Riders to Stem Exodus with Fresh Signings

The days of the Edmonton Eskimos winning five Grey Cups in a row with an unlimited player budget are long past us, which is not good news for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders continued their loss of players from the 2013 Grey Cup Championship with punter Ricky Schmitt signing with the BC Lions and running back Jock Sanders signing with the Calgary Stampeders.

Schmitt going to BC was a bit of a surprise because it was thought he was arranging for NFL tryouts. But BC is hosting the Grey Cup this year and having an indoor stadium and a punter who averaged 47 yards easily punting in the wind tunnel known as Taylor Field is good business for the Lions.

The Riders anticipated losing Schmitt, who is an American and a luxury to have on the roster, by trading for Robin Bartel, Hamilton’s punter who interestingly enough hails from Australia, but is considered to be a non-import. Bartel is an Australian rules punter, who may remind people of Jamie Boreham, our punter in 2007 who had a touch of the rugby player about him.

Sanders departure to Calgary came after Calgary traded punter returner Larry Taylor to Montreal, opening up a spot on the roster. Sanders apparently was not given assurances he would be the starting running back in Saskatchewan after Kory Sheets signed with Oakland, and Rider fans may remember last year the Riders getting ticked off at Sanders fumbles on punt returns. Sanders spent quite a bit of time in the dog house, but even though he scored a touchdown in the Grey Cup, the trust wasn’t there on the Riders side.

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Fortunately, punt returners are relatively easy to find. The Riders have former Calgary prospect Clifton Smith as a potential returner and Matt Brown, who was on our practice roster last year, should make an impact on punt returns.

In my last column, I talked about the perception of players leaving the Riders, making people wonder if the Riders will be able to defend their title this year or if this year is a write-off. If enough people get the idea the Riders are not worth watching this year, the Riders will lose at the box office and with the potential of the player cap rising this year, the Riders will need extra dollars in case Weston Dressler or Sheets returns from the NFL.

So the Riders announced some signings, with Richard Sumlin and Trevor Guyton, both defensive tackles, starting the influx. Sumlin was on the Riders practice roster last year and even saw some action. Guyton was a 2012 draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings and saw action in four exhibition games. They have good size and since the Riders are looking to fill former Rider Keith Shologan’s position with an American, they should come cheaper as well.

Then because the most popular player in Saskatchewan is usually the back-up quarterback, the Riders announced the signing of QB Seth Doege, a 6’1” 197 pound product of Texas Tech University who was on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons last year. The Riders combined that signing with the announcement they were bringing in Brett Swain, a wide receiver who had played with Green Bay, San Francisco and Seattle. Swain in 27 NFL games had eight catches for 87 yards, but Doege has a school record completion average and seems like an astute student of the game and will be interesting to watch.

The Riders then added another receiver in Chaz Schilens who played with Oakland, the New York Jets and Detroit. Schilens had some concussion and knee/calf problems, but if he is recovered, he does have breakaway speed if he catches the ball. The Riders also added running back Jermaine Thomas who had some academic issues with Florida State University, but seems to be the type of running back who runs upright and looks for holes from his offensive line.

It’s a start eh?

The Riders finished their coaching staff by adding Brad Miller as linebacker coach. Miller was highly regarded and a bit of a surprise if you were thinking of former Eskimo coaches to add. Doug Sams, former offensive coordinator, had worked for Rider offensive coordinator George Cortez in Calgary and with Khari Jones moving to BC, Sams might have come in as quarterback coach.

Keep your eyes on some interesting Saskatchewan based players in the upcoming CFL draft.

The CFL western combine will be held in Edmonton and feature quarterback Cayman Shutter of the University of Regina Rams; running back Jeremy Andrew of the University of Saskatchewan; receivers Mitch Stevens of the University of Saskatchewan and Kolten Solomon, Landon Busch and Jared Janotta of the University of Regina; offensive linemen Lane Bryksa and Craig Woloshyn of the University of Saskatchewan and Tristain Hoalth of the Saskatchewan Hilltops; defensive lineman Zach Hart of the University of Saskatchewan; linebacker Richard Zacharius of the University of Saskatchewan; defensive back Braxton Lawrence of the University of Saskatchewan and punter Denton Kolodzinski of the University of Saskatchewan.

The full CFL combine is set for March 21-23 for Toronto and the CFL draft is set for May 13, after the NFL draft. However the Riders will be on the field before that as they will again hold a pre-season training session in Florida April 4-6 at the IMG facility in Bradenton. IMG is the international agency representing athletes and this facility allows teams to run free agent camps etc. with full facilities available to them.

The Riders apparently will be taking only new players down for this camp because the coaching staffs are unchanged for the most part from last year. That means the Riders will get a better look at who they have as they introduce them to the CFL.

Rider fans will be able to question the coaches about their Florida experiences as part of the second annual Pros and Joes night set for Wednesday April 24 at Taylor Field in Regina. This event will give participants a tour of the Rider facilities, the opportunity to meet and talk with coaches and players with the $100 ticket price going to prostate cancer research. I went to the first one last year and it was an eye-opener in terms of actually talking to the coaches and hearing how they approach things. If you have any questions to be asked directly of the coaches or GM Brendan Taman, put them in the comments section and I’ll ask them at the event.

If you are able to be in Regina for this event, you can get tickets by going to the Riderville site and getting tickets there. You also get great food, sit and eat with the players and bid on silent auction material.