Are the Riders better than they were last year?
While the team has made improvements, none is bigger than bringing in Mace
Welcome to another edition of the Roughriders Mailbag, where we answer questions readers have about the team.
With CFL free agency having come and gone, the Riders have added plenty of talent to their roster this off-season. And on April 30, the club will add more Canadian depth through the CFL draft. We will discuss that and more in the questions below.
If you'd like to submit a question for the next Roughriders mailbag, email your question to: Saskatchewanroughriders@postmedia.com.
With all the new signings the Riders have made this off-season, there seems to be a lot of talent that will be coming to training camp. How much better is the team this year? From Brian
While there have been many new additions to the roster this off-season, I still believe the biggest acquisition is the hiring of head coach Corey Mace.
Ever since he signed on with the club late last year, the vibe around the team seems to have shifted from quite negative following a second straight 6-12 season, to quite positive.
The presence of Mace has played a big part in that and there's no doubt that the new head coach also played a large role in getting many big-name free agents to come to Saskatchewan.
If you look across the board, the Riders appeared to have upgraded every position of need. And that's not to say the players in those roles were bad last year — change was just needed.
A.J. Ouellette replaces Jamal Morrow at running back, Jermarcus Hardrick replaces Brandon Council/eric Lofton/colin Kelly at right tackle, Jalon Edwards-cooper replaces Nic Marshall at cornerback and Anthony Auclair replaces Micah Teitz at weakside linebacker.
The team also brought in Malik Carney to replace Pete Robertson at defensive end and Jameer Thurman to replace Larry Dean at middle linebacker.
So yes — on paper — this team has improved since the 2023 season. Now we have to see if that translates to the field in 2024.
What players or position groups do you see the Riders targeting in the CFL draft? Are the Riders in a position to go best-player-available in the first round or do they have a specific need to address? Could you see the Riders trading up or down before the draft? From Evan
The Roughriders have the third overall pick in this year's CFL draft, which is exactly where they selected defensive lineman Lake Korte-moore last year.
And while they will certainly be
looking to add more Canadian defensive linemen this year as they have just three on the roster, I'm not sure it will happen at No. 3 considering there are no defensive lineman among the top 13 prospects according to the CFL Scouting Bureau.
So, what do they do? Take the best player available at a position they need. I don't expect a trade.
There are six offensive linemen ranked in the top 10 and while the CFL draft is usually a place where teams load up on Canadian offensive lineman, I don't think this will be the case for O'day and company this year considering they already have eight national offensive linemen coming to camp.
Receiver could be an interesting position to target at No. 3 considering they have just four Canadians — Samuel Emilus, Kian Schaffer-baker, Brayden Lenius and Mitch Picton — for two starting positions. Or maybe three?
We can never read much into the scouting bureau's rankings as each team has their own rankings, but there are four receivers in the top 20, including Auburn's Nick Mardner at No. 11. Or maybe they go on a different path and take a tight end like Theo Johnson and Tanner Mclachlan who are ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively. We'll find out April 30.
Could the Riders be in a position to start three Canadian receivers this year? From Jeff
If you look across the board, the Riders appeared to have upgraded every position of need.
For the final three games of the 2023 season, the Riders did start three Canadian receivers.
Emilus moves over from the wide side to replace Tevin Jones, while Schaffer-baker and Picton occupied the other two starting roles.
So yes, they could certainly start three Canadians with the talent that they have, but I'm not sure if they will, as depth at each position is needed as well. With Emlius and Schaffer-baker likely the leading candidates to start alongside Americans Shawn Bane Jr. and Jerreth Sterns, that leaves one open spot, which is one of the positions that will be determined in training camp.
If either Picton or Lenius can outperform some of the Americans brought into camp, it will force the coaching staff to throw the passports out the window and start the best player. Which is the way it should be.