Dan Plaster
“The journey is much easier when you are not carrying your past.”
– Unknown
Yes, this is a quote from one of those corny posters with the oversaturated forest scenery that people use as motivation to start their day, week, year or new journey.
So it seems appropriate for Saturday night when the Riders play their final home game of 2015 hosting the Edmonton Eskimos. Gone are veterans Jerome Messam and Kevin Glenn at the trade deadline to Calgary and Montreal, respectively; 45-year-old kicker Paul McCallum will be watching from the sidelines and Alex Hall is done for the season with a knee injury.
So much veteran presence is gone that the average age of the 46-man roster dropped a full year from the last time they took to the field in Hamilton two weeks ago. The average age of the Riders is 26.26 years old, as compared to 27.26 years old and the average CFL experience is now 3.13 years of service as compared to 4.04 years. More than half of the players on the Rider roster will have two or less years of CFL experience.
It could have gone younger, but some of the less experienced players just could not get up to speed quick enough to set foot on the field this weekend, so it will give some of the veteran players another chance to show that they still belong on the Green and White.
They will have their hands full with an Edmonton squad that boasts the top defence in the CFL and is currently fighting for top spot in the CFL West.
Here is a quick snapshot of how dominant Head Coach Chris Jones’ group has been. They are the top team in:
– Points allowed per game (16.1)
– Yards allowed per game (291)
– Yards rushing per game (65)
– Most forced 2-and-outs (117)
This is a team so strong on defence, that it makes up for the many shortcomings they have on offence (which has had a difficult go of it at times). They have one of the lowest pass efficiency ratings (82.2), but it’s not because of a lack of yards gained or scores, it’s because of a league worst completion percentage (61.6%) and their 20 interceptions.
When the offence does get going, it all goes through the arm of Mike Reilly to the hands of either veteran Adarius Bowman (who is coming off a 198 yard receiving performance last week against B.C) or rookie Derel Walker (who is over 900 yards receiving in just 10 games).
As I write this and today as you read this, we are both coming to the conclusion that this will most likely be an absolute blowout, but wait, let’s not count the Riders out just yet.
This is a group that has so much hanging over their head, all they can think about is what is going to happen. Well frankly, nothing is going to happen now, this is the group that will go the rest of the season, there is nothing left to lose and because of that, this is a pretty loose football team.
They will have to take their lead from a trio of quarterbacks that are young; 23-year-old Brett Smith, 24-year-old Keith Price and 22-year-old Blake Sims will be at the helm. Smith is getting his seventh start of the season with his first coming on July 31st against this Eskimo team in Edmonton. That debut ended with him throwing a pair of interceptions in a 30-5 loss. He has learned a lot since then, and here’s hoping it’s enough to take out the Eskimos.
Here are a few of the changes to the Rider lineup:
– Jake Doughty is back at middle linebacker with Jeff Knox Jr. returning to the weak side.
– Marcus White will get his first start of the season at defensive end in place of the injured Alex Hall.
– Former University of Saskatchewan Huskie, Tim Agbaje is starting his first ever CFL game at defensive tackle.
– Levy Adcock is back at right tackle.
– Anthony Allen is starting at running back.
– Tyler Crapigna, Denicos Allen and Chad Spann are playing in their first CFL game (Spann is a Northern Illinois product who is tenth on their all-time rushing list and second in touchdowns (49), more than NFLers LeShon Johnson and Michael Turner).
Fast Facts:
– The second half has killed the Riders, they have given up 80 more points than they’ve scored this season.
– The Riders are one of the three teams who haven’t given up a kick return touchdown this season (Montreal and Hamilton are the others).
– While Edmonton has forced a league high 117 two-and-outs, the Riders have forced a league worst 67.
– John Chick (10) and Alex Hall (7) have combined for 17 of the Riders 32 sacks (around 53%). The next closest is Andre Monroe who has 4 in six games.
– Weston Dressler needs 223 yards and Ryan Smith needs 279 yards over the next three games to surpass the 100 yard mark. They are the only Rider receivers with 100 yard games (Dressler with three and Smith with one).
– Brett Smith is top of CFL quarterbacks in rushing with 343 yards. Mike Reilly is second with 272.
Five to watch:
- Brett Smith. Well kid, it’s all yours. Time to show us what you can do.
- Rider running game. Without Jerome Messam, the running game will rest on the very capable legs of Anthony Allen, he has a 100 yard game way back in the season opener against Winnipeg. He will have a tough time against a stout Edmonton run defence.
- New faces on the defensive line. With the injury to Alex Hall and the need for a Canadian on the defensive line for ratio purposes, Tim Agbaje and Marcus White will start with Rory Connop and Dylan Ainsworth will be backing them up.
- Cover Bowman. Adarius Bowman had a field day against the Lions last week, and the first step to beating Edmonton is stopping the CFL all-star receiver.
- Special Teams. With all of the new faces in the lineup, this will be the hardest on the Rider special teams unit. This group has been the strength of the Green and White this season.
The Riders have you covered both on and off the field. Keep checking with riderville.com, download the Rider app, or follow on any of the Riders social media platforms for all of your Green and White information.
We also give you live game day coverage with 90 minutes of CKRM’s pre-game show with Michael Ball and post game coverage with Head Coach, Bob Dyce’s press conference live on riderville.com/riderslive.
