Monday Morning Sentimonies: 2 and 0

Riders 30 – Hamilton 8

Now that is a game! It was about the polar opposite of last week. We started slow but finished strong. That game had everything. Strong play in all 3 phases. Big plays on both sides. Even a big brawl. The crowd may have been small but those that came were into it and loud. Great night of football all around.

Gotta start with the defense. They won us that game. I was pretty critical of them after Game 1 but they dominated this week. They allowed 1 TD, forced 6 turnovers and didn’t allow a point after the 8 minute mark of the opening quarter (on one of the most infuriating series of plays I have ever seen… more on that in a second). The front 4 came to play in a big way. Consistent pressure all night with very little blitzing. That was one of the best games I have seen from Micah in a while. Stat sheet won’t reflect it but he was fired up and made a huge impact up front. Gates looked a lot better and Woodward stepped up out of nowhere (even though his 3^rd sack was a ridiculously early call that made we wonder if the ref had money riding on the Riders going over 5 sacks). Hamilton had no run game and seemed to base their entire offense on those swing passes/screens that we shut down pretty consistently. Middle of the line looks pretty solid 2 games into the season. Secondary was making plays including that outstanding pick by Blace Brown and the other by Hendy. Hamilton clearly has protection issues so take the results with a grain of salt but its nice to see us take advantage of the opportunities presented.  

The only fault with our defense was the penalties. The biggest example of that ridiculous goal line series where we lined up offside 3 times. Goal line is the simplest alignment in the CFL for the defense. If your hand is touching anything but white you are offside. One time? fine rookie mistake by Adams. Twice? It was a borderline call but common guys. Three times? Like 3 people were offside. What in the blue hell is wrong with you dummies?!? Add in a needless earhole hit by Henry and a hilariously blatant Marshall PI late in the 4^th. He made no attempt to play the ball and just overtly shoved his guy out of bounds. Given the time and the score it was entertaining but it was another reminder that you take the good and the bad with Marshall. Gotta clean up those mistakes going forward.

Offensively I was pleasantly surprised by our O-line. They were not a liability. I specifically watched Lauderdale and while he was not perfect he held his own a lot better than I thought Boyko did in week 1. Hopefully we have something in him. Yet again Maas called a great game. Teams have cracked 30 points just 3 times this season and 2 of those are us. You can just tell that he and Fajardo are on the same page. Reads a quick, passes are accurate, ball is being spread around. We lost our best WR and didn’t lose a beat offensively. We just have so many weapons with Moore, Lambert, an emerging Lenius and now Picton is suddenly a factor. And Fajardo even missed a couple open seam routes that could have led to a bigger night. We also remembered to run with the lead. My favourite offensive series was in the 4^th when everyone in the province knew we were running down their throat and Powell (with that O-line opening things up for him up front) run for 8, 8, 9, 3 and 12.

My only problem with our O was the needless hits that Fajardo took. Look, I know his legs are a big part of what make him effective and I have no problem with him running but both he and the team need to be smarter about how and when. There was a play where he took off and got the first down. He could have stepped out untouched for an 11 yard gain but cut in and took a hit to gain 2 more yards. Those extra hits will add up over a season and he can’t have him crippled come the playoffs (see how well 2019 went). Then with a 3 score lead and 4 minutes left in the game he shockingly was not glued to the bench. He was clearly banged up during the game. Not bad but he’ll be sore today. Any chance to cut down on the wear and tear on his body without impacting the outcome of a game we gotta take. But overall this is a versatile offense that can beat you many ways and is well coached.

I also need to comment on special teams. If you have followed me for any length of time you know how painful these next few words are for me to type… That was Jon Ryan’s best game as a Rider. Every single kick was great. All placed outside the hash marks. Credit where credit is due. That is a game where I have no problem with people cheering loudly for our punter. Quietly Lauther has been perfect on the season as well. Coverage is good. My only knock is that I don’t like Murphy on returns. Too many mistakes and even when he has the ball he doesn’t look like a guy who is a risk to break one anytime soon. Maybe he will improve with more experience but with Ryan suddenly learning how to directional kick Murphy is climbing up my hatred rankings quickly.

It was an emphatic win that instilled confidence in the team and the fans. Riders need to make good use of the home game heavy from half of the session and so far they are. Realistically a win over Ottawa and a split with Winnipeg could have us sitting very pretty early in the year. Especially with Alberta seemingly having outlawed winning for their football teams (hockey as well).  

Other random thoughts:

·        I love that when the players come out Nick Marshall goes to the mid-field logo to chirp the other team. That mentality of “this is our house” has been lacking in recent years. A couple years ago we let opposing kickers practice on our logo while we were coming out with no pushback. That attitude and swagger from the days of Tad Kornegay and Kitwana Jones defending our turf is back and I love it.

·        TV did not do justice to that brawl. It was heated. Harty really got into it (and totally earned his ejection). It was a big melee and even the practice roster players broke from behind their velvet rope enclosure to get into the action.

·        Gary Johnson had a solid day on kick coverage and even made plays when he saw some reps on defense. Riders were very high on him coming into the season and we are starting to see why.

·        The Riders actually went with Jay Onrait’s idea to play Abba’s Fernando and yell out Fajardo instead of Fernando… Gold!

·       Last week it was Yamasucky. This week it was Bertoilet.  We have faced some bad kickers so far. Yes awful word play with opposing kicker names is about the best the comedy will get around here. Might as well get used to it. 

Riders vs. Ti-Cats: Let’s Try This Again

Saturday night the Ti-Cats are in town looking for their first win of the season. This marks a time of the year that always entertains me to no end. Week 2, people when people ridiculously overreact to what happened in week 1. The Ti-Cats have gone from potentially going undefeated to in deep trouble. Ottawa has gone from laughing stock to people wondering if we undervalued them (they produced 70 yards of offense and won on a fluke pick 6!). Bethel Thompson is on pace to throw 5000 yards in a shortened season. Collaros is an unstoppable force (absolutely… until he gets hurt). So many things to overreact to. The great part about the Riders is that people aren’t sure what to overreact to. Do we overreact to the unstoppable first half? Do we overreact to the nightmare inducing second half?

While we did learn some things in Week 1, I generally do not put much stock in Week 1 results. It’s a small sample size for one. Remember that last season Ottawa started 2 and 0 by knocking off Calgary and Saskatchewan… how did that turn out for them? Also, given that no one played football for close to 2 years, we all expected some growing pains as teams learned how to play football again.

So where does that leave us for the upcoming game?

Well both the Riders and Ti-Cats took similar approaches offensively to game 1. They both came out firing early and looked unstoppable and proceeded to do nothing afterwards. The difference is while the Riders built up a big enough lead before shutting it down, Hamilton was content with just 1 drive. Both will be looking for a bit more sustained production.

Offensively we will be facing a far bigger challenge up front. Last week we played a line of Tavai and 3 rookies and survived ok. This week we play what I consider to be one of the top lines in the league Davis/Laurent/Wynn/Howsare. Considering what I saw out of Jefferson and Boyko that’s concerning. Even without Laurent, that D-line got 3 sacks against a very solid Winnipeg OL. Very solid we are not. As of writing this Dylan Wynn is questionable to play which would be some welcome relief. We will need Maas to draw up a game plan to once again compensate for that weakness. We need to run, and not just in the first half. If Powell gets anything less than 15 carries we have failed. You can bet we will once again be looking to use short passes (hooks, crossers, outs) to get the ball out quick. But with the benefit of game film, I would expect the Ti-Cats to adjust up to take those away. We are going to need to push the ball further down field once in a while to keep that D on their toes (like we saw early against BC). Obviously deep shots to Shaq come to mind but I think we also need to look at deep posts to Moore/Lenius or even 10-15 yards to passes to Picton on the wide side. Also, the next evolution of an offense heavy on hooks and slants is double moves and turning those short routes deep.

Defensively we have to play a QB who is neither a raw rookie or legally eligible for disability payments (though given how the latter carved us up maybe that’s OK). Much has been made about Hamilton’s offensive struggles but remember that they are missing Posey and Addison (you add that to Banks and Acklin and good luck) and were missing Van Zeyl. Winnipeg (who has one of the top D-line out there) utterly embarrassed the Hamilton pass protection. That was the difference in the game. And it shows us the blue print of how to win this game. We unfortunately don’t have a Willie Jefferson and Jeffcoat to do that with. Leonard had a solid game 1 so he will be fine but other than that 1 run stuff I will say I was underwhelmed with Adams. He needs to pick up his play and we need a more consistent push from the interior. If we had had more pressure I don’t think our secondary would have looked as bad as they did in the second half. I expect them to try and get Banks involved early so we need to look to contain him.  Also no cheating up and looking for easy picks (looking at you Marshall).  Acklin and Banks can kill you if they get behind coverage. Masoli is a very hot and cold QB. At his best he can surgically cut you up. At his worst he churns out turnovers like he’s trying to start a bakery. We want the latter and pressure is key to that.

Now that they have an actual game under their belt, I expect a better performance from the Riders… at least a most sustained performance (not sure you can get better than that first quarter). But balance that with the fact that Hamilton is a better team than BC and will also be playing better now that they have a game under their belt. I have faith in Maas to call a solid game plan. I’m less confident in whether our front 4 can get the push we need to be solid on D. Its possible, but I’m not betting on it at this point.

Expect a much closer game. I doubt Hamilton we will be so kind as to spot us a 4 score lead. I think offense will need to win us this one.

Riders by a Lauther FG.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Rider Football Is Back

It was the best of time, it was the blurst of times.

I have been trying to encapsule what went on Friday and that was the by far the most fitting thing I could think of. Yes Rider football is back. The euphoric highs, the soul crushing lows, the unhealthy heart palpitations and stress levels. Its all back it we managed to cram in all into the first game.

It was pretty awesome to hear that stadium roar again.  

Offensively the first 3 drives were perfection. Balanced attack, spread the ball around, quick strikes. All of it left the BC defense just helpless. If that’s what a Mass/Fajardo offense can be then there is very good reason for excitement. Unfortunately the O was apparently so pleased with their effort in the first quarter and half that they took the remainder of the game off. They did nothing, literally. There are many reasons you could point to: fatigue, getting complacent with a big lead but the concerning one for me was our absolute refusal to run the ball. In those first few drives we had the right mix of the run game and Powell was chewing up yards. It looked really good. Now most people who know anything about football would know that a good way to nurse a big lead is to run the ball. Apparently that concept is as foreign around here as imposing any kind of health restrictions. We ran 18 times in the first half. Great! Do you know how many times we ran the ball in the second half? I’ll give you a hint, I could count it on my wang (I won't, but I could). One! One solitary run in the second half and it came with under 2 minutes left in the game. We abandoned the run for all of the 3rd and most of the 4th. BC clearly adjusted to our short passing game and we couldn’t adjust. My guess is that our offense will settle into the middle somewhere. Not quite as good as the first quarter. Not quite as bad as the second half. I do love how we are using all our receivers. If we can get some more consistency it will make us difficult to stop.

The one thing I will give Maas credit for is calling the perfect game to hide 2 very mediocre tackles. I went back and watched the game focusing on the tackles and neither looked all that good (no surprise there). But fortunately they didn’t have to be good because the game plan didn’t ask them to do a whole lot. We saw lots of St John as an extra blocker. Lots of quick passes. Lots of motion. Maas hid our weakness well. The key going forward will be to progress because if we try and run the exact same offense next week, Hamilton (with the benefit of film) will make us pay.

Defensively, there was some things I liked and some I did not. It was tough to get a good read on our front 4 as we blitzed Rourke a ton early in the game (which was the right call). As the game wore on I was not impressed with our ability to get pressure with just 4. It was there sporadically but we need way more consistency. I thought Henry and Leonard had the best games of that group. In addition to his knockdowns and INT, Leonard got good pressure a number of times. He also was the victim of a blatant uncalled holding penalty in the 4^th that led to a 26 yard gain for Lemar Durant and ultimately a TD. I also thought Lacey did good manning the middle. Run game really wasn’t a factor and he damn near had an INT.

Our secondary of all places had its struggles (when it should have been the most solid aspect of a new look D). We let Reilly dice us apart completing 70% of his passes while throwing the ugliest balls I’ve seen since that time accidentally clicked on the wrong link on the internet with his elbow that is clearly being held together with duct tape and prayers. Credit where credit is due, some of the catches by BC were just great plays by the receiver but overall the secondary underwhelmed me. Noticed Gainey in a bad way a couple times.

Fortunately for us even though we peaked way to early leading to disappointment (something I know a fair bit about), we were bailed out by the unluckiest of heroes.  The first was that lucky for us the kicker Yamasaki was more like Yamasucky. A more consistent kicker could have changed the outcome of that game. The other hero, was someone I have heavily criticized over the years. Now I hate Jon Ryan singles more than probably anyone in the stadium and the fact that they get standing ovations from uneducated people who know nothing about what a punter is supposed to accomplish bothers me to no end but we needed his booming kicks and his singles in that one. (I pray this is the only time I have to write that as it makes me feel so dirty). He does seem to be aware that kicking towards the sideline is an option this year which is a big step forward. If you want something to cheer about cheer his last punt of the game where he pinned them deep.

I told you in my game preview that this would be ugly and boy was I right. But an ugly win counts the same as a decisive win so I will take it. Just please don’t get cocky. We almost blew a 31 point lead to the worst team in the West. Upcoming opponents will have better offense, better defenses, better kickers, possibly even an actual starting QB who doesn’t have a debilitating injury. We need to learn from this and continue to improve or the next game might not have a happy ending.

My voice is shot. My heart took some damage. I got to celebrate a win. I am openly criticizing our team again… man it feels good to have football back!

Riders vs. Lions: Bring Em Out

It’s been so long since I’ve written one of these previews that I almost forgot how… but damn if it doesn’t feel good to be doing it again!

Friday night under the Mosaic lights, the Riders are back. The Lions come to town to open the 2021 season. It’s a sellout crowd, on a Friday night, in the largest gathering in the province in close to 2 years… it’s gonna be loud! Also probably drunk.

The last time we saw the Lions they managed just a 5 win season and missed the playoffs. Rookie head coach DeVone Claybrooks and his OC Jarious Jackson managed the 7^th best offense in the CFL with Michael Reilly (side note: Really wish I could make fun about the whole name change thing but its honouring his mom, and while I’m ok with some degree of being an awful person, even I have my limits.) It’s a leading reason why both are not back. They were replaced with Rick Campbell and Jordan Maksymic (who served as the OC under Jason Maas in Edmonton). They have their work cut out for them to turn this team around.

Riders have undergone changes of our their own with the oft-maligned Steve McAdoo being let go for Jason Maas (also oft-maligned but for very different reasons). Plus injuries and retirements have taken a big toll the a roster. 

Offensively the Riders bring a great OC, a burgeoning star QB, 2 young stud receivers, and an oldie but goldie RB. Lots to love here. But there’s a but… but its dependent on the most questionable OL I’ve seen in a while in Saskatchewan. The interior will be fine. I seem to be hating Dan Clark less year by year (didn’t see that coming). Evan Johnson will be solid. Logan Ferland is an unknown but he earned this spot. It would be easy to give it to a first round pick like St John or Riley but for a pure junior player to get it, tells me he outright earned it. The edges scare the crap out of me. I was scared when Terran Vaughn and his bum shoulder were still a possibility. Now we get Jefferson and his zero career CFL games. On the opposite side you have Brett Boyko who was responsible for a number of the league high sacks allowed by BC last season. Pray for Cody! 

Fortunately, the first game could not have worked out better in terms of match-ups. This should be a very manageable test (at least compared to some of the more imposing D-line’s in the West). Only 1 solitary BC D-line has played a CFL game before. The rest are raw rookies. Bold strategy for a team looking to rebound from amongst the league basement in sacks in 2019. (What would improve our sacking ability? An entire group of guys who have never done it before!) I think Maas can use his game plan to help his O-line and take advantage of the BC D-line. Starts with a strong run game with Powell. Get those hoagies firing forward so we don’t have to worry about their pass blocking abilities. Tight end sets, Awachie/LaFrance/Powell blocking on pass plays to give those shaky tackles some support. Also use crossers (like Shaq was so deadly on last season) and other short passes to get the ball out quick. Edmonton led the league in pass attempts under 9 yards under Maas so this is right up his alley. Also with rookies on that D-line I would be testing how well they can play contain. Run pass options, play action boot legs, etc... Test that edge all day. My guess is that there will be breakdowns in contain and Fajardo is well primed to take advantage. Moore and Evans will be the go to guys but spreading it around to Lambert, Lenius and Picton will be important. BC has a decent secondary but nothing to overly fear.

Defensively its all about slowing Reilly down. I assume Maksymic will run a similar offense to Maas who groomed him. That means pass heavy, but not deep bombs like we saw in 2019. Lots of short to medium stuff. The addition of Rykar Matthews is huge in helping protect Reilly (who they can’t let take another 58 sacks this season). Even with Shaq Cooper resting in favour of rookie James Butler at RB, facing a relatively experienced LB group I would be testing that early with the run if I were BC. It will be important for our front 7 to shut that down. Burnham will be the most dangerous weapon as always. Can’t hope to shut down a guy that talented but need to limit him. I think the difference maker will be Micah Johnson. We need a disruptor along the D-line to create space for our other guys to harass Reilly. He’s going to be healthy and raring to go so a big game from him would boost the performance of the whole D. Also need Deon Lacey to anchor the LBs and solidify that middle. As good as our secondary is, if we can’t get pressure on Reilly he will carve them up if given time. Normally Reilly passing a whole lot would be counter to what you want but with reports of him having a sore throwing arm let’s make him use it (both to throw and hopefully brace himself as he’s taken to the ground). 

Honestly not sure what to expect here. By virtue of coaching alone, BC should be a better team than 2019 but while they have made gains, I’m not sure they have upgraded their on-field talent enough yet. For the Riders, a few retirements and injuries took us from West favourite to big time question mark. Have I mentioned how much the O-line scares me or that you should pray for Cody? My hope is that the crowd can be the difference maker. Make the stadium shake (this should go without saying but only on defense please) and let’s amp the team up.

I predict we start hot but quickly cool off and trail come half time. A big second half defensive play (let’s say by AJ Hendy) flips the momentum and we come back in the end. I’m honestly not super confident about this but my logic goes that if our O-line can’t hold up to BC and their rookie DL then we are right screwed with teams like Hamilton and Winnipeg coming. I’m sure it will be uglier than last call at JD’s (that’s a dated reference for any young people reading this, but trust me its accurate) but we gotta find a way to win this game because it gets harder from here. 

Riders by a Williams-Lambert TD.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: The Roster and the Season

Friday the Riders made their final roster cuts in advance of the 2021 season. I know that the iconic Simpsons episode is what first comes to mind when you think of cuts (and I have used that many times in this space) but a far more obscure pop-culture reference that always pops into my head is one of that most of you won’t get (though I know at least a couple of you are avid wrestling fans so I won’t be completely alone). Cuts just makes me think of that time that Kaientaitold Val Venis that they would “choppy choppy” a certain piece of his anatomy. I often imagine what I could accomplish in life if I replaced the extensive 90s wrestling and TV knowledge I have with something useful.

Back to football…

For the most part none of the actual cuts surprised me. The only 2 that were quasi surprising to me was Lorenzo Jerome and Antonio Garcia. Jerome was a free agent signing from Calgary with actual game experience in a good defense at cover LB. I’m hopeful this means that AJ Hendy (who won the spot) is that good. Garcia is surprising in that he was recently playing tackle with the starting OL with Terran Vaughn nursing a dinged up shoulder. Cameron Jefferson was kept on the PR for depth here and apparently Brett Boyko won the job (more on that later) but still a bit surprising.

In terms of the practice roster, Cameron Jefferson was a surprise (for reasons mentioned above) and the other surprise was Charbel Dabire. You know I’m high on him and I think ultimately he works he way back with the starters. Otherwise the PR pretty much makes sense to me.

We currently have 49 on the roster which means that 4 people will are hurt or will be “hurt” next week. We have 5 Canadian receivers on the roster so expect 1 or 2 of them not to dress.

So let’s get to our roster and where we sit. Starting with the positives.

I’ve been saying all along that keeping the offensive core of Fajardo, Powell, Evans and Moore together will be huge (as will having an OC that knows what to do with them… in addition to cursing at them). Whether its JWL (who I think has a good season if he can stay healthy) or McRoberts, I think we are good at American WR. We may not have a Fantuz-like stud amongst our Canadians but with the stable of Lenius (my pick for biggest step forward in year 2), McInnis, Picton (who I am genuinely happy to see crack the roster after spending the past 8 years on the practice roster, patiently waiting) Harty or Jana. I think that we will get production by committee from that group.

I also like our secondary. Everyone is returning but McCray and continuity is important in a unit like that. I really like Blace Brown who won the other corner spot. He played well in limited time in 2019 as a rookie and should take a step forward now. Oneyka is the perfect depth guy because he can play multiple positions as a Canadian.

Special teams should be solid. Hus is quietly the model of rock solid consistency. Lauther is good. I’m hopeful that all the ooing and ahing over Ryan’s leg strength also mean he’s been working on placing the ball anywhere but the middle of the field. I’ve resigned myself to another year of yelling at people who claim he is the best punter because he gets the most singles. I don’t understand why we are using our mandated global position on a kicker. I guess it’s a good a place as any if you don’t actually have a global that can contribute meaningfully. Wish we did, but oh well. I wonder if he will cover punts?

Now the bad… and it starts in a really important spot: the O-line. The middle looks fine. Clark, white Johnson, and another pleasant surprise in Logan Ferland (two starting juniors on the same line, that’s gotta be unprecedented) with St John and Riley for depth (and mark my word, Labatte will play at some point this season). But the edges are the thing of nightmares. On one side you have a great young tackle with a questionable shoulder. On the other you have a Canadian who was personally responsible for a number of the near record sacks on Michael Riley in BC before being benched for performance reasons. Pray for Cody! I agree with one of the commenters who said that if Boyko won the spot it means we did a poor job of recruiting import tackles. It will be on Maas to run an offense that helps hide that glaring concern (TE sets, strong run games, quick slants, etc…).

D-line is half good (Micah and Leonard) and half completely unknown. Guys like Gates and Marino (who I can only assume is Dan’s brother) have great reviews out of camp but so did Joe Sykes… remember him? No you don’t! He also looked great in camp against O-lineman we would soon cut and was about as effective as a Scott Gordon safety blitz when facing an actual opponent. I’m cautiously optimistic here but can’t be overly confident at this point.

Linebackers seem to be shaping up to be Teitz/Lacey/Hendy (though they haven’t said for sure). I think Lacey will be fine but that leaves one career start between the remaining starting LBs. Much like our D-line, we are putting a lot of faith in our recruiting.

So where does that leave us with the season starting on Friday? If I’m being honest, a lot lest confident than I was just 4 weeks ago. I think we have the talent to compete in the West but to call us a favourite in the West would require the thickest of green lensed glasses. Fortunately those are in abundance in this province.

Can’t wait for Thursday when I get to do my first game preview since 2019!

 

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Back At It

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last couple weeks. I’ve been on a well deserved vacation… ok the “well deserved” part may be up for debate. Fortunately, during my absence its not like there were any notable happenings. You know like 4 blown achilles or people allowed in the stands at Mosaic for the first time in 2 years or a provincial controversy over Spitz not being allowed at Rider games anymore. Yep it was certainly a quiet couple of weeks.

But the vacation is over and its time to get to work. The season starts a week from Friday (holy crap!) and that means I’m going to have to remember how to write game previews and post-game analysis with all the intelligent commentary and irreverent humour you have come to expect over the years. Much like the football we will be watching, expect the first couple weeks of regular blogging to be sloppy and error-filled… that is to say more sloppy and error-filled than usual.

The question I get the most often (aside from “Is that smell coming from you?) is: How do you think the Riders will do this year? That’s a complicated question because honestly, after 2 years off, no one knows how any team is going to do… other than the RedBlacks, they will do terrible. It’s a crapshoot. Some stars will probably look like they haven’t missed a beat, and others may look like they forgot how not to suck. Looking specifically at the West, any team could realistically win it and any team could realistically lose it.

So following a string of retirements and achilles injuries (seriously, 1 I get it happens; 2 freak accident; 3 why are you still doing this?!?; 4 mother of god how did continuing seem like a good idea… but I digress) how do the Riders look?

There’s a lot to like: Offensive weapons look strong. Fajardo running a competent OC’s playbook (and not whatever the hell McAdoo used to run) should be great. He’s got his core stars returning too with Powell, Evans and Moore. We will be running 2 Canadian WRs and have great depth there. If Lenius/McInnis or Harty can step up we are looking good (with Jana, Picton and Schaefer-Baker waiting in the wings). The issue with the offense is the Line that holds it all together. One rookie tackle (Assuming Vaughn is healed by Game 1) and a new mix in the interior does not exactly instill confidence. I think our starting 5 will be OK but the depth is a serious concern all the sudden. So we are an injury away (or a slow healing Vaughn) from Fajardo getting the old Mike Reilly treatment.

Defensively, the secondary will be strong. I don’t even mind the D-line. I liked them a whole lot better with Bishop and Geter but a line featuring Micah and Leonard should be okay. Plus guys like Marino sound promising (at least as promising as you can be when not playing against another team). Certainly not a top end D-line yet, but capable. The big question mark is at linebacker. I just don’t know what to expect there. The loss of Dean is massive. Try and remember the last dominant D without a rock solid middle linebacker. I think we have guys with tons of potential but when the bullets start flying for real is when we will actually know what we have.

So at this point I would put us firmly in the race for the top of the west but no longer the leading contender as of right now. Can’t wait until Aug 6^th so we can see it for real.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Training Camp Approaches

Its been a good news/bad news kinda week for Rider fans. The good news is that player have started reporting to Regina to being their quarantine and training camp will soon be starting. The bad is the growing list of people who will not being among those reporting.

The sheer number of retirements across the league should not come as a surprise. There has been no CFL football in a year and a half. Players had to get other jobs to survive. So now they are being faced with the decision of whether to quit those jobs to go sit in quarantine for a chance to make a CFL team and likely earn very little money. In a full season most players don’t exactly get rich playing in the CFL. In a 14 game season they will make even less than normal.  As we are finding out, for many of the players that math just doesn’t work out. They love to play but probably love being able to afford to feed their families more.

For the Riders, the O-line has been the hardest hit. This offseason has been a pretty wild rollercoaster ride for that position. Coming into the year I thought we were in decent (not great) shape with the loss of Shepley. The we added Boyko and the white Johnson and suddenly we were very deep. Then we lost Schram, Cofield and LaBatte and are suddenly back to decent (not great). For me, the biggest loss is Cofield. In LaBatte we certainly lose a savvy veteran and the versatility to fill in multiple spots in a pinch. But we have other Canadian guards. In Cofield we lose a young, talented starting tackle. We don’t have anyone else with CFL game experience to step in there. Suddenly we are in a spot where Dan Clark and Terran Vaughn are the only remaining Riders along the line from 2019. Will certainly be a spot to watch come training camp.

The other big loss for me is Chad Geter. I have spoke openly about how highly I think of Geter. Dude is rock solid on special teams (a talent that does not get the recognition is deserves) and I really think he was poised to play a large role in the rotation at D-end. Also, a bit curious on McCray being added to the suspended list. Hopefully its a matter of him being delayed as opposed to not coming at all.

The silver lining is that all teams are dealing with a bunch of retirements. What I will be watching is how many of these retirements get coaxed out of retirement to play a couple games in November for a playoff run. A guy like LaBatte strikes me as someone who could be convinced of that.

The last thing I want to touch on this week is the player restrictions. Basically they are a couple steps above prison. Now I get the need for caution when importing hundreds of player from other countries during a pandemic.  I also get that the restrictions in place were probably the only thing that health officials would agree to. The CFL may not be the model for great business decisions but if they could have negotiated lighter restrictions and got approval to play they would have.  But I do agree with many of the vaccinated players who are complaining that they have the same rules as unvaccinated ones. I hope this is something that CFL and health officials can work on to amend going forward. In every other part of North America, the restrictions are easing… particularly for vaccinated people. But in the CFL vaccinated players are subject to crazy restrictions. I don’t think giving them free reign to do anything is advisable but some freedoms for vaccinated players would help keep them happy and maybe convince other to get vaccinated.

I know we can’t mandate vaccines (well you kinda can, but I don’t want to bore you with the legal nuances) but from a purely competitive advantage perspective, the teams with the highest vaccination rates will have a leg up on the rest. You have to look no further than the Raptors or the Canucks or the Titans to see the impacts of an outbreak in the locker room. More vaccinated players equals less chance of that and more chance of winning (unless you are Ottawa). So incentives (such as not being in total lockdown for months on end) would seem to be a good way to encourage vaccination without mandating it. I know we in Saskatchewan have completely dismissed the potential of vaccination related incentives in favour of a “come on, please do the right thing. I’ll be your friend” approach but I still think it makes sense. We could honestly solve Saskatchewan’s vaccine hesitancy problem with an offer that if you get fully vaccination you get your choice of: a pilsner, a free t-shirt shot at you from the t-shirt cannon, or all you eat perogies.  That idea has so much potential I won't even put a patent pending on it. It's a freebie.