Riders hoping 2022 was just a bad dream

Good question. Rider fans attempted to dump their Grey Cup tickets, but the combination of limited and over inflated hotel space and access to Regina made many eat their tickets or just not bother to show up. The approach by the Riders to this season of recycling Greg Marshall era excuses like the guys played hard, had many looking on in disbelief that the Riders could be so arrogant to blow this opportunity and assume fans would automatically turn out no matter how dull and insipid their offense was.

The dismissal of Jason Maas, who likely did the club a favor by moving on to Montreal, raised hopes the Riders could attract a talent like Marc Mueller, the grandson of Rider legend Ron Lancaster, but Calgary did a nifty thing, got Dave Dickenson into the GM chair and opened the door for Mueller to prove himself as offensive coordinator in Calgary and then as head coach.

The Riders by comparison was led by lame ducks in Jeremy O’Day as GM and Craig Dickenson as head coach. Both are in the final year of their contract and another 6-12 season should get them and probably Rider CEO Craig Reynolds fired as well.

This does not create an atmosphere of stability, but then the hiring of Bolduc proves that for people with ambition, this is an opportunity to prove themselves. Bolduc was a finalist for the Montreal job that went to the only outsider to interview in Maas. Bolduc, who helped build a pretty good Montreal running attack, decided to go elsewhere if he was not going to get a fair shot in Montreal.

You get the sense the Riders will be going big time into their running game until the problems in their pass protection are addressed. The trick to this will be who the Riders hire as their offensive line coach.

I suspect the Riders will go for a veteran Canadian university offensive line coach who is a good teacher. The Riders will have to also determine whether it is the coaching or lack of talent that was the key to the Riders terrible pass protection in 2022.

This may also play a role in who the Riders go with at quarterback. One suspects Dane Evans will come loose in Hamilton if Bo Levi Mitchell signs with the Cats, and Evans has gone through his own nightmare season in Hamilton.

The Riders could also bring back Cody Fajardo, which considering the way he was handled last season, would now firmly paint the team as a dysfunctional tire fire worthy of its own Simpson’s episode. Fajardo was crushed last year, both physically and psychologically and many are saying what he needs most is a quarterback coach, which the Riders may not be able to hire under the football administration cap.

What the Riders may be gleaming from reading fan pages is the impression this team does not know what it has or wants or what to do. This is not a recipe for business success and this being the last year of the MVP ticket plan, the Riders may be looking as a big drop off in tickets sold if team performance does not pick up.

Already the Riders are doing focus groups looking at the game day presentation which is aimed at attention deficit sufferers. It’s a formula that works for kids who don’t know the game, but the Riders are alienating their long-term fans, both from Regina and outside, by their ridiculous prices, especially in these times.

When it costs $1,200 to $1,700 for a family of four to drive in from PA, take in a game, get concessions, stay overnight, uh, the Riders may have reached the end of tapping into their regular out of town fans. It is cheaper to pick up a dozen beer, order a pizza and watch the game at home.

The big intangible is team performance and last year, it was with an air of disbelief that fans watched the Riders mount an ineffective attack and choke in the second half. If the Rides do the same thing again, they may need to consider everything from designated smoking areas where smokers can come back after stepping out for a smoke, to reducing concession prices to having kids tickets be $10 so people can afford to bring kids to the games.

It will be interesting to see if the Riders actions match their words. The Riders may feel that to be able to pay off the stadium, etc, they need to hold the Rider fans to ransom to turn their money over so the Riders can continue. The fans may not share that perspective.

For instance, the Riders sat Cody Fajardo for the last two games, presumably to see if the back ups can step up. With our offensive live and anemic receivers, that is something that has still yet to be decided. The way the Riders handled the situation raised a lot of questions as to the maturity if not the ability of the head coach and general manager.

The Riders have often been their own worst enemy and the fans should include themselves in that as well. Rider fans whipsaw between the sky is falling to booking a Grey Cup parade and emotional over-reaction is a common factor.

So while on the one hand one can understand with the season all but over, looking to see who should be brought back next year. Fajardo didn’t like the impression left by Rider coaches and management that he was a major reason for the under development of the offense in 2022.

Whether it is Fajardo or whether it was the offensive line, the smart thing would be to talk it out before the decisions were made so fans and Fajardo could understand the rationale being pursued by the Riders. The Riders recognize their offense was the problem, but if they go with just pure rookie quarterbacks, unless the offensive line has suddenly raised itself to the level of say, the Regina Thunder, any quarterback dropping back to pass behind that line will be crucified.

The Riders may not have any option but to bring Fajardo back, perhaps with a |Dane Evans signing, and perhaps try to construct a new version of the J. J. Barnagel quarterback, who was a combination of John Hufnagel and Joe Barnes in the 1981 season.

Two capable quarterbacks would be a step forward and if Fajardo can get his mojo back, that will be a help, but if Fajardo comes back but does not manage to win the dressing room or show he can move the team consistently, then the time has come to move on.

The next stage will be free agency in February and this month we should see who the Riders are looking to convince versus who gets a chance to start over. The big step will be the coach of the offensive line and if the person is credible with the players, the team may be able to swing for the fences for some free agents.

A run heavy Riders should be able to take the pressure off a quarterback and a defense asked to perform miracles last season, and perhaps the team will be able to grind their opponents down. A fair amount will depend on how the team handles its quarterbacking situation and whether Diickenson is able to do some psychological coaching to go with trying to figure out the game clock.

With the release of he CFL schedule, the Riders may be lucky to get to the first half with a 2-7 record. The schedule is top heavy with western opponents and the Riders have yet to show they will be better than the Edmonton Elk.

However, the Riders do have the potential to fly below the radar as not much appears to be expected from them this year. The Rider Brass is praying last year was an aberration, but fans will be sitting on their wallets until the team direction heads towards either winning or entertaining.

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders hoping 2022 was just a bad dream

What's Trending