helps but he is 5-6 sack a year guy. Great for the rotation but not the guy. Him and Korte-Moore are currently our most decorated ends. If the Riders signed me I would be tied for 3^rd most CFL sacks by a defensive end. We have brought in a ton of new recruits and obviously hope one or 2 pan out but its far from a guarantee. But other than that I don’t see us as having major holes in the roster. Depth is a concern … but we also went from ridiculous depth to not as much so the level of concern is relative.

The biggest news was a release, not a signing. The Brett Lauther era is over. It will go down as a storied career of someone who was great on and off the field. But football is a cruel sport and as so often happens, rather than a heroes send off he gets unceremoniously dumped. Dumped for very good reasons but dumped nonetheless. To me the most shocking thing is not that we cut ties… its that we cut ties after sticking with him so long. If we still believed in him at the end of last season then I did not see us moving on now. I have nothing but respect for Lauther. From his humble beginnings of 18 years spent on practice rosters before getting his shot to even on his worst days never shying away from holding himself accountable in the media. His integrity and perseverance are commendable.  

We appear to be going American as we have now signed 2 American kickers. Be interesting to see how that plays out. You may say it can’t get worse than Lauther was last season, but to you I say… Campbell Fair. So forgive my concern. 

I am still holding out hope that we can keep CJ Avery. But I guess we will see how it goes.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Who You Be Tampering With?

**Editors note: I already had to rewrite this completely because 4 things happened that rendered the majority of my post irrelevant. Odds are good that will happen again between when I hit post and when you read this. Its not my fault CFL managers don't take my schedule into account when making moves.**

Its tampering season across the CFL as teams frantically make calls to try and woo potential free agents. They are about one step away from Tinder.

The opening hours were not exactly kind to the Riders. As often happens to the champions, other teams came looking to raid our shelves. And raid they did. Edmonton drove a truck of money up to Carney’s doorstep and took Robustelli for good measure. Ottawa took AJ Allen, Baldonado, Reavis and Maier. And Winnipeg took Tommy Nield. And that’s just what happened so far. 

On the positive side we did manage took lock up Ouelette and Rose just prior to free agency. On the less positive side we also managed to lock up Fields (because of what I can only assume is a league-imposed handicap to level the competitive landscape). 

So the question becomes, with Carney and Allen out of the picture what is O’Day doing with his tampering time? The answer may surprise you… very little. Or at least very little in terms of things most people would find interesting. He might be more active on actual Tinder than CFL Free Agent Tinder. He did most of his work up to now just retaining the core group of last year. Other than Carney and Allen he really managed to maintain all his impact starters… as well as Lokombo and Fields for some reason. We don’t have many major roster holes and more importantly we have no money to fill those holes we do have. We will be relying heavily on drafting and recruiting for the most part. 

I do think one think O’Day is doing is keeping in touch with our pending free agents. In particular CJ Avery. People forget that Avery was the starter until he got hurt and Allen stepped in a became a star. If we can keep him it will somewhat soften the sting of Allen and Reavis’ loss. 

But tampering with your own players is boring. You probably want the dirt on what other players O’Day is tampering with. I figure he’s looking at the following priority areas: 

D-Ends –  The one thing O'Day did was address our most glaring need. As much as the current "sign 20 rookie D-ends and hope 1 pans out" strategy is one way to appraoch things, we simply could not enter the season with Korte-Moore being our most experienced D-end. James Vaughters has history with this coaching staff given his time in Calgary so he was an obvious name that was on my radar and obviously O'Day's. Lorenzo Mauldin is a name we could explore. Maybe Shane Ray even sticks around. The market got thin real quick though so it might be Vaughters, Korte-Moore and hope we recruit well. 

O-line Depth – Much like last year where we added McEwen and Gagnon (I am not sure the difference between hype of signings and actual impact was that stark since Chris Jones’ free agent class in 2016), you know O’Day is always looking to add OL depth.  Names like Landon Rice, a second go round for Ryan Sceviour or even Gagnon and McEwen again are options. 

Receiver – With Johnson, Baker and Emilus plus our solid depth at Canadian WR, we don’t need a veteran receiver. But with Myers, Bane and Robustelli all going at once we do have room for a value add. Charleston Rambo, Dominique Rhymes, Luther Hakunavanuh, Steven Dunbar. Hell I would not even rule us having a conversation with Dalton Shoen (though given his injury status, a signing would likely be a ways away). The money for receivers dries up real quick once the top guys sign so there could be some sneaky value for the patient

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Baker Stays

They managed to get the deal done!

Speculation has been running rampant since November about whether the Riders would be able to retain both Emilus and Schaefer-Baker this offseason. That speculation ramped up when the Riders made Emilus the highest paid Canadian WR in the league. But to O’Day’s credit he found a way to get it done, signing Baker to a 2 year extension.

There was likely a team willing to pay more money to Baker. He’s an impact Canadian receiver after all. But Baker has never been quiet about his love for this province and his desire to stay. So he had to weigh whether the “more” he could make would be significant enough to make it worth it to leave a great situation and place he loves. Obviously O’Day found a number close enough to Baker’s ask that it was not worth testing free agency. I have no doubt that presence of Mace and Harris is a damn good recruiting tool.

Do I think Baker could have made more money? Yes. Do I think it would have been a significant amount? No. Teams don’t exactly back up trucks of money for players that have missed 26 of a possible 54 regular season games over the past 3 seasons. Love Baker but durability is a concern.

I am an unabashed Baker fan so I am very happy that he will be staying. As iconic as this pose is, I didn’t want it to be his last moment in green and white.

The Riders also extended Lake Korte-Moore. Keeping our Canadian core is important and prior to his injury last season Korte-Moore had been developing into an effective rotational pass rusher. They also extended Jack Coan who they remain very high on as a QB prospect.

With both Stevens and Coan locked up it brings into question whether Maier will be back. I think that decision is entirely Maier’s. I believe O’Day has made him an offer to return as the back-up and its up to him to see if he can find something better. I am not sure he will. There are no starter jobs up for grabs, so you gotta ask yourself where what the best back-up spot is. And honestly we have to top that list. Is there any QB more likely to not make a full season than old man Harris? And is it worth risking learning a whole new offense for a chance to maybe back-up someone else?

 Still some big names on O’Day’s to do list like Carney, Reavis, Johnson, Ouelette and Allen. I think we will all be pretty ok if that to-do list continues to not involve Lokombo and Fields.