FIVE STORYLINES TO WATCH
1 Have you met Chris Jones?
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Chris Jones is to make his regularseason debut as the CFL team’s field boss on Thursday. Jones was named the Roughriders’ head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations on Dec. 7, only eight days after guiding the Edmonton Eskimos to a Grey Cup championship.
2 Darian Durant is back
For the second consecutive opener, all eyes will be on Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant as he attempts to make a comeback from a season-ending injury. In 2014, Durant missed Saskatchewan’s final nine games (including one playoff contest) after suffering a torn tendon in his right elbow. He returned to the lineup to begin the 2015 campaign, only to suffer a ruptured left Achilles tendon shortly before halftime of the regular-season lidlifter.
3 The countdown is on
Saskatchewan will play only nine more regularseason games at the old Mosaic Stadium. The team is to move into the new Mosaic Stadium, located on Evraz Place, for the 2017 season. It has been 80 years since the team began playing at the current site on a full-time basis. The first game at the traditional location was played in 1921 at Park Hughes, which the home of the Regina Rugby Club/Regina Roughriders was called until 1928. In 1928, a new gridiron was installed at the expansive site, which included Park Hughes and the adjacent Park de Young. The latter label then applied for football purposes. However, the Roughriders played their home games at the exhibition grounds from 1929 to 1935. They returned to Park de Young in 1936. The facility was later renamed Taylor Field (1947) and Mosaic Stadium (2006).
4 Ray of hope
Quarterback Ricky Ray, who missed the Argonauts’ first 16 games in 2015 after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder, is back at the controls of the offence from the outset of the season. Last year, Toronto had the luxury of employing Trevor Harris, who threw a league-high 33 touchdown passes. Harris is now with the Ottawa Redblacks, making it imperative that Ray be healthy and productive. The 36-year-old Ray completed 26 of 36 passes for 282 yards, including two touchdown tosses to Vidal Hazelton, on June 23 when the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 42-20.
5 Dismal defence dismantled
Opposing teams tore apart the Roughriders’ defence last season. Then it was Jones’ turn. Upon being hired by the Roughriders, Jones began a full-scale reconstruction of the team’s roster. An overhaul was especially important on defence, where the Roughriders repeatedly faltered in 2015 en route to finishing last in the nine-team league with a 3-15 record. The 2015 Roughriders allowed 653 points — 61 more than the next-worst team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.