Riders Assemble!

Somewhere in the humid room temperature of a perfect Florida weekend, the Saskatchewan Roughriderswill take their first steps towards storming the Winnipeg Winter Palace and planting the flag of victory for all freedom-loving peoples for Grey Cup 103.

The Riders mini-camp in Florida this weekend has been eagerly anticipated because it provides the first glimpse at the 2015 club, albeit with a heavy veteran presence on offense versus a rookie laden defense. The veterans are in force in Florida to have offensive coordinator, Jacques Chapdelaine, install the new offense for this season.

Of course the answer to how it looks depends on the condition of quarterback Darian Durant, he of the injured elbow who was always rumored to be possibly returning for the playoffs last year until the team wrote that off because he wasn’t ready. Now the question. Is Durant ready now?

I don’t know if a Florida appearance will say much on that, but if the film sees him throw smoothly in the pocket and on the run, I will gulp contentedly and say let Kevin Glenn sit back-up and pick up his first Grey Cup ring as a Rider back-up. There are three quarterbacks battling for two spots in Tino Sunseri, Seth Doegge and Brett Smith.  Much ballyhooed quarterback Keith Price won’t be at the camp, pursuing NFL options although he remains on the Rider negotiation list.

The Riders are keeping their cards close to the chest in case they do shake out a couple of negotiation list quarterbacks to come take a look at the organization. Even if they do invite some players and it doesn’t pan out if they get taken in the NFL draft, the Riders are looking to be the first thing players think about south of the border if they hear Canadian Football League.

Safety first

Safety concerns and tips surrounding discarded needles in P.A.

6h ago

Liquor stores must change hours

Prince Albert limits liquor store hours

9h ago

skin care +

LUXE22 Clinic : Elevating Beauty with Expert Treatments

10h ago

The professional setting and training available at this camp goes a long way with the Riders posting an 8-1 and 8-2 season starts after the last two camps held in Florida. What this camp may help settle is discussion about the state of various players and their readiness for the CFL.

The Riders are facing a rebuilding campaign of sort on their offensive line with the departures of Dominic Picard and Ben Heenan. Picard signed with Winnipeg while Heenan went to the NFL, and while he may return, recent rule changes approved by the CFL may force the Riders to rethink or tinker with their draft choices.

The changes to contact between defensive players and receivers past the initial five yards are intended to open the receiving game and if the physical aspect is gone after five yards, the Riders may look to switch their Canadian content from receivers to offensive linemen.  If speedy receivers are going to take centre stage, the Riders may want to look at investing in taller, speedier American receivers who won’t get beaten up so much anymore.

Cory Watman is the new centre, but that could change if the Riders find someone else who can handle the position. But the Riders will likely have two Americans on the offensive line and three Canadian interior offensive linemen unless they start to move towards an all-Canadian offensive line.

One aspect of the Rider organization will have the spotlight on them this weekend and that is the free-agent/scouting department. The Riders inability to recruit a middle linebacker last year played havoc with the defense after Durant went down because of their inability to stop the run/short pass. One of the recruits from last year, Chad Kilgore, has already retired to concentrate on the furniture business, perhaps recognizing that he was not able to fit into the Rider defensive plans.

If the Riders can’t come up with a receiver, middle linebacker and running back to compete for positions, their scouting department will start getting noticed for what it hasn’t been producing compared to what it has been producing.

The other interesting thing will be the nature of the defense the Riders will be operating. Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin is taking over defensive coordinator duties for the start of the season and he wants a more aggressive defensive. That presumes more attacking of the quarterback and the ability to respond quickly.

It would seem reasonable for the Riders to experience some growing pains in this transition, especially after the trade of Ricky Foley to Toronto for middle linebacker Shea Emry. If Emry can stay healthy and the Riders can find another defensive end to provide the fire and pressure that Foley did, they should be able to make this transition fairly easily. But those are a lot of ifs.

There are a lot of ifs on the 2015 Riders, ranging from the injury prone status of Jamal Richardson and Cory Watson at the receiver positions to who will step up to make an initial claim on jobs. With the entire team not being in Florida, it would be unfair to say this camp will provide a definitive look at the 2015 team, especially for players coming off of injury who might not be ready for camp, but it provides a starting point for the team for the upcoming season.

Apparently the Rider website will have video from the camps, which will be welcomed in these parts, but again, until you can eyeball the players yourself, it is tough to evaluate players on the basis of film on what are essentially the first practices of the year.

But a whole bunch of questions will be answered and will dictate how the Riders go through the next couple of months seeking players before training camp. The Riders have signed defensive lineman Markus White, notable for his tendency to draw the aggressive penalty last year and linebacker Justin Cole. Both have experience with the club and Cole was on the practise roster last year. Keep an eye open for the punting competition with the absence of Josh Bartel.

It will be fun to watch as football finally makes from the chat rooms to the practice field.