Monday Morning Sentimonies: Football-less Void

We have officially reached the painful final stretch of the offseason. Free agency is over, the draft is two months away and the NFL is even over so there is no football whatsoever. If we can just make it through this final stretch then football will be back and life will be good again.

God bless the Argos and Chad Kelly for trying to keep the CFL in the new cycle but there were likely better ways to go about it. A wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against them by a female trainer who Kelly allegedly made advances at. Since the news broke both the Argos and CFL have made themselves quieter than people who have run out of candy on Halloween and are trying to pretend like they aren’t home. It’s a media strategy that works about as well as Craig Dickenson’s coaching tactics in October.   

As someone whose day job involves human resources, things like this just make me shake my head. Rather than deal with an issue that was raised, they tried to sweep it under the carpet. Literally all they had to do was do some kind of internal discipline to Kelly for his alleged inappropriate behaviour and this probably never gets spoken of outside of Argo facilities. Instead they opted to make things much worse and turn it into a public story. The court of public opinion is always much harsher than actual court… and in the world of human resources both should be avoided.

I am willing to bet that since the Argos have no interest in losing Kelly’s services they will find a fall guy in management (John Murphy has previous experience getting turfed for doing dumb things) and give Kelly a slap on the wrist and have him do a super fake apology (that I can tell you right now will include “that’s not who I am”, “I found the lord through this” and maybe even “I have many friends who are women”). I will add a bonus prediction that given some people’s addiction to finding a way to tie the Riders to bad new stories, the headlines will read “Former Rider Assistant GM forced to resign in disgrace from current CFL team”.

In more positive CFL news, Vernon Adams signed a long-term extension in BC. Good for him. I am actually glad to see him have success. Remember that his CFL career started with more trades (BC->Montreal->Sask->Hamilton) than starts. Also remember that for a period in 2017 the Riders had him 3^rd on the QB depth chart behind Kevin Glenn and Brandon Bridge. Excuse me while I go silently weep for a few seconds.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Big Additions

For the most part the official opening of free agency was about as exciting as most all-star games. Not a lot of real excitement and a whole lot of going through the motions. We made official all the deals we were expecting which was great, just not particularly exciting. I honestly thought that we were mostly done. But O’Day had other plans.

He made 2 more big (both literally and figuratively) signings. The first was bringing back Micah Johnson. Now I’ll be the first to admit that having Micah play for us in an even numbered year will be weird. He played for us in 2019, left for BC in 2020 when the season ended up being cancelled, returned for 2021, left for Hamilton in 2022 and returned in 2023. He was not due back in these parts until his 4th stint came around in 2025. But dammit am I happy he’s staying! I have been campaigning for this all offseason (you’re welcome). In a crap season, Micah was one of the few guys who gave it his all the whole year. Not only was he a strong veteran leader who demonstrated the heart you want to see from your key guys, he was pretty damn good still. At 35, he played a full 18 game season, notched his most sacks as a Rider and I contend, was our best defender (I get that the bar was pretty low but still, point remains, he was good). I think he is exactly the veteran leader we need to head up this revamped D-line under Coach Mace.

The second addition caught me completely by surprise. With Ferland and Blake back and young guys like Bandy, Fry and now Zerr, I assumed O’Day would be content at Canadian OL. In what might be the first time the term “pleasant surprise” has been used in conjunction with anything O’Day has done with Canadian OL in the past 3 years, he went out and landed Ryan Sceviour (I assume Mueller and Mace’s Calgary connections had some play in there as well). An 8^th overall pick in the 2018 Draft who has locking down the RG position on the Stamps OL for a few years now, and was named a West Division all-star in 2022. This was a massive addition to our OL. The only downside here is that this makes me pretty confident that O'Day will now continue his streak of completely ignoring OL in the draft... but I guess that's a future us problem. For now let's focus on the good.  

Honestly, other than American receiver (which we can address through recruiting), I feel like O’Day has checked all the boxes in terms of our major needs. The cynic in me fears becoming hopeful because decades have history have shown that hope almost always precedes that hope being violently bashed to pieces. But like Michael Scott I am ready to get hurt again.

I don’t expect there is much more coming our way in free agency but there are a few names still out there that I would certainly at least be looking into to see if you can get some late value. Some names include receivers like Cam Phillips, Rasheed Bailey or Lucky Whitehead. Even a Canadian WR like Nate Behar or Tevaun Smith (we will need depth if we look at starting 3 Cdn WR). DBs like Roberson Daniel, Winston Rose, Alden Darby or Jeremy Clark. Or DL such Woody Barron or AC Leonard. For the right price there could be some good value here.

Monday Morning Sentimoines: Successful Tampering

I hate the term “won free agency”. Teams that “win” free agency generally are terrible (good teams don’t need to sign a bunch of FAs because they already have a talented roster) and tend to not win the actual season.  That said I do think the Riders had a very successful tampering period. I had listed 5 primary needs and we managed to address 4 of those is a big way. I don’t think that suddenly makes us Cup contenders. I do feel better about our roster than I did a week ago.

I said needed LBs. We went out and got the best LB available in Jameer Thurman. Dude is a flat out stud and will definitely be a strong anchor for our D. We also got Adam Auclair. Basically he is a younger Teitz. Between Thurman, Auclair and Reavis we dropped the average age of LBs significantly.

I said we needed OT help. We went out and got the best one available in Jemarcus Hardrick. In the process we righted a historical wrong. Hardick was a Rider in 2015 and not deemed worth keeping in the new Chris Jones regime. To use a Jones term, he has been “moderately successful" since. Did we overpay? Probably, but when your option is spend a lot or suffer another season trying to fix out OT issue in-house, I say its money we needed to spend.

I said we needed a CB. We went out and got Jalon Edwards-Cooper. He kinda got overshadowed a bit in BC playing alongside some bigger names guy. I think he can be an impact player. The stat is that he did not give up a TD in 2023. That's good right?

I said we needed DL help. We went out and got Malik Carney. I’m still not exactly sure why we seem to be moving on from Robertson but Carney has 12 sacks over the past 2 seasons and I think instantly adds a proven pass rusher to our rotation.

RB wasn’t a priority but we went out and got Ouelette. He’s the second best RB in the CFL and will bring a hard nosed bruising style to our run game that we haven’t had in a while. I was always a big Morrow fan but I do think Ouelette is objectively a bit better.

This haul has Rider fans more excited for the season than soccer moms were to see Usher perform at half time. We still have some holes to fill but O’Day and Mace definitely did good job of aggressively going out and addressing our biggest needs.

Long road still ahead of us but good first step.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: The Waiting Game

In the week leading up to the negotiation window, the Riders had a huge week in terms of re-signing their own guys. We extended Milligan for an extra year (by far our best DB). We retained Lanier and Bane (arguably our top pending free agents on either side of the ball). We also extended Nelson Lokombo (not nearly as notable as their other 3 but Canadian depth is crucial and for an organization that has struggled to retain and develop draft picks at times Lokombo makes it 7 of our last 9 1^st/2^nd/3^rd round picks still with the team). 

When healthy and not stupidly being played out of position at D-end, Lanier is among the most disruptive DTs in the league. I think Mace is a coach who can get Lanier to that next level of excellence. Bane is simply a massive piece to keep. Look at what he did last season and factor in the carousel of back-up QBs and underqualified OC he had to deal with. I don’t think we have seen his ceiling yet. Farhan Lalji reports his deal is around $175,000. That is really good value when you consider some other WR salary (i.e. Eugene Lewis $300k+, Rhyme $240K). 

As of right now, O’Day is busy legally tampering. We may yet see some of our guys re-sign after seeing the open market isn’t as lucrative as they hoped but for the most part this is the time to attract new guys to the team. 

Here’s what I see as our top area of needs.

 

1.     Linebackers

You can debate the quality, but at pretty much every position the Riders could field a team today if they needed to. The glaring exception is LB. We got nobody other than Reavis. If you trust your scouting you could maybe fill one spot with a new player but not 2. Obviously the top target should be Jameer Thurman. I expect us also to kick the tires on Adarius Pickett, Ben Hladik and Adam Auclair (drafting his brother didn’t pan out, maybe we can get some games out of an Auclair after all). I honestly would not rule out a Larry Dean return if we miss out on some of the top end targets but that is definitely not the preferred route.

 

2.     Offensive Tackle

As of today the starters would be Hawkins and Council (maybe old man Blake). So unless we get some upgrades here they might as well just pre-reserve a hospital bed for Trevor Harris. Biggest name on the market is Hardrick but he’s the only legit starter hitting the market so he will be fielding multiple calls. Trevon Tate and Tyrone Riley would be your other options. I am still holding out hope that Colin Kelly returns once he is healthy.

 

3.     Cornerback

We have Milligan, Henderson, Williams and Dalke. I expect Williams to take a step forward in year 2 but Henderson has always been inconsistent and even with him penciled in as a starter you need one more guy. Best case scenario is convincing Jamal Peters to follow Mace here. Or if you wanted to spend a bit less Robertson Daniel. Other names I’d be calling include Demario Houston, Ciante Williams and Damon Webb (I always felt we gave up on him too early).

 

4.     Interior OL Depth

Godber, Ferland and Blake (Assuming we aren’t forced to bump him out to tackle) should be solid on the inside but when (not if) we need someone else to fill in for a short or long term absence it gets scary again. The organization seems to love Logan Bandy, though I’m not seeing in him what they are yet. We are waiting for Fry to finally take the next step. And maybe Zerr gets his career on track (being dumped by 2 teams in 2 seasons is not a great omen for a high draft pick OL). Bottom line we need reinforcements and while logic would dictate we get some of that through the draft, O’Day has been about has willing to draft OL early as I am forgo my morning coffee. Geoff Gray, Sean Jamieson and Phillip Norman are options.

 

5.     D-line

My sense is that the team is banking on some combination of Albright and Cox to be able to lock down one DE spot. We have Lanier and Brown inside. With Korte-Moore and Dabire to rotate. At a minimum we need another DE to replace Robertson and likely more depth at DT with both Christmas and Micah not yet re-signed. I don’t see us paying for Betts (with other more pressing needs) so guys like Dewayne Hendrix, Sean Oakman, Ricky Walker, Dylan Wynn, Brandon Barlow and Malik Carney become the target list. Whoever we add I just hope it turns out better than last year’s D-line splash… Stefen Banks.

I know I left RB off the list. We will likely add one but its not really a pressing need and with so many hitting the market all at once, there will be a decent one available regardless of how long we wait.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Start Your Tampering

February 4^th will mark the opening of the negotiation window. Put another way, it will mark the end of illegal tampering and the start of league sanctioned tampering. This all leads up to the opening on February 13.

The Riders stroked some important names of their pending free agent list. They re-signed two important  OL in Ferland and Blake. Ferland has long been our lone beacon of hope in a sea of terrible O-Linemen. He’s only going to improve and if you watched him the few times he got called on as an emergency tackle you saw a versatile and talented OL (who by the way will only turn 27 this season). Blake is over a decade older but is still versatile and talented. He might only have a year left in him (and maybe its only providing depth) but he’s a proven leader and we need that to rebuild this group. Lauther also re-signed which is hardly a shock to anyone.

What likely was a shock was a 2 year deal for Fine. While I’m sure many would have preferred Dolegala, here’s what it boiled down to. Dolegala likely will have other people bidding for his services. Fine probably didn’t. Also, Fine lacks the fanfare of Dolegala (what with not being a literal giant) but its not like Jake, you know, won a lot. Here’s some stats:

-        Yards per throw: Fine 7.7, Dolegala 7.9

-        Completion %: Fine 69.1%, Dolegala 64.9%

-        Wins: Fine 1, Dolegala 2

I’m not saying that Fine is the next superstar but for likely less money, he is of comparable value as a back-up.

Now let’s take a look position by position at the Riders’ needs and potential targets.

QB – Doubt we do much here as we already have Harris, Fine and Pipkin. Market is also pretty thin. It’s either try and bring back Dolegala or go for Arbuckle. Reality is QB is likely addressed through recruiting.

RB – Over half the league’s RBs are hitting FA all at once: Olivera, Fletcher, Stanback, Devonte Williams, Ouelette, Carey and Morrow. I still think we are targeting a big splash like Olivera or Ouelette but once people blow their money on those 2, there will be some insane value on the remaining guys, like say bringing back Morrow (who I am fond of) or even Williams.

WR – We need a #1 WR and its not a great year to be in the market for that. I am still hoping we are pushing for Bane. If not him then Schoen is the only other real bona fide #1.  I could see us targeting Coxie.

OL – While there are some good OLs slated to hit FA (Gagnon, Steward, Ciraco, Sceviour, Knevel, Norman), our issue is that we need tackles and they are not hitting the market. Only tackle to keep an eye on is Hardrick. I don’t see us landing him but you never know (recall he had him way back in the day and let him go). One reunion that could make sense is Bladek. He would add some nice depth to our interior and a little nastiness.

LB – I think this is our biggest question mark heading into the season. We have Reavis at cover LB… and then? No one. Some cold water was doused on the ridiculous theory that we would just pillage the Argos when McManis re-signed. There are still some quality names out there that I would have interest in. One in particular is Jameer Thurman. Stampeder connection to Mace and a guy you can build a LB core around. Others include: Avery Williams, Jonathan Jones, Adarius Pickett, Micah Awe (just kidding, screw that head targeting yet somehow un-suspendable dirty bastard), Titus Wall and Josh Woods.

DB – Ironically this is probably the deepest position in free agency but one of our lesser needs. I would love to find a lockdown corner to replace Marshall. Obviously Jamal Peters comes to mind. But you could also look at Cariel Brooks, Daniel Roberson, Demario Houston or Marcus Sayles.

DL – Next to LB this is our next biggest need. I still fully expect us to land one of Brandon Barlow, Shawn Oakman, or Dewayne Hendrix. But I think we need at least 2 DL signings to feel good about that group. Malik Carney, Dylan Wynn, Jackson Jeffcoat and Jake Thomas are of interest. I am still tooting the “bring back Micah” horn and wouldn’t mind seeing Robertson/Lanier back but Lanier is likely gone and Robertson is a good buddy of his so odds are not great.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Free Agency Getting Closer

Free agency is now a couple weeks away and the Riders continue to whittle down their list of pending FAs. This past week Frankie Hickson and Charbel Dabire were extended. I have damn near been a day 1 member of the Dabire fan club. He’s a quality Canadian that adds to our D-line rotation. He also boasts a 20 yard kick return to his stat line. Underrated athlete that I’m happy to keep for his 5^th season since being drafted in the 5^th round.  Hickson is a guy I would like to see more of. He’s shown flashes but hasn’t earned more playing time. This will be a make or break season for him. We also released Wieneke which surprised no one.  

So where does that leave us? Let’s look position by position at what is left for the Riders to address.

QB – We have our starter in Harris and our 3^rd down QB in Pipkin. We need a back-up. I expect we re-sign one of Fine or Dolegala but not both. I still think there is value in continuing to develop Dolegala. He needs a lot of work but maybe a competent coaching staff can help with that. I think Fine lacks the upside potential of Dolegala but also lacks the rollercoaster lows. I think Fine could mark out a “fine” career a back-up (I’m sorry, its Monday, that the best I can do). 

RB – I expect we try and land Olivera or Outlette in free agency. Though if we miss out or the prices go to high, I could still see Morrow returning as a more cost effective option.

WR – We need a #1 WR. We all hope that is Bane. If its not him then its not like there is a ton of options in free agency (Schoen if you wanna drop massive $). I honestly don’t care if Tevin Jones is back. He puts up stats but still strikes me as a lazy, selfish player. I think we can do better. 

OL – A lot of concern at this point here. We have a great centre in Godber… and then? Nothing. Maybe Hawkins comes back healthy and turns out to be awesome. Maybe Fry finally develops into a rosterable player. But even if both of those maybes pan out we are still short 2 starters. I would like to see Ferland back. I would like to see Johnson go be a liability in another town for a while. I assume Kelly isn’t healthy yet. He was the only good tackle I’ve seen here in 2 years. We need him whenever he is cleared to play. I expect we sign at least one OL in free agency (though there is not a lot of options) but odds are, the bulk of the OL solution will need to be built in-house.

DL – Korte Moore looks like a baller. Albright showed some flashes. Brown and Dabire are competent DTs. But this is currently an area of need. Who knows if Mace wants Lanier or Robertson back. There has been much speculation that a DL or two will follow Mace from Toronto (at least one of Barlow, Oakman or Hendrix). I still hope we break the cycle and keep Micah for a second year in a row. He’s a heart and soul player who showed last season he can still contribute. 

LB – I would argue that outside of OL, LB is the biggest area of need on this team. Reavis can man the cover LB spot but then what? We got nothing. As much as I love Dean, I’m not sure he’s the answer anymore. As the season went on more and more of his tackles came after yards we gained. Teitz did not return as the same player as before his injury. Lots of questions here.

DB – A relative oasis of stability amid a lot of question marks on defense. We should be solid with Milligan, Williams, Dalke and Henderson. I could see us not doing a ton here and relying on drafting and scouting. O’Day has been able to find us one quality DB per season.

K – We need one. I think we all assume it will be Lauther and all that is delaying it is Lauther figuring out his true value come the negotiation window to ensure he doesn’t take a hometown discount.  

 

Canadian Depth – Guys like Lokombo, Okeyka, Awachie, Brescacin and Herdman remain unsigned. I expect one or two to be retained but change will be coming there.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Welcome to 2024

My first post of 2024 arrives exactly on brand… late, of questionable quality and with a distinct smell of day old rye. The good news is that if you clicked on this post you are either a longtime reader or so desperate for CFL news that you will literally read anything. In either case, I don’t see you being scared off.

Let’s get caught up on all the news people are talking about this January.

-        The Riders have been relatively quiet, at least from a volume perspective. Getting CJ Reavis back was a very important signing. Good to have Alford back in the fold. And Trevor Harris accepted a bit of a pay cut (well at least on paper. Due to US tax rules his gross may go down but his net might not change a whole ton).

-        Big one was letting Moncrief go. I get it but it still hurts. Moncrief has been one of my favourite players since he showed up here. Stan-up guy on and off the field who I don’t think people ever fully appreciated his skillset. The combination of Reavis and a noticeable dip in Moncrief’s play as the season wore on led to this. Wish him nothing but the best.

-        We haven’t done anything along the D-line yet. I know Micah Johnson is only contractually allowed to play for the Riders in odd numbered years but we also have Robertson, Christmas and Lanier headed to free agency. Be curious to see how Mace builds his D-line.

-        Another position I’m watching is RB. We have not re-signed Morrow or Hickson. I’m not a huge advocate of spending big on and RB but if you were inclined to spend Olivera and Ouelette would be solid investments. The fact that we have Hudon on the roster makes it more viable to start a Canadian RB. Also Mace would have connections to Ouelette. This is nothing but wild speculation but it does make you wonder.

-        Looking at our other pending FAs, the only ones I would categorize as priorities as Bane, Kelly (assuming he’s healthy) and Lauther.

-        We are playing the waiting game with Sam Emilus. He has now worked out for 5 NFL team (Ari, Den, NE, Ten, GB). O’Day kinda hinted that they expect him to be gone for at least a bit. Normally I would agree. With that many workouts its usually a lock to be gone. But this happened with Baker last year and he stayed (albeit injuries likely played a big role there).

-        Despite the speculation I don’t expect a mass pilfering of the Argos’ free agents. I bet one or two follow Mace here. But I don’t see us becoming Toronto-West. And given that they are already Calgary-East that would make us Dave Dickenson’s sloppy seconds.

-        The one news tidbit I loved hearing is that Mace asked permission to talk to Stamps Special Teams Coordinator Mark Kilam. He has long been a rising coaching prospect and even interviewed for our HC job. Calgary rightly said no (since its not a promotion) but it shows that Mace is not afraid to set his sights super high. If he doesn’t get a head coach job in 2025, I could definitely see Kilam finding his way here as Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator.

-        Speaking of special teams, one of the rule changes being discussed at the CFL winter meetings involves giving teams the option to take the ball at the 40 after a TD (same as FGs). I’m all for player safety (which they claim this is about) but there has to be other ways to address that that don’t eliminate the return game. Its one of the things the CFL does better than any other league. Its one of the most exciting plays. That’s why I will always be a supporter of the return game… and the rouge which encourages returns.