Monday Morning Sentimonies: Don’t Be First

Tanking for last place to get the top draft pick is a time-honoured sports tradition. Be it hockey, basketball or even football, the short-term pain of a dreadful season can be totally worth it if it leads to a generational player joining your team. Connor Bedard, Victor Wembenyama, Joe Burrow just to name a few. 

But in keeping with its general quirkiness, the CFL does not operate like other leagues in this respect. In fact, if you look at the recent history, your odds of drafting a top end player actually go significantly up if you pick pretty much anywhere but first overall. The Riders are a perfect example. Sure we hit some home runs with the first overall pick including Scott Schultz (2001) and Ben Heenan (2012). But those are more than balanced out by our misses. And when we miss, we don’t just kinda miss. We miss the ball, send our bat flying into the stands injuring a grandma and our pants end up falling down mid swing as we trip and fall on our face. As evidence I point you to Tyson St James (2000), Shomari Williams (2010) and Josiah St John (2016). To be fair 2010 just a god awful draft year, legitimately the best player in the draft was a kicker and despite being taken at 5^th overall, in retrospect Rob Maver may have been drafted far too low relative the rest of that class. 

But this first pick futility is not just a Riders thing. I went back and looked at the 12 drafts since we took Ben Heenan. Almost half of those selected were massive wastes of picks and even those that were decent picks often not end up being the best player in that draft. First overall picks do not pan out in other leagues as well but the rate of that occurring in the CFL is staggering.

Take 2013 when the Ti-Cats selected DL Linden Gaydosh. At the time it was actually viewed as a solid pick but Gaydosh played just 12 games for the Ti-Cats and 29 overall. Apparently he was briefly on the Riders’ offseason roster in 2017 (I know a ton of obscure Rider facts but I have no recollection of that at all). 

In 2017 it was the Bombers’ turn. They took Faith Ekakitie. He lasted just 4 games in Winnipeg and was out of the league before then end of the next calendar year. Hard to blame a guy for wanting to make a speedy exit from a job in Winnipeg but the Bombers were not much ahead of if they had just passed on the pick. 

Speaking of teams that essentially passed on a pick. Hamilton selected WR Mark Chapman in 2018. His selection was the last moment his name was mentioned in relation to the CFL. At no point did he play a down or even report to camp. He made the Jordan Sisco selection by the Riders look like a stunning success by comparison. Clearly not having enough embarrassment, just 3 years later the Ti-Cats took TE Jake Burt first overall. His 40 career yards did eclipse the high bar set by Chapman for top picks. Really makes one wonder why the Ti-Cats have the longest Grey Cup drought in the CFL. 

All goes to say I am very happy the Riders aren’t picking first overall this year. We will gladly give the Stamps to honour of prolifically whiffing on a pick. And based on how their last few seasons have gone, they are well qualified to do so.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Fine Time

This past week the CFL announced the teams that exceeded the Salary Management System (SMS) limits in 2024. Four teams made that list, including the Riders. It marks the 5^th time since the SMS was introduced in 2007 that the Riders have been fined.

But here’s the deal with SMS violations, there are two tiers. The first is equivalent to a parking ticket. Yeah you’d prefer to avoid them but you begrudgingly part with a small amount of money and move on. That’s the tier the Riders have always fallen into. Exceed the cap by less than $100k and it’s a dollar for dollar fine. This year it’s $40,000.

The reaction has been a solid “meh” as it should be. The Riders were over mostly due to injuries but even if there wasn’t an excuse I’m pro “spend the money and incur the fine if gives you a better chance to win”.  Craig Reynolds will happily pay that fine… likely by increasing the prices for food and beverage.

Now there is of course a second tier of SMS violations that the Riders have thus far avoided. The BC Lions opted to dive head first into it in 2024. While the speeding ticket tier is easy to explain. Explaining this second tier honestly feels a lot like the Nate Bargatze George Washington skit.

Washington – There will be two ways to address those who significantly exceed the cap. One will make sense, one will be super random. Our great league will use the random one.

Washington – We will punish big time offenders by taking away their draft picks.

Soldier – They will forfeit them?

Washington – If only it were that simple. We will take it away from the offender, move the pick to end of the round and give it to another team.

Soldier – But why sir?

Washington – Nobody knows. It will be allocated based on waiver priority.

Soldier – So if 2 picks are forfeited the second one would go to the team with second waiver priority?

Washington – No, it goes only to the first team of course. But the teams that lose its picks will still be eligible to be gifted picks back for following other rules. Even if they only managed to earn such picks by violating the salary rules.

Soldier – And picks forfeited due to the supplemental draft, they will be reallocated using this process to?

Washington – No, we will be ok with just regular forfeiture in that case.

Soldier – But why all this complexity sir?

Washington – Liberty, son.

If you continued reading through my mediocre attempts to satire popular culture congratulations. All that is to say, BC got fined many butt loads of money (like more than the Riders have been fined in their 5 violations combined) and lose their 1^st and 2^nd round pick. But they get a bonus 2^nd rounder for having the most snaps played by Canadians (snaps they only got because they said FU to the salary cap and paid Rourke and Betts a ton of money). BC bet big in 2025 and lost. 

As for Calgary, in the whacky world that is the CFL they gave up the 9^th overall pick to BC as part of the Vernon Adams trade but now get that pick and one more back from BC (8^th and 17^th) due to SMS violations. The good news is that based on their trajectory over the past few seasons, the Stampeders are very likely to find a way to continue sucking despite this unearned gift of draft picks. 

Its not like its even that hard to inject to logic back into this process. Take away the picks from BC. Add them to the end of the 8^th round and award them by waiver priority, 1 to Calgary, 1 to Hamilton. But, much like Bartgaze does to Kenan Thompson, when the fans ask for logic the CFL just gives us a dismissive pat on the shoulder.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Villains

Ed Hervey set off shock waves this past week by saying there are no superstars in the CFL It vaulted him to the top of the hatred list across the league almost immediately. Hervey, who is no stranger to not being liked, couldn’t care less. He is perfectly fine playing the villain. It got me thinking about the great villains in my time following the CFL. So this morning we will take look back at some of the top CFL villains.

Simoni Lawrence – Probably the most universally disliked person across the league over the last few years. He has amassed a list of cheap shots across the CFL. Rider fans will remember when he singled handedly ended the Collaros era in Riderville.

Wally Buono – Buono is a CFL legend and actually a decent guy but there are few things on the prairies that unite people like yelling “Get off the field Wally!”

Henry Burris – Burris will always be public enemy #1 in Saskatchewan. His time in Calgary led to a heated rivalry, full of HHHEENNNRRRYY chants and Burris often choking in playoff games against the Riders. 

One of my favourite memories of the rivalry was the infamous bra picture from the birthday, bachelor party for cancer research.

 

Jon Cornish – Another villain from the height of the Stamps/Riders rivalry. He actually went so far as to moon the fans at Mosaic.

Khalif Mitchell – He delivered a UFC calibre armbar during a game trying to rip off an o-lineman’s arm. He also had some not so appropriate views on other cultures

Garrett Marino – He was approaching Simoni level hatred before he was essentially blackballed from the league. People certainly did not care for his comments about people’s heritage… but its ok because his girlfriend is black.

Rob Murphy – Murphy was very hated. I distinctly remember him choking out John Chick during a game (and not getting penalized)… though in retrospect people may be far more ok with it.

Scott Schultz – Beloved on the prairies I’m sure that comments like “Fat and sassy pigs” and “I’d make the hit on Jesus Christ himself” probably did not endear himself to other fans.

Angelo Mosca/Joe Kapp – The most famous old man fight in sporting history.

Chris Jones – I probably don’t need to expand on this. Jones is not on many Christmas card list.

 

 

Monday Morning Sentimonies: All-Hatred Team

Its becoming commonplace for people to do all-time teams, all-decade teams etc… While I am certainly not above stealing other people’s ideas in a effort to be lazier, I have decided to do a very different slant on this one. 

Over the years there have been many Riders that I have hated. And I am not talking about hated because they were a horrible human beings. I am talking hated because of what they did on the field. Sometimes they were what you might call unjustified hatreds. But hatreds nonetheless. 

So with that I present to you the all-hatred Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Let’s start on defense. I honestly could not think of D-lineman that was ever on my hatred list (I’m sure there are some, I just can’t think of any). So let’s skip that position. 

LB:

-        Shae Emry – this one was more about the fact that we traded Ricky Foley to get him and then he decided to abruptly stop being a useful starting Canadian.

-        Mo Lloyd – Lloyd is on the list not because I hate him (loved Mo) but in honour of a buddy of mine who hated him because he refused to wrap up when he tackled.

DB:

-        Junion Mertile – I have not forgotten his “attempt” at a tackle.

-        Amari Henderson – Frustrating player to watch on any play that wasn’t breaking up a screen.

-        Nelson Lokmobo – This will surprise no one who read this blog this season.

-        Blace Brown – Like Henderson, a very frustrating player.

-        James Johnson – Many people will point to his status as Grey Cup MVP to try and argue my hatred but in every other game when he had to play a pro-caliber QB he was an absolute liability. 

Special Team:

-        Kicker – Chris Milo – Didn’t so much hate him as hate the fact that his kicks were magnetically attracted to doinking the goal posts at an unprecedented rate.

-        Punter – Jon Ryan – I know it always risks revoking my Saskatchewan citizenship when I say this but I hated Jon Ryan when we was a Rider. Probably more specifically I hated how everyone in the province adored him and lauded his abilities when all visual evidence disagreed. He may have world class kicking strength and he may have been an elite NFL punter but when he was in Regina he was just a guy who had no clue how to directional kick and either outkicked his coverage to the dead centre of the field or sacrificed field position to pad his stats with useless singles.

Turning to the offense:

OL:

-        Dan Goodspeed – Great CFL tackle, who was a shadow of his former self by the time he came to Saskatchewan. I said his last name was false advertising and dubbed him Dan Badslow.

-        Evan Johnson – James Johnson would have been a more useful guard.

-        Pat Neufeld – He left Saskatchewan and went on a have a great career but in his time in Regina he was a liability on the OL.

-        Dan Clark (as guard) – Dan Clark is an amazing story. Great guy. Great leader. Great 6^th OL who caught TDs. Went on to become a solid centre. But when he first became a starter as a guard he was awful. Worse than Evan Johnson. Still partially blame him for Durant’s elbow injury in 2014.

-        Charles Thomas – Going back a bit further in time on this one but there was a reason people called him turnstile. And he’s awfulness really stood out because he played on a line with 3 CFL linemen of year and perennial all-star centre O’Day. 

RB

-        Henri Childs – Childs gets a bad rep mostly because we essentially gave up a first round pick to get him. There was more to the deal but Tillman really touted Childs and paid handsomely to get him from Montreal. Problem was as an RB he ran with the aggressiveness of a baby deer/ballerina combo.

WR

-        Prechae Rodriguez – He was a one trick pony (jump ball deep) who was not big on things like effort, improving and even being that good at his one trick.

-        Jason French -  He was as the actual French might say “Le Terrible”

-        Ryan Grice-Mullen – Single handedly (greased handedly) tried to lose us the 2010 Weft Final.

-        Chris Getzlaf – Look I respect Getzlaf, he put up a ton of yards, scored a bunch of big TDs, had a great career. But he could have easily doubled his already impressive career stats had he actually been able to catch with some degree of consistency and not play half the time like he coated his hands in Crisco.

And lasty but not least everyone’s most hated position…QB:

Starter: Michael Bishop

My all time most hated player. How anyone ever let this guy onto the field for any play but a hail mary after watching any film is beyond me. He had a complete inability to throw to the right coloured jersey, maintain possession or put together a drive. I still get mad when I think about how good the defense was in 2008 and how even a mildly competent QB could have won us that playoff game in ’08. Bishop has never even come close to hitting the “mildly competent” marker. 

Back-Up: Nealon Greene

Greene was the prototypical QB who rose to prominence because he could do amazing things with his legs only to fall to pieces when defenses figured out that all they had to do was force him to pass and he would have all the usefulness an air conditioner in the arctic. Always wonder how different things could have been had Shivers/Barrett not inexplicably chosen Greene over Burris after 2004. 

3^rd String: Brandon Bridge

Look, he was a good guy and its always nice to root for a Canadian but he sucked. Like if he was not Canadian he would not have even been invited to a CFL camp. People always called him athletic… he was not. He was not a great runner and usually ended up fumbling when he did and his “strong arm” was only good missing the intended target by a wide margin, those rare times he made the right read and did not panic himself into failure.

Who is on your hatred list?

Monday Morning Semtimoines: Theme Nights

Before long the Riders will be unveiling their “new” and “innovative” theme nights for the 2025 home schedule. I’m sure we can all predict with some level of certainty that it will be same recycled list as every year: Home Opener, Country Night, Retro Night, Labour Day, Legends Night, Fan Appreciation Day, etc… For the Simpsons fans among you “but she has a new hat” pretty much summarizes it. They may change the name (clearly there are stark differences between country night and prairie pride night) but its always the same, year after year.

So for today’s post we are going to look at some ideas for theme nights that don’t just involve phototyping last year’s list and calling it marketing.

Actual Retro Night – Alright I realize it’s a bold choice to make fun of the Riders’ lack of creativity and then start my list by just recycling a night that’s been done ad nauseum… but hear me out. I don’t want the Riders’ half assed versions of retro night. I want all in. I want old school Gainer (pre-creepy eyes) AND cousin Leonard. I want the entirely black faceless Worksafe Bob. I want drink tokens and bars that offers me only my choice of rye, rum or Pink Drink. Retro night needs pink drink. I want paper 50/50 tickets that are drawn from a raffle drum from a 1950s bingo hall. Retro prices on food on food and drinks. Rename Pil Place Hemorrhoid Hill. Re-create a one night only university section that offers cheap tickets. Put a hot tub beside and assume nothing bad will come of that.  Riders in 90s style jerseys. I want the full Taylor Field experience. Lean into it fully and it could be awesome.

Wrestling Night – With WWE now on Netflix, popularity of wrestling is at levels not seen in a long, long time. Get in on that. Encourage fans to come dressed as their favourite wrestler. Have Bret Hart do the coin toss. Better yet have someone dressed in a Bomber jersey about to do the coin toss then have them get hit with a chair and then have Bret step in. Have players cut promos leading up to the game. Partner with the local wrestling promotion to put on a match at half time. Make it a couple celebrities teaming with wrestlers and build hype leading up to the contest. Hell if you promoted that there was a chance Ballsy gets put through a table it would make it the must see event of the year. Sell Rider branded championship belts and luchador masks. Bring back Kulkamania (does anyone but me remember that?). Have a ref get “knocked out” inadvertently at some point (say when a measurement is required) and have another ref come sprinting from the tunnel. Invite the Road Dogg to do intros in the traditional New Age Outlaws way “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the Saskatchewan Roughriders proudly bring to you…”. Last but not least, gratuitous crotch chops.

Social Media Night – Admittedly I’m too old to care about this one but I think it would be a hit with young fans. Now understand I know very little about all of this so someone younger and more with it would need to fully flesh this out. Have alternate streams of the game on YouTube or Twitch. Have local influencers take part. Encourage fans to post on IG Live have hashtag contests. Basically turn the game into something that everyone over the age of 40 would hate/not understand. Focus one game exclusively on young fans. 

Sci Fi Night – This is basically Star Wars night but you are trying to avoid copyright infringement. Have people dress up as their favourite Sci Fi character. Sell green lightsabers and phasers. Have Gainer show up in a Green tardis. Just find the biggest nerd you can and let them plan it.

Simpsons Night - Ok, this one might be a bit self-serving but I think it could be fun.  Have the Riders wear Atoms jerseys in warm-ups. Sell nacho sombreros, squishies, pink donuts, Duff beer, Krusty burgers. There are so many classic football scenes from the show you could spoof: I liked your hustle that's why it was so hard to cut you; I crippled him myself to inspire you; the Denver Broncos!; Flanders! Games out there!; football in the groin.

Chippendale/Thunder From Down Under Night - Logic here is simple. Ripped dudes with their shirt off will attract women. Where large groups of women congregate, men will invariably follow.

Fowl Supper Night – Few things are more Saskatchewan than a fowl supper. Have your concessions be like a small town Fowl Supper. I’m talking turkey, stuffing, pie, etc…

F Trudeau Night – Look I have no particular political leanings but all I’m saying is based purely on sales of vehicle decals on the prairies, labelling a game F Trudeau night may lead to record ticket sales. Whether it’s a good thing to have a large gathering of that demographic is a debate for another day… this is purely about filling the stadium.

What theme nights would you like to see?

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.  

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Welcoming the Enemy

Its not often that the hiring of a running backs coach will be big news. For the older readers amongst you we might call that page 4 news. For the younger crowd who have no concept of newspapers I had to ask my son to give me a relevant comparison. He came up with “It is definitely not sigma”. He also shook his head at me for my lame attempts at connecting with a younger audience. 

Anyway, the Riders’ choice of RB coach was front page, trending, etc… Longtime Rider enemy Andrew Harris now an employee. You might remember Andrew Harris from such things as being a hated member of the Bombers for 5 years, ripping a Rider player’s helmet off and not getting penalized, and being suspended for a failed drug test. This wasn’t just a “we don’t like him because he’s good and beats us” scenario. That was definitely part of it but there was some general hatred above and beyond that and I’m sure it went both ways. So its certainly weird to see Harris in Green and White.

That said, I think it’s a great hire. He’s one of the best to ever do it and he’s proven winner at ever step of his football career. That’s the kind of people we want leading our team. When the hiring was announced some people commented that Rider fans must be scrubbing their timelines of all the awful things they said. Not me. I’m doubling down. Being a Rider doesn’t absolve him from my snarky commentary. In fact, I will go so far as to allege that Harris is only here as part of his ongoing investigation into who tainted his supplement. He’s going undercover to find the evidence he needs to finally prove the Riders did it. OJ never finished his investigation, but Harris just may. 

On the player front, the Riders have been keeping steadily busy as free agency approaches:

-        On the negative side, we released Ajou squared so he could sign with the Indy Colts. Great opportunity for him and I hope he crushes it but another loss for us.

-        Can you recall the last time that two Rider rookies got NFL looks? Our scouting is bringing in talent. Also, the success of Reid and Ajou should further help our scouts sell other players on trying their luck here.

-        On a more positive note, we re-signed Trevon Tate. I was honestly not expecting much when we signed a Stampeder castoff midseason. But Tate was very solid to the point that despite losing Reid, I feel OK with Tate and Hardrick on the tackles. After bouncing around most of the East Division in addition to the Stampeders, Tate may have finally found place where he fits perfectly. We’ve certainly come a long way from the days of Na’ty Rogers.

-        Speaking of Hardrick both he and Ouelette had their contracts reworked this past week. I imagine it resulted in a reduction (though likely a small one) or a shifting of guaranteed money to incentives. Either way I think it’s positive that both opted to stay. I believe both had an impact on the culture in the locker room that goes far beyond what the stat sheet would tell you.

-        On a less positive note, Nelson Lokombo was extended. Look, I get why. We need Canadian depth and he is a starter… in theory. Now you can choose to side with Coach Mace on this. He is a noted defensive genius who is actually employed in the business of football at a pro level. He obviously sees something in Lokombo and believes he will continue to improve. Of you can side with the guy making smart ass commentary from his couch while hiding behind a robe and beard. I think Lokombo may have his uses in run stopping but in the pass defense he’s always late and stress inducing… so much so that my new nickname for him is Unplanned Pregnancy. I guess my hope now is that we find someone better who can win the starting job in camp and move him to a back-up.

-        Is it wrong that I would OK with Harris giving Lokombo some “nutritional” coaching?

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Ins and Outs

Nothing unites CFL fans more than complaining. Refs, video review, Grey Cup halftime show. The specifics of the complaints may differ from person to person, but we are united in voicing displeasure. The most recent uniting force was the schedule. Essentially from the minute the Bombers finished their annual Grey Cup choke up until the schedule release late last week fans we’re united in their complaints about a lack of a schedule. And we enjoyed a brief moment of happiness before immediately starting to complain about the schedule itself. CFL fans… we’re only happy when we are miserable. 

Actually from a Rider perspective the schedule was great news and should not garner much in the way of complaints. Evenly spaced bye weeks, next to no short weeks. Clearly the CFL owed us one after all those Thursday road games against teams coming off byes. I give the schedule a thumbs up. 

Moving on to free agency… 

With less than a month to go before free agency opens, time is starting to run short to re-sign our pending FAs. With that in mind, today I present 5 Ins (guys I think we should be re-signing) and 5 outs (guys that either I wouldn’t re-sign, or I would not be surprised for us to let walk). 

Ins

1.     Peter Godber -  given how our OL fared without him it may be tempting to think we could let him walk. Wrong! O-line depth is paramount. Godber is a rock in the center of that OL I want him and Ferland locking down that interior longterm.

2.     Micah Johnson – Old man Micah still gets it done! Despite his age he his coming off his best season ever as a Rider. He’s a leader. He’s still an impact player. He hasn’t missed a game in 2 seasons.

3.     Miles Brown – As much as I love Micah, we need some youth at the D Tackle too. Brown is 27. Aside from that unfortunate run of bad luck that turned him into a notorious QB crippler, Brown has been doing really positive things over the past few seasons.

4.     Adam Auclair – Gotta have Canadians, especially ones that can start. I still think our preference to have him as a rotation guy but he is good enough to start if needed.

5.     Marcus Sayles – He was the only non-Milligan part of our secondary that wasn’t awful last season. After BC mysteriously deemed him expendable he came here and tied a career high with 4 INTs. Be nice not to have 4 question marks in our starting secondary heading into the season.

Outs

1.     Philip Blake - I’ll start with an easy one. At 39 years of age, Blake has managed to be on the field for 8 games over his 2 seasons in Saskatchewan. We desperately needed OL help when we signed him but we are in a much better place and if he plays another season (big if), it won’t be here.

2.     Anthony Lanier – This one hurts me a bit. I have always been a big Lanier fan. He can be among the most disruptive forces in the league. The issue is that we have been paying him accordingly but that force is very intermittent. He has never played more than 14 games in a season. With the rise of younger cheaper guys like Brown and Sanders, I just don’t see us being willing to pay him what it will take to retain him. I would love to keep him if he’s willing to take a big discount to do it. But if I am looking at places to save money, he’s at the top of the list.

3.     Mario Alford – Another one that hurts. I love Alford. He’s the best returner I’ve seen since Corey Holmes. And arguably one of the best ever in the franchise history. But how long do you continue to pay a 34 year old guy who does nothing but return?

4.     Nelson Lokombo – This one is me being wishful not me thinking its likely. I bet we keep him… but I cannot think of many reasons why we would want to. I have not seen a less impactful safety in my times watching the Riders and I lived through the Scott Gordon era.

5.     Amari Henderson – Henderson is a frustrating player. He makes enough plays that you don’t want to bench him. But he screws up enough plays that you regret starting him. Early on I was willing to give him more time to develop. But after 3 seasons I think we have seen his ceiling. I’ll give him this, if I ever needed a DB to shut down a WR screen that’s his jam. He just struggles when receivers run routes longer than 2 yards.

Tuesday Morning Sentimonies: Signings

The official story behind these sentimonies being a day late is that based on my prophetic powers I knew big Riders news was coming today so I waited. I will take no questions on the matter.

I was very glad for some good Rider news on Monday because, as a Vikings fan, the rest of the day was the equivalent of a boxer doing speed bag drills on your crotch. I mean I had been bracing myself for this all week. The only thing lower than my confidence in Sam Darnold was evidently Sam Darnold’s confidence. It was just further reminder that I have the absolute worst decision making when it comes to choosing sports teams. If you are a fan of a sport other than football or hockey and would like me to curse a rival of your favourite team by pledging my allegiance to them, we can work out a deal. 

But enough about my sports-related miseries, let’s talk Rider football.

 

-        Biggest news was re-signing Jameer Thurman. The cherry on top was him committing for 2 years. He was an absolute must re-signing. The best defenses always have a rock solid middle linebacker. Thurman is that guy.

-        Malik Carney was another welcome re-signing. The fanfare around this one isn’t near as loud as for Thurman but Carney is a decent guy to have in the DE rotation. More importantly up until he re-signed, we had essentially Colonel Sanders as the only notable American DL under contract.

-        Thurman and Carney both help bring continuity to the defense. Our front 7 were fine last year so we don’t need to tear it down and start again.

-         The other signing of note was Jake Maier. I explained last week why I like the addition of Maier. To the people lamenting that we only signed him to a one year deal, consider that this is the absolute lowest Maier’s value will ever be. Why on earth would he agree to a multi-year deal when his value can only go up? Guarantee we wanted a 2 year deal but if he had agreed to that I would have started questioning his decision making abilities in general.

-        A signing that won’t get any fanfare but should is AJ Allen. Were it not for the fact that Milligan stole all the attention, people would have taken more note of how good Allen is on teams. And more and more he can contribute on defense. Underrated but important guy to keep around.

-        The bad news was of course that Trevor Reid got an NFL shot with the Vikes. Given that Darnold was sacked 12 times as I drafted this, Reid can’t get on the field soon enough there. Reid is a big loss but with guys like Brammer and Hardrick under contract we at least aren’t immediately screwed as we would have been in previous years.

-        We did sign Brandon Kemp to help start building the competition in camp at OT.

-        The CFL schedule is still not out making it the second most delayed thing next to Sam Darnold’s decision making when under pressure.

-        I could solve the schedule issue in less than an hour. Present a draft schedule to the owners and then say that if you want to propose a change to the schedule it will cost you $100,000 paid to each team impacted. Their cheapness will override their unwillingness to compromise and voila.