All I want for Christmas is a couple of tackles, non-pouty receivers, a Korey Sheets style running back and what the hell, a Grey Cup

When you look at it a bit more closely, the reason Edmonton is covered in its own waste, much like an Elk herd with chronic wasting disease (hence me calling Edmonton the Chronic Wasters), is while in the 1970s and 1980s Edmonton benefited from no salary cap and discovered they could buy everyone else’s top free agents while everyone else relied on the latest issue of Smith and Street Football magazine to try to find new recruits.

Goveria helped to build Winnipeg’s roster and focused on ensuring the team had enough Canadian offensive linemen to ensure depth. He knows personnel and probably Canadian personnel better than Jones, who brought John Murphy over with him and retained Jeremy O’Day to bring in the players.

Jones for his part was more a mad scientist as a GM, looking at players and imagining which positions they were best suited. So you get a tight end like Willie Jefferson who gets converted to defensive end, something like AC Leonard got converted to as well.

Jones has no idea of how to handle offenses, if you look at his handling of Brandon Bridge as a back-up/starter. If he gets this job, the odds are pretty good he will raid the Argos staff for his former assistants to help him establish an offensive base in Edmonton.

So while giving Jones multiple titles may fit him under the football administration cap, there is a catch. If there is an NFL job that comes up, Jones is out of Edmonton and the Chronic Wasters will have to fill multiple positions.

For a team struggling to emerge from the ooze of the oil sands that has sucked them down pretty good last season, this is not good, so Goveria has that going for him.

Mike O’Shea of the Winnipeg Major Crimes Unit turned down the Chronic Wasters request to interview for the dual position, and well, who among us is surprised, when he has a chance to go for a three-peat.

Orlando Steinhaeuer of the Hamilton Humane Society is staying on as head coach after rumors connected him to the defensive coordinator position of his former college. But Hamilton has its own issues if they want to make it to Regina next year to get their asses beaten like a gong again.

Shawn Burke, formerly of Hamilton was named GM of the Ottawa Mismatches. Paul La Police is retained as head coach at least for 2022, but he has a lot to figure out, including how to win a game or two.

Future generations will argue that La Police handcuffed former GM Marcel Desjardins by insisting on being surrounded by bit players from the Winnipeg Major Crimes Unit where La Police was offensive coordinator. When you bring along Matt (Game Manager) Nicholls who could not throw further than my 17 year old Himalayan as a QB, or running back Tim (Okelly-Dokelly) Flanders who excelled in garbage time, well, you are lucky to win three games.

Burke wants a physical team, but he will first need a quarterback and there may be one coming out of Hamilton. The dance between Dane Evans and Jeremiah Masoli appears to be coming to an end and Hamilton will have to let one go, preferably for some sort of compensation.

Evans took over from Masoli and led the Cats into the Grey Cup game until the third quarter when he went out with a neck injury and Masoli went in and almost won the game. I was a bit surprised with Masoli’s performance because while Masoli is a streaky quarterback, he has not won a gritty game and I wondered if he ever would.

Masoli’s place might be as a player coming off the bench as a change of pace QB. If he gets into a groove, he can move a team, but if you can fluster him, he is as helpless as Mike Reilly behind the BC Lions offensive line.

Hamilton may bid farewell to other free agents, like Brandon Banks, who won a BS Outstanding Player Award in 2019 and who disappeared due to injuries and uh, other things in 2021. Hamilton seems to have enough depth to make up for the mercurial Banks who is 0-4 in Grey Cup Games and I include the 2013 Grey Cup.

February is free agency and teams are getting their lists together for the I think it is over 300 free agents about to flood the market. Part of the talk about reconnecting the CFL with fans is having some kind of fan identity and it is hard when rosters change over on a yearly basis, something CFLPA President Solomon Elimimian has acknowledged that is a problem that needs to be addressed with the CBA being renegotiated and something of a salary cap agreed upon.

So the Riders have their own list and probably the biggest thing is to bring back D’haquille Williams at receiver. I read something interesting where Cody Fajardo seems to have an ability to hit the medium pass, but when it comes to going deep, it helps him to have a receiver who can actually fight for the ball.

Too many times last season we saw Rider receivers not fight for balls thrown their way that were intercepted. As one guy mentioned to me in the Western semi-final, Rob Bagg would have mugged any defensive back about to make an interception off of him.

This is a good time to bring up Shaq Evans and answering the question why he was not even targeted in the western final. Evans broke his foot, came back and was not even the main receiver.

Evans had mentioned his anger management problems a couple of years ago, and while I got him to autograph a football and his old Dallas Cowboy jersey at the Rider store during Grey Cup week, I also notice Head Coach Craig Dickenson coming over often to check on him and encouraging the kids to get autographs from Evans.

So, if we bring Williams back, and I think Jordan Williams-Lambert will drift stateside after basically contributing nothing since his return from the CFL, what are the odds the Riders go after Derell Walker of the Chronic Wasters?

Walker went back to Edmonton after a year in Toronto basically being a high priced decoy. However the merry go round of Edmonton quarterbacks prevented any consistency and if the Riders retain Maas as offensive coordinator again, Walker may want to reunite with his old head coach and provide the Riders with a deep threat that could be more consistent than Evans.

When it comes to our offensive line, unlike the Green and White Scrimmage of 2021 where I had an “Oh No” thought every time the Rider defensive line went through the offensive line like grass through a goose, 2021 was a necessary year for an entirely new offensive line.

They took their lumps, learned some hard lessons like work on their footwork and hand battle techniques, but they were better at the end of the year than the start.

There is Brendan LaBatte who sat out last year because of Covid restrictions, but with the Omicron variant now burning through the world, O’Day said he would not sign unvaccinated players next year because it was just too much to figure out who would be able to play and who couldn’t travel. LaBatte may want to come back for the opportunity to play in a home town Grey Cup again, but the question has to be asked, where would LaBatte play?

The Riders biggest holes will be the offensive tackle positions at the ends of the offensive lines that have to deal with other team’s edge rushers. Brett Boyko seemed to get adequate at one tackle position so maybe the Riders have just one tackle spot to fill and maybe get another guy in for depth.

If CFL teams are going to request all players be vaccinated and LaBatte doesn’t want to, then let him go. The Riders have players like Josiah St. John who came back and acquitted himself nicely.

The question of running back is also going to be interesting because I thought William Powell had a pretty good season last year running behind that line, but distinguished himself with his blocking and pass catching.

What was needed was a Marcus Thigpen change of pace running back that could break games wide open with just a single play. Pair up a power back and a home run hitter to do change of pace and the Riders could get a consistent running game going.

If the Riders could come up with a running back like Korey Sheets, then the Riders should be solid enough to handle Winnipeg, because if the Riders want to be the Man in 2022, they must beat the man in Winnipeg.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

by Greg Urbanoski

All I want for Christmas is a couple of tackles, non-pouty receivers, a Korey Sheets style running back and what the hell, a Grey Cup

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