December 31 – 2019 May Go Down As a Transitional Year for the Riders

Hamilton didn’t have film on Fajardo and that allowed him to do some things. But the reduced expectations as a result of a Brandon Bridge too far left Fajardo and Isaac Harker with a chance to show they could do.

I like to use the CFL career of Casey Printers, or even Jon Jennings as an example of quarterbacks can make it into the league through physical skills or the ability to surprise opponents. They stay in the league through hard work and adapting to and exploiting the weaknesses opposing defenses show them.

So while the performance of Fajardo won him a western nominee as outstanding player in a year that every starting quarterback went down, how Fajardo does in 2020 will depend on how teams with film on Fajardo decide to defend him and how Farjardo uses all the tools in the box to be a Ricky Ray, not a Jon Jennings.

The quarterback question was not the only thing hanging over the Riders. The Riders would soon lose Chris Jones, their VP, GM, Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator to the Cleveland Browns as Jones worked worked his old college connections to finally win a spot at the NFL coaching table.

The Riders gave the best demonstration of sustained success by making Jeremy O’Day the GM and Craig Dickenson the head coaching positions. With the Jones move coming in February and the new football administration cap,t he Riders were handcuffed and promoting from within was both a sign of faith in their current coaching and managing ranks, but also probably the fiscally smart thing to do.

Most people would have expected the Riders to take a step back in 2019 as the team adjusted to no Chris Jones and people would get a chance to see if the Riders had real coaches or just guys trying to keep up with Chris Jones. I would have been happy with anything from 7-11 to 9-9 but the Riders out-performed expectations by going 13-5 and losing in the western final by not being able to score a touchdown repeatedly from inside the 10 yard line.

So now the Riders are showing they are not going to sit back and milk the good will they won last year by being complacent. Saskatchewan is hosting the Grey Cup last year and as anyone can attest from the 2013 Grey Cup, winning one at home cannot be beat.

While the offense improved last year, when it counted in the western final there was some questionable play-calling and time management and while Dickenson took the responsibility, offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo was told the team was moving on as it hired former Eskimo head coach Jason Maas shortly after he was fired.

While Maas undeniably had growing pains as a head coach back with the Eskimos, he did some great work as an offensive coordinator and the Riders are now looking at Maas to use that ability to build a great offense to help the Riders get over the hump and onto the field for the 2020 Grey Cup.

One interesting thing was the Riders have apparently decided to move on from Steve Walsh as quarterback coach. I liked Walsh because as a 10 year NFL quarterback and a winning NCAA quarterback, there was not a situation he had not seen and Fajardo used him a lot when coming to the sideline after an offensive series.

While the Rider coaching has not yet been finalized because coaching contracts expire on December 31, there is a feeling that either Ricky Ray or Jarious Jackson will be the next Rider quarterback coach if that is what they are looking at. For Fajardo to enjoy sustained success in the CFL and not fall victim to the sophomore jinx, he needs to show he will not be predictable and that means learning to read the defenses better instead of them predicting what he is going to do next.

The better candidate for that would be Ray who also retired last year due to injuries but whose mind and work habits have never been questioned. If Fajardo is going to learn how to be a consistent winner in the CFL, having Ray, who he understudied his first two years in the league, would be ideal.

Jackson, who was in BC under both Wally Buono and DeVone Claybrooks, was also a former quarterback and he was a quarterback coach with the Riders a few years back. He had worked with Fajardo in BC although Jackson dealt more with Travis Lulay. Maas being a former quarterback may choose to remove a middleman so he can deal with Fajardo, but Maas may be picking the rest of an offensive coaching staff and that football administration cap may prove to be a real big pain in the ass.

So I would expect after January 1 for the Riders to finish announcing the rest of their staff and the question of how the Riders go after in free agency to pick up even more steam as the CFL moves towards the February 11 free agency deadline.

In my last column I found out if you look at the transactions tab on the CFL website, you can see thigs like Bo Levi Mitchell being cut and resigned by the Stampeders as a free agent. The Riders did the same with Brendan LaBatte and the reason for those moves is for a team to renegotiate a contract, they have to cut a player, voiding the current contract, and then negotiate and sign a revised contract.

There may be some more moves that will go one that will fly under the radar unless you know where to look, but after BC and Calgary went big on quarterbacks, they may have found there might not have been change under the couch to pay for talent around the quarterbacks. After watching Reilly get beat up behind a mostly porous BC line, expect a bit of a correction in the free agency market, especially with the crop of young quarterbacks who got their starts last year because of injury to their teams starting quarterbacks out of training camp.

The Riders are not content to rest on their laurels after doing better than expected and with the added pressure of appearing in a Grey Cup they are hosting, the Riders have a selling point to potential free agents that if they want to win, the pieces are in place in Riderville.

As the Riders move more beyond Chris Jones, whose full impact on the team may not be known for years afterward, they will likely take on more of the qualities of their head coach who is constantly teaching on the sidelines and how seems to be willing to let his coordinators set the table for the rest of the team.

On the defensive side, I would enjoy Jason Shivers for the rest of his Rider contract because this man will be asked to lead a CFL team in short order. Taking over a defense with a Chris Jones identity and keeping the active nature of the defense but letting it establish its own identity shows interested observers Shivers is not just a copycat of Jones and he has leadership and tactical ability of his own.

Of course it is one thing to show this last year, it is another to consistently do this year after year and this year Shivers gets to prove he is no flash in the pan. This is something the whole team can use as a rallying cry after being underestimated throughout 2019.

The Riders have been working on signing players like Dan Clark, who returns at centre, and Chad Geter, a defensive lineman who is also very good on special teams. The Riders also signed Canadian receiver Randy Sutterfield and defensive end Demetrious Harris of Fort Valley State, but while those have been listed on transactions, they have not been announced by the team.

Other teams have been working on signing players and you can see where a relationship may have existed between a coach or player before, it sometimes plays a role in getting the player signed to a new team. Take for example running back Tim Flanders of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who because the Bombers went with Canadian starting and back up running backs, didn’t really need an American running back no matter how big his name might be on The Simpsons.

But Flanders knows the offense that new head Coach Paul La Police is bringing the Ottawa Redblacks and that familiarity will go a long way in helping that offense get off the ground in 2020. Winnipeg for its part extended Canadian running back Johnny Augustine who filled in for Andrew Harris when he was suspended for two games for using performance enhancing drugs.

Augustine impressed at the CFL combine held in Riderville a few years ago, but wasn’t drafted by CFL teams for who might have been personality issues to put it one way. After being a free agent and going through the Edmonton and Saskatchewan camps, Augustine has found himself in a situation where he can have an impact.

Winnipeg is also getting used to the new way of player development where teams release star players for the opportunity to work out or sign with NFL teams. If those opportunities don’t work out, the players generally return to the team they left.

Winnipeg may be hoping that defensive back Winston Rose, who was released and then signed by the Cincinatti Bengals, may be one of those players. While some may say it hurts the CFL to provide their players with these types of opportunities, it also demonstrates the CFL is a source of talented players and is a viable option for players looking to extend their careers past college.

The bigger news story in the CFL this week came out of the NFL ironcially as the NFL season wound down and the tradition known as Black Monday takes place. This is when NFL coaches whose teams underperformed usually get gassed by those teams.

So in Cleveland Freddie Kitchens got released as the Browns coach and his assistants, including Chris Jones, were told on Monday that while they have not been released as yet, they should look at other job opportunities if they should arise.

So for Chris, that may not mean a head coaching or GM gig in the CFL with teams now having filled the head coaching ranks and perhaps a defensive coordinator position available in Toronto, Edmonton and perhaps BC but considering the bad blood between Ed Hervey, the current BC GM and former Edmonton GM who had Jones and his staff walk out after winning a Grey Cup, I think BC is a long shot.

But Jones in Toronto would be interesting and give the Argos the chance to quickly upgrade their defense and see if Ryan Dinwiddie can actually coach. If Jones can construct a defense in Toronto like he did in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, that may help provide some interest in football fans in Toronto.

But this time of year is when there are a lot of coaching changes in not just the CFL and NFL, but US colleges as well. When you consider what those coaches are paid, even an NCAA post paying in American dollars may be more attractive to Jones. Jones has the personality to work on a large stage, and if he harbours NFL aspirations, staying closer to where the league is may be in his career’s best interest.

Jones has also demonstrated a mercenary approach to teams and while he can deliver, for the most part, there is always the feeling he always looking around for the next opportunity. That does not tend to inspire confidence, but if I were Mike Clemons and seeing how Jones hired Jason Shivers who has emerged as a potential head coaching candidate in a couple of years, if you hire Jones and he brings in talented people, maybe you can have sustained success.

The CFL schedule came out this month, as the league attempts to be more responsive to fans desires to have the schedule out early so they can plan out their year.

Th Riders open their pre-season on Saturday May 30^th at 2 pm when they go to Calgary to face the Stampeders. They wrap up their exhibition schedule on Friday June 5^th at 7:30 pm when they host the Bombers.

The Riders get a bye in their first week, then start their season Friday July 19^th at 7:30 pm when they host Montreal. On Thursday June 19^th at 7 pm they play Hamilton in Hamilton.

On Satuirday July 4 at 7:30 pm the Riders will host the BC Lions and a week later on July 11 at 5 pm they will host the Toronto Argonauts. The Riders then get another bye and then return to action on July 25^th at 2 pm when the go to the Maritimes to face the Argonauts for Touchdown Atlantic. The Riders will be there to perhaps demonstrate to Martimers how the regional identity forged by the Riders can also help the Atlantic Schooners.

While it is nice to play in Touchdown Atlantic,t he Riders come back from the east coast on Thursday July 30^th at 7 pm when they host Ottawa. On Saturday August 8 at 8 pm the Riders will host BC and then in a short work week, go play in Montreal on Thursday August 13 at 5 pm.

The Riders then host the Eskimos on Saturday August 22 at 5 pm and then go to Edmonton on August 29 to play at the return match. Then the Riders play the Bombers on the Labour Day Classic on September 6 at 5 pm and then on Saturday September 12 play the Banjo Bowl at 2 pm.

The Riders then host Calgary on Friday September 18 at 8 pm and go to BC on Saturday September 26 at 8 pm. The Riders go to Edmonton on Saturday October 3 at 5 pm to play the Eskimos and then on October 10 to to Ottawa to play at 2 pm.

The Riders then get a bye week before returning to action on Saturday October 24 when they host Hamilton at 5 pm and then wind up their regular season on Friday October 30 at 7:30 pm when they go to Calgary.

The Grey Cup will be in Regina on November 22 with a kick off of 5 pm.

The Rider schedule is front loaded with home games to allow for time to add temporary stands in the second half of the season as the schedule gets closer to the Grey Cup. It would be nice to have another Grey Cup win, especially at home in a new stadium that is still trying to find its identity.

by Greg Urbanoski

December 31 – 2019 May Go Down As a Transitional Year for the Riders

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