The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hoping to make ends meet in 2018 … at opposing quarterbacks.
The CFL team now has two of the league’s top pass-rushing defensive ends, having acquired Charleston Hughes from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday and having signed Willie Jefferson to a contract extension on Sunday. Jefferson was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 13.
Asked what his expectations are for the Roughriders’ defensive line in 2018, Hughes vowed: “We’re going to cause terror for sure.”
“It’s going to be a great thing to watch for the Roughrider fans,” he continued. “It’s going to be an awesome experience. We’re going to really cause havoc on quarterbacks.”
“(Acquiring Hughes) made the defence a little bit stronger in an aspect where we were short last year,” added Jefferson, whose team finished eighth in the CFL last season with 27 sacks. “With him being an experienced veteran, having him on the sidelines, in the meeting rooms and at practice makes the defence a lot better.”
Jefferson led the Roughriders with eight sacks last season, with ends A.C. Leonard and Tobi Antigha tying for second with five sacks apiece. Tackles Ese Mrabure (two), Eddie Steele (one), Zach Minter (one) and Makana Henry (one) were the other Saskatchewan D-linemen to record sacks in 2017.
Leonard, Mrabure and Steele are pending free agents. Minter was released earlier this off-season.
Hughes began his CFL career with the Calgary Stampeders in 2008. Over his 10 seasons in Calgary, the 6-foot-1, 246-pound product of Saginaw, Mich., recorded 99 sacks in 147 career regular-season games.
Some have suggested the 34-year-old may be getting a little long in the tooth, but Hughes had a message for his detractors.
“Tell whoever said that that I’m the back-to-back sack leader — and I’m going to go three years, back to back to back, leading the league in sacks,” he said.
In 2017, Hughes led the CFL with 11 sacks in 14 regular-season games. One season earlier, he topped all defensive players with 16 sacks in 18 regular-season contests.
He also was the league’s leading sacker in 2013, when he felled quarterbacks 18 times in 16 games.
Economics reportedly prompted the Stampeders to trade Hughes and a draft pick to Hamilton for a pair of selections. The Tiger-Cats then flipped Hughes to the Roughriders, who sent quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., to Hamilton.
“It was weird at first because I got traded twice,” Hughes said. “But it’s a good feeling to know that I’m playing somewhere where we’ve got a great opportunity to win a championship.”
In Saskatchewan, Hughes will be reunited with Chris Jones, who was the Stampeders’ defensive co-ordinator when Hughes broke into the CFL. Jones now is the Roughriders’ head coach and GM.
Hughes knows what Jones wants out of his players and Jones knows what Hughes can do. Because of that, Hughes said working with Jones again “is going to be quite a blast.”
The veteran D-lineman also is looking forward to working with Jefferson, who put up a league-best 37 quarterback pressures in 2017.
“I texted him a while ago and told him, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make the D-line as good as we can be. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions or just pick my brain about things,’ ” Hughes said. “He said that he was ready to play with me and that he’s got his notepad and pen ready.”
Jefferson, a four-year CFLer, agreed that he would listen to Hughes’ input.
“With him being a veteran and always having the numbers that he has at the end of the season, you have no choice but to watch him and try to learn from him,” said Jefferson, a 6-foot-6, 245-pounder. “I’ll take a few things from his game and try to put them in my game.
“We’re two different body types, but at the end of the day, getting to the quarterback is getting to the quarterback. He knows how to do it and I know how to do it. There are a few things I know I can learn from him and there are probably a few things that I can teach him being a youngster in the pass-rushing game.”
Jefferson initially signed with the Roughriders in September of 2016 after a stint with the NFL’s Washington Redskins. The 2017 campaign was his first full season in Saskatchewan, and the impression it made on him played a role as he pondered free agency.
“I thought about (hitting the open market) at the beginning, but the Roughriders organization has been so good to me over these past two years — and I just wanted to come back and finish from where we left off,” Jefferson said.
“Seeing all the stuff that Coach Jones has been doing since the season ended has been making me really anxious to get back on the field.”
Jefferson helped the 2017 Roughriders post a 10-8-0 regular-season record, which put them in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Saskatchewan crossed over into the East Division for the post-season and advanced to the division final before falling to the Toronto Argonauts.
That finish made Jefferson want to remain with the Roughriders. So did some of the moves Jones has made this off-season, including the acquisition of Hughes.
Jefferson has had a memorable off-season himself — he recently got engaged and he and his fiancée are soon to become parents — so getting his contract finalized is icing on the cake.
Getting the deal done also will allow him to focus on his preparations for the 2018 campaign and personally trying to improve on his stellar 2017.
“Run defence, pass defence, pressure on the quarterback — we (as a defence) just need to get more of that,” Jefferson said. “If I can get more of that, with Charleston on the other side, I believe that I can have a way better year than I did last year.”
