Front-office deep dives into the quarterbacking situation often necessitate an extended huddle.
“The quarterback discussions are usually somewhat the longest ones, because they have the most variables as well,” Saskatchewan Roughriders Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller says.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, whether it’s on defence or whether it’s on offence, with guys in certain spots. So it takes the longest, but I love it. I like being a part of those (discussions).
“It doesn’t matter how long it has to take. You’ve got to get to the right answer.”
Some of the answers became clearer on Tuesday, when the Roughriders announced that Mason Fine — who joined the team in 2021 — has signed a two-year contract extension.
Like Fine, quarterback Antonio Pipkin had been eligible to test free agency in February before re-signing with the Roughriders. He agreed to a new deal with the Green and White shortly after the 2023 CFL season.
Trevor Harris and Shea Patterson remain under contract to the Roughriders after signing with them in mid-February of 2023.
“I think it’s a really good quarterbacks’ room,” Mueller says. “Everyone brings a little bit of a different skill set to the room, which is what you want.
“For some guys, the best is ahead of them, and all of us — including myself — have a really good resource to learn from in Trevor.”
Harris, a CFLer since 2012, started the Roughriders’ first five games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. His recovery is far ahead of schedule, to the point where it is a non-issue, as he prepares for Year 2 in Saskatchewan.
“A guy like Trevor has done it not only at the highest level in our league, but also in different offences and different systems,” Mueller says.
“He’ll be a great sounding board where you can go, ‘Hey, have you ever done this?’ There’s probably not going to be many times that any of us ask him that question when he’s not going to have at least done something very similar to what we’re talking about.”
As someone who has thrown for nearly 30,000 yards in Canadian professional football, Harris is expert at diagnosing and dissecting defences.
“He processes at a very high level,” Mueller says. “He has a plan every time he leaves the huddle. He reacts when he catches the ball from the centre.
“There’s a lot of stuff that he’s going to have already seen defensively that he knows how to exploit.
“It will be nice, as we build the offence, to start speaking the same language and make sure that we can communicate at the highest level.”
Fine made four starts for Saskatchewan in place of Harris before suffering a hamstring injury that led to the elevation of Jake Dolegala to a front-line role. Dolegala, a pending free agent, remains unsigned.
Last season, Fine threw for 1,043 yards and three touchdowns, with five interceptions, while posting a team-best completion percentage of 69.1.
“Mason is a guy who has been able to play and start,” Mueller says. “He has had six starts in the past two years.
“He has good feet in the pocket and he processes quickly and he has good arm talent. He’s coming back for another year and we’re happy that he is.”
Pipkin became a Roughrider in an Aug 13 trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and was soon installed as the short-yardage quarterback. He rushed for five TDs in just nine games.
“He’s a veteran in the league,” Mueller says. “He’s only 28, but it seems like he has been here a lot longer.
“He has been here since right out of school (at Tiffin University) and he has played in a bunch of offences. He’s a great team guy and a great quarterback-room guy. He’s got tremendous arm talent.”
Mueller, who was hired by Head Coach Corey Mace in early December, developed an appreciation for Pipkin in a previous capacity as a member of the Calgary Stampeders’ staff.
“As an opposing coach, you always try to watch the other team’s quarterbacks throw live before the game in the warmups,” Mueller says. “It’s different seeing a guy throw on tape and a guy throw live. Antonio is one of the more impressive guys I’ve seen.
“He’s got good film and he has played well. He has started a number of games in the league with multiple teams, so he has faced the live bullets.”
Patterson dressed for 13 games with the Roughriders in 2023.
Mueller was on the opposing sideline when, on June 24, Patterson scored his first two CFL touchdowns to help the Roughriders post a 29-26 overtime victory in Calgary.
“You go back and watch practice and the pre-season and he shows really well,” the Roughriders’ play-caller says. “He’s an incredible ‘plus’ athlete.
“He was drafted in professional baseball (by the Texas Rangers in 2018) and played at a high level at two high-end colleges — Ole Miss and Michigan.
“I’m really excited to see him continue to take another step. He has kind of bounced around to a couple of different leagues and even around the CFL a bit.
“For him to have some continuity, I’m excited to see the steps that he takes and that everybody takes. We’re hoping that everybody in the room gets better from year to year.
