Riderville Report

Riderville Report
By Greg Urbanoski
It was no April Fool's laughing matter in Riderville last week as the Riders released veteran defensive tackle Marcus Adams and signed former Edmonton Eskimo defensive tackle Dario Romero.
If this was a question of age then it doesn't make sense because Romero is older than Adams. The Riders tried to shop Adams around the league in a trade scenario, but as most armchair general managers know, why make a trade for someone you know the other team is going to cut anyway?
The Riders feel upgrading their defensive line is a priority, feeling much like myself and many other fans that the secret to beating the Riders last year was running at them because they either too small and were being overpowered.
Romero is a beast, probably about the size of a young rhino, with what the coaches feel is a very good motor. He does have a penchant for taking stupid penalties, but Richie Hall coached Romero along with defensive line coach Mike Walker in Edmonton last year and they felt strongly about getting him.
So in a sense this is an upgrade for the Riders, but in another sense it is a loss. While a portion of fans have called for him to be gone for a few years, mostly because of his size, I have enjoyed watching him because of his heart and determination. Each year he was here the Riders sent waves of defensive line recruits after him and each year he held his job because he knew it and performed it better than anyone else.
He also gained points in my book with his work with the Canadian Cancer Society. Adam's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and Adams got involved in the pink campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer throughout the province.
As a cancer survivor myself, I met Adams at a cancer awareness event and became a Facebook friend of his. When he was cut, I sent him a message thanking him for his years in Saskatchewan and playing with such heart and determination.
Adams married a Regina girl and will continue to call Regina home, but may well end up in BC Lion or Toronto Argonaut colors this year. I certainly hope so and wish him all the luck.
Which brings us to a few more interesting rumors floating around. If you recall the last Grey Cup..which is less unpleasant than the one before that, you may remember Jamal Richardson of the Montreal Allouettes outleaping Omar Morgan along the sidelines to prolong a Montreal drive that lead to their win.
The Riders certainly haven't forgotten that and one of the rumors floating around is former Calgary Stampeder prospect Jeremiah Weatherspoon, 6'2″, a safety/cornerback, will have his signing soon announced by the Riders. Combine this is the prospect that Kyries Hebert, who was released a couple of weeks ago, may be brought in here, and you have the makings of a defense that will much more physical than last year.
The Riders appear interested in matching up size and where that isn't possible, then bringing in brute force to prevent teams with tall receivers from exploiting the Rider defense. The potential downside is eventually all tall cornerbacks eventually migrate to the NFL, but if the Weatherspoon rumor pans out, then we get him for two years. Which brings us to the next topic.
The future is now for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The signing of Romero has a number of people thinking about the general age of the Riders and how they are looking heading into this season.
Consider the age of the following Canadian players – Jason Clermont – 33; Gene Makowsky – 38; Alec Gauthier – 35; Wayne Hudson – 35; Chris Szarka – 36; Jocelyn Frenette – 35 (although Frenette is a long snapper and can go until he is 45 because he would be a situational player); Marc Parenteau – 31; Neal Hughes – 31; Mike McCullough – 31, Luc Mullinder – 31.

A fair number of these are offensive lineman and Rob Vanstone of the Leader Post pointed out in a recent article about concerns that the Riders may be repeating the mistakes they made in 1977-78 when an aging offensive line had to be replaced all at once and the Riders went through some growing pains with young players like Roger Aldag and Bob Poley.
The Riders do have some young offensive lineman, Chris Best and Nick Hutchins, and I would think they would also likely look at this year's CFL draft, which is heavy in talented offensive linemen, and look to bring some in for seasoning.
Offensive linemen need time to make the adjustment to the pro level, especially from Canadian university ball. So while this may be a bit of a concern with the number of older offensive linemen, if the Riders have a mentorship program where the older guys help pass on their experience to the younger guys, hopefully it makes for a smooth transition.
And finally, I really wanted to see the Raiders beat the Blades.