By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

Don’t Book Those Grey Cup Tickets Just Yet

Jul 3, 2019 | 4:53 PM

The Saskatchewan Roughriders got their 2019 home stand opener started with a bang – beating the Toronto Argonauts 32-7 to move their record to 1-2 and fourth place in the CFL western conference and a cross-over playoff spot.

And, let’s not forget the two-hour lightening delay and perhaps even more terrifying – the reimagined Gainer the Gopher who looks like he emerged from the Scottish toilet in Trainspotting.

The Canada Day win by the Riders gave fans a look at the performance of Cody Fajardo, who has stepped up to replace Zach Collaros and has performed beyond the expectations of Rider fans who saw his seal like throws in his first game against Hamilton and thought this season was over.

Instead, Fajardo has shown an ability to throw deep, run when necessary and even better, a grasp of the offense that eluded former Rider quarterbacks like Brandon Bridge. The emergence of a Rider passing game has seen Fajardo go from 360 yards to 430 yards in two games – a giant improvement over the 66 yards he picked up filling in after Collaros got knocked out of the season opener after three plays and a head shot from Simoni Lawrence.

Which sort of begs the question, why is the Rider offense taking off this year as opposed to say, last year? Part of the answer may lie with the former Rider head coach Chris Jones who spent most of his time concentrating on building the ultimate defense while not having much of a clue about offense.

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Looking back, a fair amount of what Chris Jones tried on offense might be useful material to discuss sometime over a coaching clinic discussion on ways to build teams. However, while interesting in theory, not everything worked, including rotating quarterbacks every series or two.

So when Jones left Saskatchewan for the wilds of Cleveland, the Riders to hedge their bets behind a concussed Collaros, brought in Fajardo who had spent time as a third down specialist behind Ricky Ray in Toronto and then Travis Lulay in BC. Fajardo had been a star at the University of Nevada where with Colin Kapernick, he ran and passed with impressive results.

So while expectations for Fajardo were lowered when he first signed – most Rider fans would have been happy with someone who could actually complete a pass over five yards – it seems Fajardo actually learned something working with Ray and Lulay.

Players in a backup role can do two things. One is just collect a paycheque until it becomes clear they need to work hard in addition to relying on talent. The other is being prepared to work mentally and physically to improve their level of play.

So either the Riders ability to identify smart players has improved quite a bit over Chris Jones, or Fajardo might actually be the real deal. There is a temptation to rush to judgement, but I keep remembering how Casey Printers set the league on fire before people got film on him and figured out how to stop him while Printers relied on his talent and not on how to be a smarter quarterback who could adjust to different defences.

So Fajardo now has the element of surprise on his side, but the fact he can execute a passing game and actually make reads is a welcome sign. As offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo gets more confidence in what Fajardo can do, the possibilities for the Riders offense opens up and the need to rush Collaros back is reduced accordingly.

It won’t be all 300 yard games, but the Riders are surprisingly ahead of expectations at quarterback. However, there are things the Riders will need to work on before they face Calgary on Saturday.

The first is on defense where if teams can get past the Riders defensive line, they can run wild like drunken Blue Bomber elves just mass released from Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. For some reason the Riders’ defensive alignment has the middle linebacker, or someone who could pass for that, not necessarily where you would expect and teams breaking through the line of scrimmage can rack up some yardage.

The Riders have a bye week after the Calgary game, which may help bring Solomon Elimimian into the lineup from the injury list where he was been working on rehabbing a calf injury. Elimimian is a noted tackler, but the Riders will likely want to try “load management” with Elimimian and Manny Arceneaux, two former BC Lions who signed with the Riders while rehabbing injuries.

Perhaps the Riders new defensive coordinator Jason Shivers is shaking up the way the Riders defense has operated the last couple of season because when an offense gets an idea of how to beat you, they tend to continue with that trend until they are stopped. So as the Riders defense gets used to whatever changes Shivers has brought in, they should get better as the season progresses.

So if the Riders bring Elimimian in towards the end of the season, that might mean more to the Riders push for a playoff berth. There is more than just the Riders defense that needs some work.

The Riders special teams has been trying to adjust to a new punter, Jon Ryan, who has been regularly outkicking his coverage. So far it seems like the kicking game is a work in progress both in kicking and coverage.

This is what happens when the special teams coach from last year becomes the head coach and has responsibilities all over the place. The changes in the CBA with the no pads practice policy are designed to enhance player safety, yet judging from the blown tackles, the coaching challenge will be to try to find a way to teach proper tackle technique or even practice them without running afoul of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Riders are not along in trying to figure out how this new world will work. Look at the Toronto Argonauts and it’s clear when players don’t take the personal responsibility to be in shape, to be able to play fundamentally sound football, then they are going to get their collective butts kicked.

The Rider win over Toronto was not the only major news item on Riderville fans radar this past week. The CFL held its Supplemental Draft where teams can draft players who were not in time to be registered for the CFL for the regular draft.

The difference is these players are available to any team willing to give up a draft position for them. The Riders bid on offensive lineman Jake Bennett, giving up a 2020 third round pick for a guy who saw action in the Association of American Football and who played centre at the University of Colorado.

This was a pretty good selection by the Riders and Bennett signed a three year deal, which will allow him to learn the offense this year, get into CFL shape and be ready to move to a number of O line positions in case of injury. Bennett is very durable and the only reason he was available for the supplemental draft is because his citizenship papers may not have been ready for the CFL draft.

The Riders are currently missing Brendan LaBatte and Dariusz Bladek to injury and the drafting of Bennett along with some tinkering of Terran Vaughan in place of Thaddeus Coleman against Toronto is a sign the Riders are not willing to stand pat on their offensive line.

The Riders also held their AGM on June 26 where it was announced they made $1.4 million in profit last year, up from $780,000 in 2017. Helping out the cause was the Riders hosting a playoff game. It was not clear since the CFL is now currently operating the Montreal Alouettes whether a portion of the profits will go to trying to keep that team afloat.

The sale of the Montreal Alouettes continues although people have stepped up to announce they were walking away, but whether they were seriously suitors is another question altogether. Whoever buys Montreal would ideally have a long-term plan of what they were going to do to rebuild the team, particularly with the fan base. There is a lot of hope in this, but it’s not something that has yet to be realized.

One interesting name to keep in mind is Chester Graves, a practice roster defensive end out of Iowa Western who stands 6’5” 240 lbs who can play either linebacker or defensive line. He is only 20, having decided to sign after two years at a community college, but his size makes him very reminiscent of Willie Jefferson, although we don’t know yet if he can play.

In terms of making any generalizations about the CFL season to date, it’s best to remember this is a work in progress. Last week would have been, back in the old 16 game schedule, the first week of the regular season and teams are still finding their way.

But it seems clear the league may be wide open and success depends on how well each team comes together and handles adversity. So let’s get the crystal ball out and see what happens this week.

Hamilton goes to Montreal on Thursday night and Hamilton has been rolling so far with three straight wins, including one last week against Montreal. At times Montreal was game, and their defense can be interesting with a number of goal line stands, but having a talented defense on the field all the time is a great recipe for being worn down and Montreal hasn’t got the consistency to stay with Hamilton.

For their part, Hamilton seems to be convincing themselves they are Grey Cup bound. This game will do nothing to discourage them. Hamilton beats Montreal like a gong, further reducing the sales price of the club, by a 39-15 score.

On Friday Winnipeg goes to Ottawa and this is one of the more intriguing games on the slate. Ottawa is one of the surprises of the league with a 2-0 record and Dominique Davis’ performance against Saskatchewan being a great showcase for a touch passer.

This game will give Ottawa a better idea of how they compare to stronger teams in the league and for Winnipeg, this is a chance to maybe check out a possible Grey Cup match-up. Keep this in mind. Winnipeg has beaten Edmonton and BC, neither of whom have yet to win a game this season so for Winnipeg to claim the June Grey Cup is not unusual, but by no means a lock on actually winning the Grey Cup in November.

This will be interesting but I like Ottawa to beat Winnipeg by a 29-25 score.

On Saturday we have a double header with BC at Toronto in what has to be described as a must win for both teams. Toronto comes home after a lengthy weather delay in Regina and losing 32-7, which is bad, but not as bad as 64-14. Whatever loyal base of fans the Argos have to draw on now have to ponder questions like is James Franklin overrated or lazy; is Cory Chamblin just an opportunist, and how do you sell a football team that can’t tackle?

For BC, the 0-3 start is also a shock to the system since the high profile free agent signings, the new coaching staff and such was supposed to help BC contend for the top of the CFL west this year. The problem is when under the salary management system you pay your quarterback an enormous amount of money, but what you have left is not that much, you have to find bargains who might not be able to play at other positions.

BC has a lot of desperation going through their system while the Argos are trying to figure out exactly what and who they are supposed to be. At the end of this game, the BC Lions will come out with a 35-21 win over Toronto. But look at the bright side Argo fans, the margin of defeat is shrinking!

Finally we have Calgary coming to Saskatchewan in what should be a fascinating game. The Riders won their first game of the season with another eye-opening performance by quarterback Cody Fajardo. Calgary may or may not be coming to town with Bo Levi Mitchell, but perhaps the Stampeders don’t have any problems with Nick Arbuckle stepping in.

The problem is Calgary has an entirely new defense that has problems putting pressure on the passer. The Riders give Calgary a mostly tough time at Mosaic Stadium. The opportunity is there for the Riders to separate themselves from the bottom of the pack in the west and for Calgary, it’s trying to show they can once again be dominant as the defending champs.

The Riders should win this one 31-23 in a close game as Calgary shows they are a work in progress and you measure success at the end of the season, not as of July 5.