Dan Plaster
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” -Barack Obama.
Let’s hope the path that the Riders are walking is the right one. It’s not the path they wanted to walk in the beginning of the season, but a myriad of injuries, bad plays at key times and inconsistency have forced them onto the path they are currently on. Where it goes, who knows.
It starts with the amount of changes to the line-up; there are 18 different players that will take the field Saturday night in Toronto that were not on the Rider roster in week one. The toughest coming at the most crucial position, quarterback. Brett Smith was beginning to pick things up in the third quarter of last week’s loss to the Edmonton Eskimos, but back-to-back interceptions ended his hopes for a win.
The best thing about the game, Smith picked up on early game mistakes, fixed them and moved on. A great next step would be a solid, not necessarily extraordinary, game against a “Jekyll and Hyde” Argo defence that is fourth in the CFL, but has improved a lot since giving up 579 yards in their 42-40 overtime victory at Mosaic Stadium in week two of the season (which is still the biggest offensive output of the season…by a large margin, 78 yards. That 501 yard output is also held by the Riders in their week four loss to the Lions).
When the Argo defence is at its best, they are great against the run. Only once this season have they given up over 100 yards (it was 212 yards against the Riders), this is because of the play of linebacker, Greg Jones. He is having a breakout second season with the Argos. The former Michigan State Spartan is fifth in the CFL in defensive tackles and has help up the middle by Cleyon Laing and Euclid Cummings. They did take a big hit defensively with the loss of Canadian linebacker Cory Greenwood, who was having himself a heck of a season.
The Argos are also hit hard by the injury bug. Along with Greenwood, a pair of Canadian veterans will be out of the lineup. Running back Anthony Coombs and offensive lineman Jeff Keeping have both been taken out of the line-up because of injury, and CFL all-star, Chad Owens will not take the field for Toronto’s home opener.
Offensively, losing Owens is a huge hit. So a lot of pressure will be on Trevor Harris to continue his great season and lead the way on the offensive side of the ball.
The CFL injury epidemic has hit both the Riders and the Argos very hard. Each team has 14 players on their six-man injury list; for the Riders, it continues this week. Derek Walker is on the 46 man roster, but will be one of the scratches tonight to get the Riders to the 44 man game roster. Taking his place is bowling ball defensive tackle Andre Monroe. The 5-foot-11, 275 pound rookie out of Maryland had an outstanding college career with the Terrapins. He played three seasons at defensive tackles and had 25 career sacks (including 10 last season which was second in the Big-10) and 38 tackles for a loss. The hope is that the raw rookie can make waves up the middle of the defence.
The only forced turnover this season came against the Toronto Argos in week two, when rookie Jake Doughty made a miraculous interception. Other than a turnover on downs, that is it for the Riders this season. So it’s this simple, win the turnover battle, win the game. Hopefully the return of Mark LeGree and Tristan Jackson (who tied for the Rider lead in interceptions in 2014 with four), will help with the turnover battle.
Two other big changes come on the offensive side of the ball. Brett Smith will have two new weapons on his side with the return of running back Steven Miller and the debut of wide receiver Devin Wilson. Miller (in for Anthony Allen) will add a spark on special teams and a fantastic change of speed attack in relief of Jerome Messam. Wilson played his last football in 2013 with the Tennessee State Tigers of the Ohio Valley Conference. He is a taller receiver that has a little more speed than the man that he is replacing in Jamel Richardson, but nowhere near the experience. It will be an eye-opener for the young receiver.
For all of the things that have gone wrong for the Riders in 2015, all of those things must go right for the Green and White to pick up their first win of the season.
Quick facts:
– Weston Dressler is still three catches away from 500 in his CFL career.
– Jerome Messam leads the CFL in YAC with 201 yards and is third in rushing. He is still looking for his first 100 yard game of the season.
– A great battle will be between a couple of NCAA Division Two players from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. Argos quarterback Trevor Harris played at Edinboro and rookie Rider linebacker, Jeff Knox Jr. played at California University of Pennsylvania. Harris graduated two years before Knox began his college career.
– Both quarterbacks had great finishes to their college careers. Brett Smith’s second last game was a Wyoming Cowboy record setter with 498 yards passing and seven touchdowns along with another 142 yards rushing and a score in a 59-56 victory over Hawaii. Harris in his last game passed for 630 yards in an 84-63 victory past West Liberty.
– Jeff Knox Jr. led the CFL in total tackles (defensive and special teams) with 44.
– The biggest stat from the Riders loss to the Eskimos, a league low 40 offensive plays compared to Edmonton’s 55.
What to look for:
- Youth on display. There will be 45 players on the field in either their first or second CFL season. The Riders with 19 and the Argos with 25.
- Brett Smith. Lets see just how much the young gunslinger learned from his first pro start against the Eskimos. Hopefully it’s enough to lead the Riders to their first win of the season.
- Pound the rock. This is what was missing from the Rider loss in Edmonton. If they can get the same output as in week two against Toronto (212 yards), that’s just another step towards victory.
- Turnovers. Win this battle; win the game.
- Big returns. The Rider special teams have shown after shutting down two of the top return teams in football (Hamilton and Edmonton) that they don’t give up long returns. The next step is to get one or two long returns of their own. The addition of Steven Miller will help.
Riderville.com will have all of the post game reaction from tonight’s battle in Toronto. Follow us on Twitter @sskroughriders and Instagram @sskroughriders for all of your Rider information and in-game updates.
