Did the Riders strike out or are they ready now for a Cup run?

Mind you after that injuries and salary cap considerations forced the team to divest itself of that talent. Although it could be argued that some players while talented were just too volatile to have around.

It would be fair to say that when February 11, the official start of free agency, fans were curious to see how the Riders would proceed. Fans wanted not just some important pieces of the puzzle like Shaq Evans, Cameron Judge and Solomon Elimimian re-signed, they also wanted the team to bring in some talent to put the Riders over the top.

Looking back at some of the moves the team has made, it seems clear that a 13-5 team that finished first in the west needed just a bit of fine tuning before making another run for the title. The Riders priority was going after who they considered to be essential for their run this year, and at the same time trying to build or enhance their team unity that played a major role in the their run last year.

Not everyone was going to come back – Naaman Roosevelt, while a dependable converter of second downs, was probably too expensive for the Riders to carry this year. The CFL in its latest Collective Bargaining Agreement raised the minimum pay from 55Kto 65K but only raised the salary cap itself by $50,000.

That means the massive raises seen in the free agent class of 2019 would be unlikely to realized this year. We saw this in BC last year which went for a splash in free agency led by Mike Reilly. The problem was he had no protection and he was ransacked more often than the American taxpayer by the Trump family.

With a new coach in Rick Campbell, BC went with Micah Johnson on the defensive line. Johnson was the highest paid defensive player in the league last year, but with only four sacks, down from 14 the year before, it could be argued the Riders did not receive the type of production they were paying for.

That doesn’t mean Johnson didn’t do that bad of a job, but when the Riders balanced out where they would be paying players this year, Johnson was asking for more than the Riders were comfortable in paying and they felt they had enough alternatives to fill in for Johnson at a fraction of the price.

The Riders seem to be thinking that Charbel Dabire will be the next coming of Ted Laurent and I have to admit to being impressed by Dabire after seeing him at the rookie camp and thinking he needed to lose some serious weight. With a rotational system, that would likely take the pressure off Dabire and spread the workload amongst two other Canadian defensive linemen.

The Riders did something interesting, their first major non roster signing was quarterback James Franklin who had worked under offensive coordinator Jason Maas when Maas in Edmonton. Franklin’s trade to Toronto was done so Edmonton could get something for him before he left in free agency.

The problem was then Toronto head Coach Marc Trestman was not enamored of Franklin and Franklin probably did not get the guidance he could have used in being a back up forced into a starting position. When he did become a starter, he was a whole bunch of nothing.

The rationale for Franklin signing in Saskatchewan was he was first cut by Toronto looking to make a clean sweep. Franklin’s work habits were said to be not in the same neighbourhood as Ricky Rays’ but it is also the offensive coordinators job to make the offense work for the quarterback.

In Riderville Isaac Harker was the back up to Cody Fajardo last year, but if you ever saw Harker, he does not have the body to survive many third and short gambles and unless the Riders were looking at inserting Nick Marshall again on short yardage, subjecting Harker to that kind of beating would be cruel and inhuman.

It could be argued that since Fajardo did short yardage last year, continuity would be more important when it came to handling the ball, but that argument ignores the reality that not one starting quarterback made it through a full 18 game schedule. Subjecting Fajardo to unnecessary abuse, especially after he came back from a dislocated shoulder in the second Hamilton game and two torn oblique muscles that forced Harker to face Edmonton in the final game to determine first place, well, why would the Riders want to roll the dice on their franchise quarterback?

This isn’t to say that Harker will not end up the back-up and Franklin taking the short yardage team over. There is also Bruce Bennett who contributed on special teams and provided an element of uncertainty to opposing coaches who thought at first Bennett was a gimmick but soon found out the guy can tackle and even throw the odd ball from a punting formation.

The Riders most important signings were their own – Ed Gainey, Shaq Evans and probably most importantly of all – Solomon Elimimimian. Elimimian takes the edge off of Johnson going to BC because as middle linebacker, he helps to plug up the holes a good running game can open and Judge did really well playing under Elimimian’s guidance last year.

That type of continuity in the middle of the defence is going to be important to the Ridersas they figure out who is going to step out and lead the defense. Jason Shivers had a great first season as defensive coordinator and it sounds like he wants to continue the Riders defense being aggressive.

So to make things easier for Charleston Hughes to rush the quarterback, along with AC Leonard, the Riders need to not just plug the run defense in the middle of the line, they are going to need a defensive line that is respected enough to force some double teaming.

The really interesting signing was Josiah St. John who we all remember was Chris Jones’ first draft pick and first overall. St. John held out in training camp and when he got in just as the season started, he went down to ground zero and only managed to contribute in his third and final season before he was cut.

That was a move that probably St. John and his agent did not see coming, and after bouncing between BC and Edmonton, St. John came up as a potential depth move after the Riders lost Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek to Toronto.

If a year of humility hasn’t taught St. John to work to stay a professional football player, no one will argue that St. John had no idea of what was going on or how he should address the issue. If at a minimum St. John can keep Fajardo’s back clear, then that is what anyone will really about.

The Riders were also signing players who did not figure in the CFL last season. Receiver Demarcus Ayers of Houston and LBPete Robertson of Texas Tech. Robertson graduated a year after Sam Equavoen and with Equavoen now in Miami of the NFL, I suspect there was the advice to try the CFL, get stuff on film and maybe you too can end up in the NFL.

The Riders also signed two American offensive linemen, a sure sign that some changes are coming to the offensive line. The Riders signed offensive lineman Lanard Bonner and Devon Johnson. The signings are a sure sign the Riders are moving on from offensive lineman Thaddeus Coleman who is 34.

Bonner signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent after three seasons at Arkansas State. He is 6’5” 315 lbs. Johnson, who is 6’8” and 320 lbs was on the Rider practice squad towards the end of last season after being with the Falcons in the spring. Considering that Thomas Dimitroff, GM of the Atlanta Falcons, got his start in Saskatchewan, it just goes to show that one should never prevent people from moving on to new jobs because it may pay out down the road. Something that maybe Ottawa is thinking about after the Jamie Elizondo disaster last season.

The Riders also re-signed Jordan Reaves to a one year extension. Reaves is an interesting case, the son of former Blue Bomber running back Willard Reaves, he started off as a basketball player before deciding to try football.

Reaves originally signed with Winnipeg, was let go, then Chris Jones with his eye for players with a wide wingspan who can knock down passes and create havoc brought him in. Considering Reaves had not played at a university level, his first couple of seasons were a learning process on special teams until he blew out a knee before the 2019 season.

Reaves is 6’4” 225 pounds and with the loss of Alexander Gagne, special teams demon and back up long snapper to Montreal, the Riders need to regain their aggressiveness on special teams. Plus with his size, if he has rehabbed and maybe worked on technique, then he could be useful being rotated in on defense to break up passing downs.

The Riders do have Jake Bennett, who they picked in the supplemental draft last year and who is able to long snap and play all three of the interior offensive line positions. That’s good considering the Riders lost Bladek and Philip Blake to Toronto and depth may be lacking, but so was some physicality on the line play that put Zach Collaros in the head lights of oncoming defensive linemen.

The Riders lost Canadian defensive back Denzel Radford to Toronto. Radford was playing on the special teams and may have subbed in a few times in the last three seasons, but never managed to take the step from special teams to defensive starter.

Former Rider linebacker Kevin Francis, who was another of Chris Jones reaches in the supplemental draft, played for Ottawa last season but only lasted for seven games. He re-signed with the BC Lions with Rick Campbell would have had good memories of Francis last season.

Another former Rider figured in an interesting trade of kickers. Montreal sent punter/kicker Boris Bede to Toronto for Tyler Crapigna, who Rider fans may remember from a few years ago. Bede can be good, but he can also be very inconsistent while Crapigna may not have the range of say a Chris Lauther, but does have accuracy on his side and Montreal after having to release a number of veterans to fit under the salary cap, will need to ensure they score the points they need to when they get the opportunity.

Bede was not the only Alouette to change teams last week. Antonio Pipkin, who was released by Montreal to avoid making a bonus payment, resurfaced in Edmonton as a back-up to Trevor Harris. Back-up quarterback was a problem for Edmonton last year when Harris went down with an injury and with Pipkin having starter experience until Vernon Adams Jr. finally stepped forward to claim the job.

Willie Jefferson signed with Winnipeg for two years, giving the Bombers a player who when he is on is very good, but when he is less than engaged, tends to disappear. Jefferson was surprised to not get a contract offer from Saskatchewan, but the Riders seem to have moved on and one of the problems of putting a large contract on one player is that you cannot pay the others around him enough and still stay under the salary cap.

Hamilton seems to be loading up for another run at the Grey Cup with some interesting signings. The Cats got linebacker Justin Herdman-Reed who was drafted by Toronto and played for three years. He is a Canadian so that will help in the plug and play defense.

Hamilton got linebacker Larry Dean back from Edmonton which was interesting considering Dean went to Edmonton last year after starting his career with Hamilton. Dean would have been a linebacker I would have liked to have seen in Saskatchewan if Elimimian had not signed.

Hamilton also managed to land Patrick Levels who played with Montreal last year after two years in Calgary. Levels seems to have come into his own as an up and coming DB and if he can managed to be a shutdown corner for Hamilton opposite Delvin Breaux, Hamilton’s defense may be really imposing.

Maybe not as imposing as Hamilton’s receiving corps which signed DeVier Posey.Posey spent his first two years with Toronto where he managed to win a Grey Cup in 2017 and get named MVP of the game. He went south to try the NFL, didn’t make it, came back to BC for a season and then spent last season in Montreal.Hamilton appears to be going all in for its push to rid itself of their own Grey Cup curse which is now 20 years.

Hamilton did lose defensive back Richard Leonard to the Stampeders, but considering who Hamilton was looking to sign, they were not going to sign everyone. Hamilton did nab running back Don Jackson from Calgary, which means we have likely seen the last of Cam Marshall and/or Tyrell Sutton; they also managed to sign defensive back Courtney Stephen as they looked to get more physical to counter a team like Winnipeg, which ran the ball down people’s throats last year.

In the meantime, while players like Derell Walker wonder where the money went, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has embarked on another CFL tour. Ambrosie started Feb. 15 in Ottawa and amongst the nuggetts he left behind for us to ponder was a new playoff format where the top teams in the west and east get a bye to the the division finals while the remaining teams would be ranked third to sixth with #3 playing #6, then #4 playing #5.

The interesting variable in this is after those games,t he top team can pick who they would play while the second place team plays whoever was left. Ambrosie said since Major League Baseball was thinking of expanding its playoffs, the CFL could then look at tinkering with their playoffs until Halifax did or didn’t make the league.

The Atlantic Schooners would definitely help balance the schedule and when Halifax came in the playoff structure might have to be revisited to give Halifax the Ottawa chance to make the Grey Cup in their second year.

Ambrosie brings his road show to Regina on February 29. Expect him to talk CFL 2.0 and having more community involvement by teams in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Ambrosie points out there are 447 draft eligible Canadians each year, approximately 12,000 draft eligible Americans, and about 8,000 players playing globally.

Ambrosie said if a Japanese running back made a CFL team, that could inspire the Japanese Canadian community to come out and support that player – something they might not feel they need to do now. Ambrosie told the Ottawa crowd the point was not just to get intermational viewing of the CFL, but also get the CFL introduced into communities that might not have cared or knew nothing of the league prior to the CFL 2.0 push for global players.

Ambrosie wants to see a 20 fold increase in the amount of community visits by players, introducing themselves and the league to people who might not have been aware before. He felt this type of grassroots investment is what is needed to get the CFL back into the conciousness of Canadians who know nothing about the league.

It’s an interesting argument Ambrosie puts on, but when it comes to answering why April mini-camps are no longer being held, he told the Ottawa audience that teams didn’t think they were getting the value from those camps that they felt justified the cost.

Ah, the ole footballs operations cap that Ambrosie convinced the CFL governors to bring in to short-circuit the CFLPA argument for more money to players considering the guaranteed money for the most part going to coaching. I would think based on the actions of the CFL and individual teams that the cost of those camps for teams not as well off as say, the Riders, would pose an undue burden on some of the least financially successful CFL teams.

Ambrosie said the idea of a CFL Week is not dead, just on pause after it was cancelled last year because of fears the CFLPA would advise its players not to take part while a new CBA was being negotiated. The CFL faces an incredibly long post season with very few things to help the league stay in the public view.

The CFL week is one way to get into fans conciousness and expose the league to individual teams. Another way to deal with player development and to expose the league to more Canadians would be a developmental league that would play an arena style league, but serve as a developmental league for Canadians, global players and perhaps even the odd Americans.

The good thing about such a league is you can also have teams in places like Saskatoon, Red Deer, Kelowna, London, Windsor, Quebec City in addition to existing CFL teams. The rosters would have to be smaller considering the smaller playing surface in arenas and this type of league could also develop coaches in addition to players and provide fans with an opportunity to enjoy some arena ball when winter hits.

In the meantime, there are a few CFL free agents left out there – Walker, Derek Dennis, CJ Gable. The problem is the money they might be looking for is not there anymore, expecially after the minimum salary was raised.It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds and if say Walker signs with Winnipeg or BC, there will likely be more cuts from those teams just to accommodate them.

So I wonder what will happen this week?

by Greg Urbanoski

Did the Riders strike out or are they ready now for a Cup run?

What's Trending