50 Shades of Green and the CFL Free Agency

Now due to the unhealthy preoccupation of paNow staff with the 50 Shades of Grey movie, they only managed to run last week’s column yesterday which was just after the Rider coaching announcement and was marked by another coach leaving – Jason Tucker, receiver coach, for the Tennessee Titians. That’s the second time the Riders have made a formal announcement about their coaching staff only to have a member leave a day or so later for another opportunity.

There was talk of Geroy Simon perhaps stepping in as a receiving coach, but he said no, although he is still representing the team around the province and is still doing some scouting. Not sure who, if anyone, would be brought in as a receiving coach, although Jason Clermont is in town and has a great set of hands, along with Matt Dominguez.;

The new coach may be Matt Chapdelaine, the son of the offensive coordinator Paul Chapdelaine, who worked with him at Simon Fraser University before being hired by the Riders. While there are those who are holding out a healthy optimism for the 2015 season, I may be looking to visit relatives who make Swish and start stocking up for this season.

One signing that will hopefully work in the Riders favor last week was Jerome Messam at running back and tight end. Messam ran like a man possessed, but his physical running style aggravated previous shoulder injuries so the Riders tried to use his size at tight end to reduce the workload on his upper body.

The other interesting thing was it was not long ago that Messam was thought to be a bit of a prima donna, but since coming to Riderville, he has been a good citizen, stating publicly he wants to be here, and mentions that maturity about how short a football career can be has been a sobering influence on him.

If Messam starts for the Riders they gain a valuable Canadian chip to use in plotting out their roster for 2015. One of the more disheartening sights has been the Riders losing out on Canadians they were developing or had developed to other teams.

I’ve been watching from the margins and things like Greg Newman going to the Bombers last year and Craig Butler to Hamilton make me wonder if Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin has had his fingers in the defensive team scheming and perhaps has a lowly opinion of the Canadian defensive player. Butler was moved back and forth from safety to linebacker because someone, perhaps Chamblin, didn’t feel he could play safety. But Butler has a good nose for the ball, and no matter what your passport, that is something you cannot teach easily.

The impression left by the tweets that Hurl left behind today indicated the Riders saw him as a back-up and not as a starter. What is different in Winnipeg? Richie Hall, who was the defensive coordinator on paper but ended up playing second fiddle to Chamblin, who again, apparently doesn’t think much of Canadians on defense.

The Riders are in a grey area as they enter riding through the rest of free agency and preparing for the CFL draft. Tino Sunseri, the back-up quarterback who was thrown to the wolves last year has been offered a contract, but hasn’t responded, and may be getting bites from other teams like, hello Winnipeg.

The Riders may look at Kevin Glenn, but he may be too expensive and he might actually want playing time. This would be interesting because with two Americans playing the end positions on the offensive line, it is possible this would be the best protection a Rider quarterback has seen in some time. This is a stat that as a proud Canadian causes me to cringe and get a little ticked off. It has been Canadian players inability to block that has resulted in in Darian Durant getting injured last year, Luca Congi getting his leg broken a couple of years ago, and well, the day is drawing nigh but you get the point.

I see the difference in the training received by the Canadian and American football players and I refuse to believe that if the coaches and trainers get involved, the Canadian offensive linemen couldn’t improve their performance. One of the stupidest, yet most revealing things posted on You Tube was a video a Rider defensive player posted of Rider Dan Clark getting beaten like a gong during one on ones. Clark was getting pushed backwards and rolling arse over teakettle while the defensive players laughed.

Clark has somewhat redeemed himself with his ability to do the fat boy catching touchdown passes, but missing a block last year basically blew out the season. It will be interesting to see if Canadian offensive linemen get any better under a new coach.

Readers may recall my story of the Pros and Joes and Brendan Taman asking who I would trade for in the CFL and I said BC linebacker Solomon Elimiminian. That would have been an inspired trade, but BC under Wally Buono is smarter than that and locked him and Adam Bighill up to long term contracts. Shea Emry better have good legs to last out the season with the Riders because the linebacker depth is pretty untested behind him.

But then the Riders sign former Calgary linebacker Keenan MacDougall who is from Saskatoon, but made many friends here by saying how much he hated Regina. MacDougall gives the Riders some depth at linebacker, but I have a wait and see about this.

Now Rennie Curran of the Edmonton Eskimos is said not to be coming back. Curran is a linebacker, and if his monetary demands are reasonable, the Riders should kick his tires and see about bringing him in. Again though, this would another gain on the defense, which was not seen as the problem prior to free agency or the draft.

by Riderville

50 Shades of Green and the CFL Free Agency

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