Monday Morning Sentimonies: Another Prophet Clip show

We’ve reached the quietest point of the offseason. Free agency has died down and the draft talk has not yet fired up. That leaves bloggers who comment on the latest Rider news like myself in quite a conundrum as there is no news to comment on. 

Now I could put in some effort and come up with something very creative content of my own. But I doubt even you made it through that sentence with a straight face. Instead I am going to use a patented sitcom move when they run out of new material… a clip show! 

So I went back through the Prophet Archives to see what was going on in February in past years.

 

·        2009 was a fun February in Riderville. Anyone remember why? A certain GM of a certain local franchise was charged with some certain inappropriate conduct with a certain minor. That was not a boring February. It should be an everlasting lesson than painkillers and babysitters don't mix.

·        In 2010 we traded Adam Nicholson, a 3rd round draft pick and the neg rights to kick returner named Chris Williams to Hamilton for Prechae Rodriguez. Not gonna say that did not turn out well but by the end of tenure in Saskatchewan Prechae was playing recreational touch football and being effectively blanketed by the physical specimen know as the Rider Prophet (true story). Chris Williams had some moderate success in his career as Chris Jones might say. 

·        In 2013 we signed Dwight Anderson. Prior to Andrew Harris becoming a coach, this was likely the most divisive move the Riders had made. The move did amazingly end up working out… minus a small incident on Dewdney Ave.

·        In 2014 I was also clearly lacking news because I made a CFL Mad Libs. For the record its awesome and you should try it out

o   https://www.wordblanks.com/mad-libs/sports/mad-libs-cfl-style/

·        In 2016, Chris Jones made a trade with Toronto to acquire OL Bruce Campbell. The trade is not super notable but what we traded is super interesting to look back on. We traded a 4^th round pick and the negotiation rights to… Baker Mayfield.

·        In 2019 we signed Cody Fajardo. If you are wondering what prophetic insight and analysis I had at the time, my comments were as follows: “So do we pronounce the J like in fajita or it a silent J like in jogging? By virtue of not being Brandon Bridge I like this already.” I stand by that analysis for the record. 

I hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Free Agent Assessment

The year is 2025. American is better at hockey than Canada and some white dude is the best slam dunker in the world. It is a confusing and unsettling reality. At least Saskatchewan is beacon of consistency amidst this turmoil. It’s cold as hell and people are irrationally irritated by what the Riders are/are not doing. It’s a tale as old as time.

Look, there is no denying that Jeremy O’Day’s cell phone likely did not dip below 95% charge over free agency. He was like the anti-Hervey, trying to set records for least contracts signed. But we should be taking that as a good thing not a negative.

First of all, our roster was solid enough that it did not require a major overhaul. You may pine for the headline grabbing signings of Edmonton but remember that’s because their roster was utter garbage. I prefer our situation. Second, we were extremely successful at retain our core players. We extended the contracts of the following people: Harris, Dabire, Zerr, Dalke, the Herdmans, Allen, Carney, Thurman, Lokombo (sigh), Tate, Milligan, Oneyka, Sayles, Alford, Picton and Micah. When you are a team that just made the West Final in the first year of a rookie head coach, consistency is a good thing. O’Day didn’t do a lot in free agency… because he didn’t have to.

That said, while O’Day wasn’t big on quantity of moves. He was big on quality. You need two things above all else to succeed in the football. Quarterback depth and strength in the trenches. We had a winning percentage of 33% in games that Harris didn’t start last year. So O’Day went out a secured a quality back-up QB (some may debate the word “quality” in that statement but in terms of a back-up Maier is an upgrade). Our O-line was surprisingly awesome last year despite a rotation of players that would rival year 1 of Chris Jones as your GM. O’Day went out and added on of the best centres in the CFL in Sean McEwen and also added a solid starting guard in Phillipe Gagnon. With Fry and Zerr for depth our OL looks solid. On the defensive side, he added another perennial all-star in Mike Rose. Shane Ray is a bit more of a question mark but the interior of that line with Rose, Micah, Sanders and Dabire should be dominant.

My point is O’Day may not have made many moves, but the ones he made addressed the most important needs. I am really happy with how our roster looks as of today. We are solid across the board.

Now, I am under no illusion that things are perfect. There are 3 question marks on this roster than remain for me. Receiver, D End and Secondary.

While we have numerous quality WRs, we lack a go-to game breaker. Emilus and Baker can be that guy. Johnson and Myers could develop into that guy. Bane (when healthy) has shown flashes of being that guy. But most teams can easily point to their go-to guy when you absolutely need a play. We can’t.

D-End is similar to WR. I don’t worry about our overall talent level. But we do lack “the guy”. Carney is OK. Shane Ray has a ton of potential but hasn’t played in the CFL since 2022. Baldonado and Korte-Moore are good rotation guys. I do think the strength of the interior will compensate and make the ends looks better than they probably are.

Secondary remains the biggest question mark on this team. 40% of it (Milligan, Sayles) will be outstanding. 20% of it should be solid (Fields was a starting HB as a rookie. Give him a year of experience and he should improve). 20% of it is a crapshoot (Lokombo and Campbell). There are many people (our coaches leading the way) who believe in these 2. I have the same level of optimism on these as I do for a lottery ticket. Yes, there is the potential of things turning out awesome but I pretty just assume it will not and then anything above that is a bonus.  

So boring as free agency may have been, I am very happy  with the roster O’Day is building.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Free Agency

It has been a busy week across the CFL as the negotiation window opened and teams could speak to pending free agents. Ed Hervey seemed intent on setting an all-time (and unbreakable) record for most deals negotiated. 90% of the deals this past week were Hervey. His aggressiveness extended beyond players. Per my sources (aka me), Hervey also made offers to me to join the Elks in addition to offering deals to try and sign Winnipeg’s mascots, the guys that cut logs in Ottawa and BC Place. 

As expected, the Riders were not super active. There was still a number of moves so let’s get you caught up. 

Re-signed: Marcus Sayles, Micah Johnson, Mitch Picton and Mario Alford.

I was most happy to see Sayles and Johnson retained. If we want our secondary not to suck for a second year in a row, keeping Sayles was important. I just flat out love Micah Johnson. He’s a leader on and off the field and guys 6 years younger than him would be ecstatic if they could play at the level he is. With Ajou’s departure keeping a guy like Picton for depth is important. Crazy to think we drafted him back in 2017.  Alford was honestly a surprise. But I assume it means he came relatively cheap. Not a bad thing to retain him just assumed we’d go younger at returner. 

Added: Tevaughn Campbell, Tommy Nield

I knew the secondary would be a priority in free agency but would not have guessed in a million years that Campbell would be the target. I am very conflicted on this move. I have watched Campbell play with my own eyes. What I saw was a guy with elite speed and no clue what to do with it. I was shocked when he stuck for one year in the NFL… and floored that he lasted multiple years down there. Obviously for him to stick that long down there he’s got top end talent. Hell, he scored TDs down there. Though in fairness if you assume the NFL knows how to properly evaluate talent remember that multiple teams let Chris Streveler play QB and wanted him to pass more than he ran. So on paper a NFL caliber Canadian player is a great add… but until I see it with me own eyes, I remain skeptical that he is the answer to our secondary woes.

Tommy Nield a big bodied Canadian that will add depth at receiver.

Agreed To Terms: Philip Gagnon, Tommy Stevens

Philip Gagnon was the 2^nd overall pick in 2016 (after we famously and tragically took Josiah St John at #1). We needed more OL depth and Gagnon can slide in a start at guard immediately. I assume the plan is Ferland at centre with Fry and Gagnon at guard. Stevens was another surprise but for a team that has struggled in short yardage he does offer an upgrade there. I do hope that Coan beats him out in camp for the #3 though, since Stevens is essentially a poor man’s Streveler. 

On the way out: Deontai Williams, Amari Henderson, Adam Auclair, Peter Godber, Jerreth Sterns, Godfrey Oneyka, Shae Patterson

Other than Godber and Auclair, I am not sure fans will bat an eye at those departures. Williams and Henderson showed flashes of talent but were wildly inconsistent. Sterns and Oneyka are nothing more than depth. Godber and Auclair were impact players and are loses but with Gagnon and Campbell we have in theory replaced them.

So what’s left? 

Free agency officially opens tomorrow and it will primarily be a day of paperwork as all the deals agreed to in principle this past week get formally signed. Ed Hervey better have a stamp to approve those otherwise his wrist will be cramping something fierce.

I still think the Riders need at least one more Canadian OL. Be nice to keep Sceviour or Knevel might be an option. Evan Johnson is also available… just saying. In theory we could also address this need by luring Kyle Hergel north or drafting an OL. But adding at least one more OL is needed. 

Beyond that I don’t see a ton of needs and could see us focusing on depth/role players that won’t capture many headlines.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Tamper Tamper

Whether you call it legal tampering, or the negotiation window, or Ed Hervey’s enduring legacy, free agency officially got underway yesterday. Though, if you truly believe that no communication had been occurring prior to the negotiation window opening then I have some oceanfront property near Davidson that you may be interested in. 

The Riders made a couple of big moves along the D-line ahead of free agency adding Shane Ray and Mike Rose. Both are guys Coach Mace knows very well. The last time Ray was in the CFL in 2022, he notched 6 sacks in 13 games. Rose has been a force in Calgary for many years and is a big add to our interior. While individually I love the new look line we are forming, there is a minor concern that 3 of our projected starters will be 30 or older come the season. 

Fortunately unlike previous years, the Riders enter free agency with relatively few holes to fill. We have some good continuity and it should lead to a quieter free agency than we have been accustomed to. 

Here’s what I see as our primary needs and some potential targets (both in-house and external) to address them. 

Canadian OL – Ferland is a flat out stud. Fry took a big step forward. Zerr proved an adequate fill in. If we had to go into 2025 with that as our interior it would be workable. But I’d prefer to be better than “workable” and we definitely need some depth. Right now that would be all on the shoulders of 2024 draft pick Daniel Johnson (if you asked who? Then you have justified my concern).

Potential targets – I would still love to get at least one of Godber or Sceviour back. If we do dip into the free agent market I doubt it will be for the big names like McEwen, Dobson, MacKellar, or Beard. That would leave guys like David Foucault, Michael Couture or Cyrille Hogan-Saindon

Cornerback – Its no secret that the primary weakness of the 2024 Riders was the secondary. Basically anything that did involve Milligan or Sayles after his first game was a curse-inducing trainwreck of a liability. 

Potential targets – I would still like to bring Sayles back but would not shed a tear if the other pending FA DBs did not return. There are a number of DBs worth a call hitting the market. Big names like Tre Roberson, Ciante Evans and DeShaun Amos all have history with Mace. A couple other names that intrigue me are Damon Webb (I thought it was a mistake for the Riders to ever let him go) and Jalen Edwards-Cooper (maybe the second time is a charm).

D-Line – Despite the addition Rose and Ray we still need at least one more body. With Rose signed, I assume Lanier and Brown are gone. 

Potential targets – I am still holding out hope that we give Micah one more season but with Ray and Rose the wrong side of 30 I would also understand adding some youth. Not a particularly strong market (other than Ceresna who we are not getting), Some names I’d be calling include Josh Banks, Jared Brinkman and Robbie Smith. I would not rule out one of Cox or Brown returning. 

Receiver American and Canadian – The loss of Ajou and the fact that Picton has yet to re-sign leaves us short a Cdn WR. With only Picton and Kiondre Smith as viable options this is something we likely address through the draft. In theory Johnson and Myers are poised to take the next step. But with that not a guarantee and Bane coming off injury, I would like to add a bit of certainty at the WR position. 

Potential targets – I doubt we can afford one of the big names guys like Lewis or Lawler but I am still making the call to see. Also, once those two sign I could see the price point or receivers dropping dramatically and there being some value to be had. Steven Dunbar, Reggie White, and Dominique Rhymes would be options.