By Riderville

Riders Sign Dressler & Coaching Staff – Still Some Holes

Feb 9, 2015 | 11:27 AM

You’d almost expected to see fireworks go off as word spread about Weston Dressler signing with the Riders.

I was in the Southland Mall when I got messaged about the signing. Since the Rider locker room sale was still ongoing, that gave me an excuse to head to Taylor Field and see from a discrete distance exactly what was up.

No sooner had I parked at the holiest structure in Saskatchewan, that I saw an older man tell his two young sons to come and get their pictures taken with Dressler. The press conference was over and here was Dressler squatting down to get his picture taken with two young fans after which their father and then I shook his hand and thanked him for coming back.

Dressler with his short stature but tough as nails play is a well-deserved fan favorite. His number outsells the other Riders and in four to six years, if he chooses to retire, Dressler will see his number retired by the Riders.  The guy is like Saskatchewan, underestimated at first glance but when you see him in action, he will do anything to win a game and take any number of punishing hits along the way.

From a psychological point of view, and all views are valid when it comes to the Riders, Dressler was the must have signing for the Riders this year. If Dressler had gone to another team, Rider fans would have wished him well and then lynched General Manager Brendan Taman for letting him go.

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The Riders now have at least one threat on offense, and once the smiles and tweets finished about his return, the lack of offensive player signings is something that is a bit disconcerting for Rider fans. The biggest signing so far has been Jamal Richardson, who is coming off of injury. The Riders traded for Cory Watson from Winnipeg who when he isn’t blowing out his hamstring, can be a contributor as a Canadian slot back.

What these two have in common is the Riders rolling the dice on them to recover from their injuries and make a contribution to the club. In the Watson trade the Riders sent their second round pick to Winnipeg for their third round in the belief they can find players at the later rounds instead of the players dominating the charts for the CFL draft.

The remaining big player is Ben Heenan who has been auditioning for the New England Patriots among others in search of that training camp contract. Heenan has made it clear he wants to see where his skills can take him and while the Riders say they are prepared to lose him to the NFL, they are maintaining a brave front and saying they will not lose him to another CFL team.

The Watson trade also included slot back Kris Bastien, whose practice jersey was up for sale in the locker room sale. I picked up a Tino Sunseri practice jersey; there was also a Seth Doege practise jersey; Keith Shologan’s 2013 Grey Cup jersey, Ejiro Kuale’s jersey, Marshay Green practise jersey and Sam Hurl. So if this system works again, don’t expect to see Sunseri, Green and Hurl back.

The Riders have offered Sunseri a contract, but haven’t heard from him and have sent out feelers for Kevin Glenn. Glenn is a great back-up, although I would not want him starting a championship game for me, and his contract as it stands now would do serious harm to the salary cap. That being said, if Doege has not been asked back and Sunseri has been traumatized enough by last season to look elsewhere, it does make sense to bring Glenn in.

The Riders also unveiled their coaching staff for 2015 and it does look pretty interesting. Jacques Chapdelaine takes on quarterback coach along with his offensive coordinator duties. Offensive line coach is Dan D’Orazio, formerly of the BC Lions; Jason Tucker returns as receiver coach and Avon Cobourne returns as running back coach.

Greg Quick is defensive coordinator with Mike Sinclair the defensive line coach. Tony Missick comes over from the Calgary Stampeders as the defensive backfield coach, bumping Baron Miles and Tyronne Pettaway is the new linebackers coach.  Pettaway is apparently a cousin of Pittsburgh Steeler coach Mike Tomlin, for whom Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin is an internship.

Bob Dyce returns as special teams coach with Corey McDiarmid returning as special team’s coordinator.

The appointment of Quick as defensive coordinator shouldn’t be read into much, Chamblin will be calling the plays to start the season. Miles was let go because he wasn’t considered that great of a teacher so it will be interesting to see what Missick brings to the defensive secondary.

The next date on the Riders calendar is February 15 which is free agency day. The Riders lost out on signing SJ Green to their receiving corps when Green re-upped with Montreal. The Riders would likely be looking at a new punter and I would think John Marks comes back from the University of Calgary to challenge for that position.

Not sure who else the Riders are looking to target from their own free agents. Dan DePalma would be a nice returnee if he hasn’t got NFL interest but usually if the NFL has firm interest in a player, the Riders would release the player early to pursue the NFL option.;

The word from the Rider free agent camps is expect about five or six to make it to the minicamp the Riders will be holding in Florida. The Riders will have to start looking at who might make the team from that camp because that will impact their strategy going into the CFL draft. The CFL draft follows the NFL draft and the Riders will keeping an eye on their negotiation list players and seeing how they do in those camps.

For the moment, all is fine. Weston Dressler is home. The Riders don’t have to worry about a fan riot – yet. But the offseason is still young and there is still time to kill while waiting for the CFL to come up with a schedule.