Absence of Roosevelt creates void in Riders’ already shaky passing game
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are, for the time being, without all three of their 1,000-yard receivers from last season.
That leaves them with one 1,000-yard receiver.
This is, er, the new math. We plead for patience. Please do not adjust your page.
Saskatchewan began its 2018 training camp with three returning 1,000-yard pass-catchers — Bakari Grant, Duron Carter and Naaman Roosevelt — on the roster.
That talented trio had helped Saskatchewan lead the CFL in touchdown passes, with 35, last season.
Now, 13 games into the 2018 campaign, the Roughriders have managed just 10 scoring tosses. Only the Montreal Alouettes, who are to play host to Saskatchewan on Sunday, have completed fewer passes (six) for touchdowns.
Roosevelt, who appeared to injure a knee during Saturday’s 30-29 victory over the Toronto Argonauts, will not play in Montreal for reasons that are purely precautionary.
In Saturday’s game, Carter — who was released by Saskatchewan on Aug. 11 — played against his former teammates for the first time and recorded nary a reception.
Two months earlier, the Roughriders had jettisoned Grant following the pre-season. So, to recap ...
Carter: Gone.
Grant: Long gone.
Roosevelt: Sidelined for Sunday.
Three 1,000-yard receivers minus three 1,000-yard receivers equals ... wait for it ... one.
The “one” being Kenny Shaw, who is likely to fill Roosevelt’s slotback spot on Sunday.
Shaw’s presence gives Saskatchewan the luxury of replacing Roosevelt with someone who caught 77 passes for 1,004 yards in 17 games with the Argonauts in 2016.
That success was parlayed into a free-agent contract with the Ottawa Redblacks, for whom he caught only six passes for 66 yards in three games. He missed most of the season with a knee injury.
Shaw was released in April by the Redblacks and did not resurface until August, when he was signed by the Roughriders and placed on the practice squad.
It appears that his elevation to the active roster is imminent, although Roughriders head coach Chris Jones would not confirm that on Wednesday.
“We’ll see,” Jones said. “We’ve got two or three guys who we could put in there. We’ve got some young guys slotted. Whichever one has the best week of practice will play.”
Bet on Shaw, judging by what quarterback Zach Collaros had to say following Wednesday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium.
When asked about the impact of Roosevelt being sidelined, Collaros responded: “It’ll be different, obviously, not having him out there. He’s a leader for us, but Kenny’s excited and ready to fill in.”
Kenny, as in Shaw.
“Naaman obviously is a great player for us and has been for a while, but Kenny having some familiarity with the system definitely helps with being able to jump in there with all the different formations and all the different terminology that we use,” Collaros said.
“Since he got here, he has gotten right back into the swing of things. Him being in Toronto and Ottawa, they kind of do similar plays and similar terminology and all that, so it has been a pretty smooth transition for him.”
The transition comes following Roosevelt’s first 100-yard receiving game of the season — a five-catch, 105-yard effort.
Even after being injured late in the second quarter, the two-time 1,000-yard man remained in the lineup and made some critical catches to help Saskatchewan nose out Toronto.
“Naaman’s a tough guy,” Jones said. “This organization, this team and his teammates mean a lot to him. He came back in and was able to make it through the game.
“He didn’t experience any kind of swelling or anything like that, but he’s got a little bit of soreness. All I can see us doing is making it worse, and we’ve got to have him down the stretch.”
In the meantime, can they stretch a defence without him?