Saskatchewan Roughriders thread

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American DL Chad Geter, who played six games this year and had 9 DTs after playing every game in 2018, has signed a two year extension with the Riders.

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Canadian LS Jorgen Hus has signed a one year extension with the Riders.

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The Riders retained an important part of their DL with the extension of American A. C. Leonard, who had 9 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 44 DTs in 2019, through 2021.

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Saskatchewan has re-signed LB Cameron Judge, who qualified as a national because of Canadian parentage and was the West's nominee for Most Oustanding Canadian following a breakout year in which he 61 DTs, 11 STs 5 sacks and 2 interceptions, and Canadian FB Albert Awachie.

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The Riders have signed former NFL WR Rashad Greene.

Greene joins the Riders after four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 27-year-old was drafted in the fifth round, 139th overall during the 2015 NFL draft and played in 25 games for the Jaguars collecting 30 receptions for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 41 punt returns for 448 yards with one touchdown on a 73-yard punt return.

https://3downnation.com/2020/02/07/r...rashad-greene/

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Otha Foster, who originally signed with the Argos in 2013 but was traded to Edmonton for Tony Washington, a negotiation list player and an exchange of draft picks, has signed with the Riders for one year, after last playing for BC.

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Not unsurprisingly, Justin Maas, who was Edmonton's HC when former Argo QB James Franklin played there, had a major role in signing the QB. I credit Franklin for being honest about his contribution to his problems in Toronto and hope things work out for him in Riderville.

The bond between Jason Maas and James Franklin led to the pair reuniting in Saskatchewan. ...

“He played a huge role. One thing I’ve learned over the last couple years is how important it is to really enjoy and get along with the coaches,” Franklin said on The Rod Pedersen Show. “Teammates as well, but especially the coaches — you’re essentially playing for them and you’re running their offence, you’re under their rule. Going there with coach Maas I love playing for him, I like how he coaches and I like how he dealt with me in Edmonton through good times and bad times.”

Over Franklin’s three seasons in the Alberta capital, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,449 yards and 12 touchdowns against one interception. Former Toronto general manager Jim Popp traded with the Esks in December 2017 viewing the six-foot-two, 225-pound pivot as the Argos potential quarterback of the future.

“The thing that I wish that I could’ve done better was how I handled everything. As far as I couldn’t control what anyone else did or said, logistically, to an extent, obviously I have no control,” Franklin said. “But as far as when I got on the field, I was too worried about what was the coach going to say if I’m running this right, what are my teammates going to think rather than just going out there and playing.”

The last two years in Toronto were the most miserable Franklin has ever been playing football. Former Argos head coach Marc Trestman was extremely hard on Franklin and the two were never able to find a strong working relationship. There was no marked difference when Corey Chamblin took over as bench boss and hired Jacques Chapdelaine as his offensive coordinator. ...

“After doing some self reflection the last two seasons, I didn’t really do a good job of keeping a good attitude and not letting them affect me. The mental game is a huge part of it,” Franklin said. “The players that are mentally strong, they’re the ones that typically have the most success because they can persevere through conflict with teammates, coaches, other teams, strategies — all that. I didn’t do a good job with that in Toronto and I think it showed pretty well, unfortunately.”

It’s on to Saskatchewan for the 28-year-old Franklin. Maas along with general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson wanted more experience at the game’s most important position. He provides the Riders with a quality signal caller behind Cody Fajardo.

“He actually text me before the official announcement. Going into it I know that I’m the backup, he’s the starter — he’s earned it,” Franklin said. ... “I’m coming there to support him, I told him that too: ‘I don’t want you to think I’m going to come in here and be like I’m about to takeover, I deserve to be the starter, none of that.’ I know that this is his team and I’m going to come in and help out and make sure I’m prepared for an opportunity.” ...

“I wasn’t looking for empty promises,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, technically the only opinion that matters is the general manager or the head coach, as far as career-wise and football.”

https://3downnation.com/2020/02/20/j...to-the-riders/

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DB Christian Campbell who was in TC with Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and on the New Orlean Saints PR has signed with the Riders.

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The Riders take OL Mattland Riley as their first pick, providing the team with depth and a likely future starter.

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The Riders added two Americans to their roster towards the end of April: DL Trenton Thompson, who signed with the Cleveland Browns and played for the AAF's Arizona Hotshots, and RB Jeremy Langford, a fourth round 2015 Chicago Bear pick who had 762 yards rushing with the Bears and Atlanta over three years.

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Below is a look at the Rider's draft picks.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ general manager and vice-president of football operations started by addressing his team’s offensive line depth. He also bolstered Saskatchewan’s overall depth while potentially adding to the Green and White’s special teams with some late-round selections. ...

A key was using the seventh-overall pick on Mattland Riley, an offensive lineman from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. O’Day was generally pleased with the offensive line’s play in 2019, but he also knows that maintaining a good O-line comes with increased salaries.
One way of working with that is selecting prospects like Riley, who can play guard/centre and eventually take over for higher-priced and aging veterans. The losses of Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek in free agency to the Toronto Argonauts increased the necessity of selecting an offensive lineman, assuming that someone the Riders felt is a good fit was available. ...

The Melfort product was a first-team U Sports all-star in 2019 and a second-teamer in 2018. He’s considered smart, physical and athletic and has the mean streak that coaches covet in offensive linemen. Riley also comes from a Huskies program that is renowned for producing pro-ready offensive linemen.
“I talked to Mattland after the draft and I made it pretty clear that we didn’t draft him because he was from Saskatchewan,” O’Day said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt when you’re looking at it because the culture the players bring from Saskatchewan is important. (But) we’ve had decisions like this in the past and we took the best player on the board.” ...

Riley is expected to be with the Riders for CFL training camp — whenever that may be. The same can’t be said for defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, who was Saskatchewan’s eighth-round pick (71^st). The Dallas Cowboys selected Gallimore in the third round (82^nd overall).

Saskatchewan’s remaining picks were receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker of Guelph (fourth round), linebacker Junior Allen, also of Guelph (fourth round), defensive back Vincent Dethier of McGill (fifth round), running back Jonathan Femi-Cole from Western (sixth round) and offensive lineman Jesse Lawson of Carleton (seventh round). ...

“We talked about adding some special-teams depth and we did a good job of finding some guys who can help,” O’Day said. ...

“I’m sad about the possibility of training camp being bumped so far back,” Riley said. “I’m sure that anyone who plays football is (wondering) in the back of their head if there could be a season. I’m preparing that training camp is happening in a week. I’m just going to be excited whenever it goes.”

https://leaderpost.com/sports/footba...-b942ec909bde/

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The Riders have added two American DBs to their roster: Tony Lippett and A J Hendy.

Lippett (6’3 – 200) was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round, 156th overall, of the 2015 NFL Draft. After two years with the Dolphins, he went on to spend time with the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Bengals. Throughout his NFL career, Lippett played in 28 games, recording 81 tackles, 12 pass deflections and four interceptions. Collegiately, the 27-year-old spent four years at Michigan State playing in 52 games for the Spartans spending time at both defensive back and wide receiver. Over his career, the Michigan native caught 149 receptions for 2,247 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown while also recording 23 tackles, nine pass deflections and one fumble recovery.

Hendy (6’1 – 205) signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2016 making his NFL debut in Week 17. The Maryland native spent most of 2017 and 2018 on Los Angeles Chargers’ practice roster before being signed to the Houston Texans’ active roster in January of 2019. In 2020, Hendy played for the XFL’s New York Guardians, collecting 26 tackles, two tackles for loss and four pass deflections. Prior to turning pro, the 26-year-old spent four years at the University of Maryland playing in 32 games for the Terrapins. Throughout his four-year career, Hendy recorded 142 tackles, three tackles for loss, seven pass deflections, four forced fumbles and two interceptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns.

https://www.riderville.com/2020/05/0...-add-pair-dbs/

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Canadian OL Jake Bennett, who was a centre at Colorado State University and All Mountain West first teamer, has retired at age 25 after just one season in which he played one game. The Riders forfeited a 2020 third round selection to grab him in the supplemental draft.

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Former Roughrider CEO, Jim Hopson says the CFL is in bigger trouble than occurred during the league's bankruptcy scare.

The league almost went bankrupt in the 1990s. Hopson, a hall of famer, says the global pandemic might have more serious repercussions.

“This one is just so big beyond the Riders. The government, the community and the City are trying to deal with so many other challenges,” Hopson said. Hopson was the team’s president and CEO from 2005 to 2014.

On Thursday, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the 2020 CFL season will likely be cancelled amid the pandemic.

The Riders posted profits in four of the last five years, according to their financial statements from 2018-19. However if the 2020 season is shortened or cancelled, major revenue sources like gate receipts, sponsorships and concessions would be significantly reduced.

“The Riders were in pretty good shape going into 2020, but certainly a year without revenue would eat up a lot of what has been put away,” Hopson said. ...

The City of Regina is also still paying off Mosaic Stadium. The City owes the province around $93 million, to be paid off over the next 27 years. A $12 ticket surcharge from each event at Mosaic Stadium generates roughly $3.3 million per year. But with indefinite limits on large gatherings, it’s unclear how that will be paid back in 2020. ...

Mayor Michael Fougere is aware of the loan payment, but says the conversation of how the City will repay it hasn’t been discussed. “We’ll have that conversation, again it’s too early to say that right now, our administrations’ looking at that in talking with the Riders, with REAL sports and seeing what we can do,” he said. ...

“We haven’t had conversations with the City of Regina specific to the repayment of the stadium,” Premier Scott Moe said. “We’ll have those conversations as the days progress.”

Since the deal stretches into the future, Hopson figures delaying payment for one year “would not be a huge challenge. But it’s getting through this year and then having the revenues to start up next year if the season is totally cancelled,” he said. ...

“We did have significant reserves built up over the years,” Hopson said. “A lot of money went into the setting up of the stadium ($25 million), the football operations and the business operations.” ...

Moe says the club has been involved in discussions with the federal government and federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna on resources that might be required for a modified season.

Fougere said he hasn’t spoken to Ottawa about support, but believes “federal assistance is warranted.”

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/covid-19-b...says-1.4931816

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Regardless of what happens to the CFL season, the Riders will not be hosting the Grey Cup as originally scheduled. Because of Covid-19 the host team will be the team with the best record in the CFL of the two teams playing in the club. However, the Riders are promised to be the Grey Cup game hosts in 2022.

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Canadian LB Sam Hurl has retired after landing a job with a large global commercial real estate firm. He played five years with the Riders and three with the Bombers.

American LB Deon Lacey, who played for the Eskimos from 2014 to 2016 before heading to the NFL where he played in 32 games, has signed with the Riders.

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This is an old article from June but some of you may be interested in former Argo QB Cody Fajardo's comments on his breakout season with the Riders and perhaps even reflect on what might have been if he stayed with the Argos.

He prepared for a backup role behind veteran pivot Zach Collaros, but just three plays into the season, Collaros suffered an injury that would prove to be long-term, meaning that Fajardo had to unexpectedly lead the team from the get-go.

“It was absolutely crazy for me personally,” Fajardo said. “As the backup, you know you’re usually going to have to play but maybe midway through the season when bodies are kind of beat up a bit. You never really expect it to be the third play of the first game. When I signed with the Riders, Zach was very open about his injury history. He said, ‘Look, Cody. You might have to play this year. I don’t know how many games but you might have to play. I haven’t been fortunate with my injury situation.’ So just hearing that from the starter made me want to work harder because I want to do whatever to help the team.”

The Riders dropped that game to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before losing to the Ottawa REDBLACKS in a shootout a week later. Then in Week 3, Fajardo and the Riders would secure their first win of the year with a 32-7 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at home. Fajardo threw for 430 yards and a pair of scores while completing 77 percent of his passes, marking arguably his best outing of the campaign. The 28-year-old continued to chip in solid performances, and on July 31, the Riders put their faith solely in Fajardo, as they moved Collaros to Toronto in exchange for a draft pick. ...

“I had no idea until we were in an offensive meeting about to go to a walkthrough. And coach (Stephen) McAdoo said that we had traded Zach and that I was the guy,” Fajardo said. “It was such a tough situation to be in because I wanted to be excited about the opportunity, I was also losing a good friend and teammate and a guy who was helping me along the way. So it was kind of awkward because guys were coming up and congratulating me, but in the back of my mind, it felt weird for me to celebrate when someone else had just lost their job. I remember going home and just keeping to myself. I called my dad and told him that the team had put their faith in me and we were like, ‘Man, we’ve been waiting five years just for a team to latch on.’ We finally got that with the Riders and it was truly a blessing.”

Fajardo helped lead the Riders to finish the year with a 13-5 record, marking their most regular-season victories since 1969. He was nothing short of spectacular, throwing for 4,302 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding an additional 611 yards and 10 majors on 107 carries. ...

“Being a Saskatchewan Roughrider quarterback on a winning team, life is good,” Fajardo said. “But I imagined how it would be if the team wasn’t winning football games. So that really was a part of my motivation and drive was just not to let the fans down because I wanted to be able to go to the grocery store and talk about our victory rather than throwing fewer interceptions or moving the ball more. But I love the pressure that the fans put on us because the passion that they have for the team is what makes us want to fight even more. We don’t want to let them down.” ...

While preparing for the final game against Edmonton, he was throwing a ball in practice and felt a sharp pain in his midsection that took him down to a knee.

“I just felt like I got stabbed in the side and I went to my knees and just thought to myself, ‘This would be the time I get hurt, right before we get to playoffs,'” he said. “But I kind of just said, ‘Well, we’re at the end of the season. If I can just get through without making anything worse, I could do that.’ I think the most pressure I had on myself is that I just re-signed with the team and finally got paid as a starter so I didn’t want to let the team down, and especially the fans. That’s probably what I wrestled with the most; not letting the fans down. So I just worked my tail off to be ready to play.” ...

By his own estimation, Fajardo was at about 80 percent into the Western Final against the Bombers. While fighting through the pain, he put up 366 yards on 27 completions. ...

Saskatchewan was knocking on the door, but on the final play of the game, Fajardo’s heave to the end zone for Moore hit the crossbar, ending the Riders’ season in heartbreaking fashion. Immediately after his pass hit the upright, Fajardo collapsed to the field, head in hands.

“For me, the only thought was, ‘Don’t throw that ball short and get stopped and lose the game that way.’ I’d rather throw the ball in the end zone and give our guys a chance,” Fajardo said. “The game was sold out but it was dead silent when the ball went near and I just remember hearing the echo of the goalpost. I collapsed because of all the hard work the team did and the hard work that I did to get back to that game and all the hard work we did to get back into the game. The fact that it hit the goalpost and I have no idea what would’ve happened — if Swerve (Moore) had caught it or if it would’ve been picked or incomplete — still haunts me to this day. There’s no closure to that.” ...

He was voted as one of the nominees for the Most Outstanding Player.

https://www.riderville.com/2020/06/0...iders-starter/

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Here is TSN's Riders all-time team.

I would have like to have seen Canadian 'foundational players' DE Bill Baker and OL/DL Bill Clarke make the team. Bill Baker was such a ferocious pass rusher that he was called the Undertaker, was a four time CFL all-star, and won the Most Outstanding Defensive Player award in 1976, as well as becoming CFL Hall of Famer. Bill Clarke was a two way player, playing both OT and DT for fourteen years with the Riders, while winning several awards and becoming a CFL Hall of Famer.

Three foundational players were named on the roster in offensive and defensive lineman Bill Clarke, who played with the team from 1951-1964, defensive lineman Bill Baker, who played with the team from 1968-73 and 1977-78, and quarterback and head coach Kent Austin, who played in Saskatchewan from 1987-93 and coached the Roughriders to a Grey Cup win in 2007. ...

CFL2020'S ALL-TIME SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS ROSTER

QB	Ron Lancaster	1963-78
RB	George Reed	1963-75
RB	Wes Cates	2007-11
REC	Ray Elgaard*	1983-96
REC	Don Narcisse	1987-99
REC	Hugh Campbell	1963-67, 1969
REC	Weston Dressler	2008-15
OL	Roger Aldag*	1976-92
OL	Ted Urness*	1961-70
OL	Gene Makowsky*	1995-2011
OL	Jack Abendschan	1965-75
OL	Brendon LaBatte*	2012-Present
DL	Bobby Jurasin	1986-97
DL	Ed McQuarters	1966-74
DL	Ron Atchinson*	1952-68
DL	John Chick	2007-09, 2013-15
LB	Wayne Shaw*	1961-72
LB	Eddie Lowe	1983-91
LB	Reggie Hunt	2002-07
DB	Bruce Bennett	1966-72
DB	Glen Suitor*	1984-94
DB	Lorne Richardson*	1973-76
DB	Eddie Davis	2001-09
DB	Ed Gainey	2016-Present
K	Dave Ridgway*	1982-95
P	Ken Clark*	1980-83
ST	Corey Holmes	2001-05, 2007

* National player

https://www.tsn.ca/george-reed-ron-l...ster-1.1495641

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Riders fans celebrated Labour Day with the classic.

It was supposed to be a big year for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Regina was set to host the Grey Cup in its new Mosaic Stadium, and the club is celebrating its 110-year anniversary. ...

Marketing staff had been planning for a full slate of celebrations, and then COVID-19 changed everything. "This has been one of those things where we definitely have had to pivot, but we feel like we owe it to Rider Nation to put something on and to celebrate with them in any way possible,” explained Miram Johnson, Saskatchewan Roughriders director of marketing. ...

On Sunday, 600 cars full of Rider faithful lined up to drive past Mosaic Stadium over three hours, collecting team paraphernalia and goodies, all from the comfort of their vehicles. This year’s celebration may have a lot more masks and hand sanitizer than organizers were expecting, but there was no less enthusiasm.

"The community-owned teams in Canada, like Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Edmonton, they're the foundation and there's something to that community thing," said Steve Mazurak, former Roughriders receiver and staff member.

Mazurak has been celebrating the Labour Day Classic for the past 60 years, but he’s never seen one like this.

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/rider-nati...ssic-1.5094874

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Roughrider President Craig Reynolds discusses what the end of the 2020 season did to the Riders and the upcoming 2021 season below.

“The day after we announced the cancellation of the season, we had an all-staff meeting and I had to talk to our entire staff about that decision and the disappointment everyone in the organization felt about it. I also had to let the organization know that we were going to have work-force adjustments,” Reynolds told Regina Leader-Post reporter Murray McCormick. When we had to relay those messages, that was excruciatingly difficult to do so. (Sept. 30) was a difficult day, telling them that they weren’t going to be part of this moving forward. It was especially tough considering it wasn’t the fault of anyone other than the pandemic that we’re all dealing with.” ...

Focus has been shifted to next year and working to ensure football is played. Reynolds knows it is paramount for the three-down league to be on the field. There are multiple return-to-play models being looked at as options for the CFL and its member franchises.

“There is an incredible commitment to do that and we all know that we need to be playing football in 2021. Do we need to make some changes to our business model?” Reynolds questioned. “Yes, and we’re doing that work right now. We’re all committed to doing that and seeing the other side of this pandemic. That includes building a stronger CFL coming out of this pandemic.”

https://leaderpost.com/sports/footba...id-19-pandemic