Send in the Combines

The NFL uses stuff like combines and the draft to tell stories about the new players and using those stories to market the league. The combines provide an excellent introduction to players you are more likely to see in the pros and refute fans arguments about lack of player identification.

The regular CFL combine which will combine those players invited from regional workouts will be held March 25-27 in Toronto. A few years ago the CFL had the great idea to move the combine around to various centres and use it as a marketing tool but the league gave that up when it came to negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and then Covid hit.

If you are keeping track, this is the draft order for the 2022 draft – Edmonton drafts first, Ottawa second, BC third, Montreal fourth, Calgary fifth, Toronto sixth, Saskatchewan seventh, Hamilton eighth and Winnipeg is ninth.

As the combines get underway starting this week, keep an eye for offensive linemen and perhaps other athletes who stand out. The Riders have question marks on their offensive line, especially at the tackle position but it seems while Canadian Bruce Boyko is still unsigned, the Riders may be looking at American tackles.

The Riders have 11 offensive linemen on the roster, but a number of them were players who got their start last year when Brendan LaBatte said he would not be playing due to Covid protocols. While the Riders will be playing host to the Grey Cup this year, LaBatte has still not indicated he is coming back, but as the days get longer, so too do the odds of LaBatte coming back to the roster.

After the combines comes the CFL draft on May 3. Rookie camps open on May 11 and the CFL rosters need to be reduced to 85 players by may 14 and regular training camps will open on May 15. CFL teams will have to reduce their roster sizes to 75 players by May 17 and training camp ends June 4 and the regular season opens June 9.

The Riders put the finishing touches on their coaching staff for 2022 with the addition of Markus Klund as defensive secondary coach.

Klund comes with 15 years of coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate level. He spent the last nine years at Southwest Baptist University where he served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator and worked with the defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs.

The Riders extended their offensive coordinator Jason Maas, believing that another year of Maas combined with better recruiting on the offensive line will bring the Riders offense back from the dead.

Kent Maugeri will take over as special teams coordinator as Craig Dickenson plans to focus more on game management this season.

Kelly Jeffrey, formerly the head coach at Mount Allison, will not be the Riders running back coach. He was on staff for the Elk last season and was the Argos special teams coordinator in 2016.

Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Stephen Sorrells, wide receiver coach Travis Moore, linebacker coach Deion Melvin and defensive line coach Ben Olson continue in their roles.

So while the league has been focused on prepping for the combines and signing whatever undrafted or remaining free agents may be left, there are other issues that have been smoldering out there.

The CFL Players Association will be opening the negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but unlike baseball, these negotiations are not expected to be acrimonious. Because the league is going back to an 18 game schedule, the size of rosters is likely to go down because there is no need to stash players in case of Covid.

In Edmonton the Elk have gone back to their EE helmet look instead of the spindly Elk horns and did a pretty good job of marketing so far with a great season ticket campaign. Edmonton is still playing in Commonwealth Stadium so they do have room to shoehorn in young fans at a relatively inexpensive cost.

In BC the Lions are also going the grassroots rout and also combining some Hollywood stars like Ryan Reynolds to help plug the BC Lions. For Edmonton trying to rebuild their fan base and BC looking to get noticed, both teams have done the basic steps rather well and if the offenses can match the excitement in the stands, this could be a special year in the CFL.

By comparison, the Riders have been looking to renew their season ticket base and have run into a problem that took some time, but seems to have taken root – a lack of interest.

Once upon a time the Riders had a list of about 27,000 season tickets and a waiting list of six to seven thousand. Now that has gone to about 22,000 and even with this being a Grey Cup year, Rider fans are not packing the seats like they used to.

Part of the problem is economic. The Riders once upon a time led in sales of merchandise and still do, but not as much as they used to.

If you look at the Riders web site and compare it to other CFL teams, their prices in the area in jerseys are the highest in the league by about $50.

Other teams like to put out game worn stuff, but the Riders have not done so in a number of years. They have donated things like practice jerseys to amateur teams, but the Riders have not made game worn stuff available to fans other than special offers which you don’t know when they might be available.

Add to that the concession prices and the question has to be asked, why would anyone, especially from out of town, want to drop an enormous amount of money, especially now with gas prices going through the roof due to the war in Ukraine? You could easily pick up a six pack and get a pizza which might add up to the price of one ticket.

While the Riders should be able to put in a decent season in the seats due to the virtue of hosting the Grey Cup, they will likely see a drop next year as there is nothing compelling to keep fans interest like getting a Grey Cup seat on the off chance the Riders make it back into the Grey Cup.

Edmonton and BC are taking excellent steps to re engage their fan base. The Riders seem content to tread water and blame any attendance problems on the pandemic.

In other words, the Riders will try to avoid responsibility for the situation they created.

by Greg Urbanoski

Send in the Combines

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