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Eskimos Give Riders a Big FU to End Preseason with a Bang

Jun 20, 2016 | 9:05 PM

It was probably a good idea that the Riders game against Edmonton on Saturday was not televised.

Listening to how Edmonton swept down the field on their first possession and punctuated it with a touchdown pass to Chris Getzlaf, formerly of the Riders, you can just feel Edmonton GM Ed Hervey telling Eskimo head coach Jason Maas – kick them, kick them hard.

In fact, after the game an Eskimo staffer agreed with Rod Pedersen, voice of the Riders, the Eskimos performance in the game was a big FU to Chris Jones, thus giving me my headline.

For a few hours on Saturday afternoon it was like the ghost of the 2015 3-15 Riders had returned, out of position, dropping balls, fumbling balls, blowing tackles, but somehow still in the game due to the graces of it being an exhibition game and each side had players to look at.

In what seemed to be an omen of things to come, former Rider QB Brent Smith got into a play, then it blew up, then he refused to talk to the quarterback coach Jarious Jackson or Darian Durant on the sidelines.

Let’s not forget he got an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting an Edmonton player, following an incident against BC where he did exactly the same thing but didn’t get flagged. That resulted in Smith sitting the rest of the game, leading rather easily to his release.

The Riders defense seemed slower than Edmonton and that led to some great runs by the Eskimos, and after the Riders managed to pull within four points, then the beating by Edmonton continued. Eventually, Phillip (The Predator) Simms, whose gut puts Ron Lancaster’s and Tom Wilkinson’s to shame, game in, had some deep drives and interceptions.

The real fun started with the cuts after the game.

Released were – National offensive lineman Kadeem Adams; National defensive back Troy Adams;  National defensive lineman Tim Agbaje;  International offensive lineman Tre’Von Armstead;  International wide receiver Damarr Aultman;  International running back Terrance Cobb;  International defensive back Victor Dean Jr.;  International wide receiver Clarence Denmark;  International defensive back Marquis Drayton;  International running back Michael Dyer;  International wide receiver Qudarius Ford;  National linebacker Dillon Grondin;  International defensive back Tyree Hollins;  National wide receiver Kyle Kawamoto;  National offensive lineman Aaron Picton;  National wide receiver Randy Roseway;  International linebacker Marte Sears;  International quarterback Brett Smith;  International defensive back Xavier Walker and International defensive lineman Markus White.

Placed on the six game injured lists: National defensive lineman Dylan Ainsworth; International quarter back Phillip Sims; International offensive lineman Jarriel King; International defensive lineman Eric Norwood and National offensive lineman Matt Vonk.

Placed on the practice roster: National defensive back Joel Brtka; International defensive lineman Tony Criswell;  International defensive back Johnnie Dixon;  National offensive lineman Kennedy Estelle;  International offensive lineman Marcus Hall;  National offensive lineman Hasan Hazime;  International wide receiver Ryan Lankford;  National offensive lineman Alex McKay;  National linebacker Alex Ogbongbemiga; and National wide receiver Josh Stanford.

So this is what the roster looks like for the 2016 Saskatchewan Roughriders – QB- Darian Durant, BJ Coleman; RB- Curtis Steele, Kendial Lawrence, Matt Walter; FB- Spencer Moore, Levi Steinhauer; WR- John Chiles; SB- Namman Roosevelt; SB- Ricky Collins;  SB- Rob Bagg, Nic Demski; WR- Shamawd Chambers; LT- Xavier Fulton; LG- Brendan Labatte, Dillon Guy; OC- Dan Clark; RG- Chris Best, Andrew Jones; RT- Thaddeus Coleman.

On defense we have DE- Shawn Lemon, Johnathan Newsome; DT- Jonathan Williams, Ese Mrabure-Ajufo; DT- Corvey Irvin; DE- Justin Capicciotti, A.C. Leonard, Kalonji Kashama, Jordan Reaves; LB- Jeff Knox, Samuel Eguavoen; MLB- Greg Jones; LB- Otha Foster, Matt Webster, Korey Jones; CB- Justin Cox;  HB- Derrius Brooks, Tevaughn Campbell;  S- Kevin Francis, Shane Hebert; HB- Ed Gainey; CB- Brandon McDonald, Graig Newman.

Our special teams are made up of K- Tyler Crapinga, Quinn Van Gylswyk; P- Josh Bartell; LS- Jorgen Hus;  KR/PR- Kendial Lawrence, Nick Demski.

So a few things happened between the Rider cuts and what you see as a finalish roster.

The Riders signed defensive back Shane Hebert. The 27-year-old spent three seasons with the Argos, after going undrafted in 2011, before he was released among Toronto’s final cuts. He played in 34 games for the Argos recording eight special team’s tackles and one forced fumble.

The Riders then sent a negotiation list player to the Calgary Stampeders in exchange for defensive back Brandon McDonald. McDonald started with the Redblacks, then went to the Stampeders and got into penalty problems. John Murphy, the Rider guru of player personnel is familiar with him, so that might explain the move. In any event, McDonald is pencilled in as a starter on cornerback.

Then the great BC Lion robbery where the Riders snatched defensive lineman Ese Mrabure-Ajufo and offensive lineman Dillon Guy. The pair of Canadians was offered practice roster spots by B.C., which allowed the Riders to swoop in and add them to their active roster.

Mrabure-Ajufo, a 2015 first-round pick, was active for five games and on the injured reserve for 13 games last season.  A 2016 fourth-round selection, Guy, is coming off a 2015 campaign that was cut short by a torn ACL while playing for the University of Buffalo. The six-foot-four, 308-pounder was full go for training camp.

The BC move was a result of the players turning down practice roster spots, which no doubt adds Wally Buono to the list of people ticked at Chris Jones. On the other hand, full kudos for looking to upgrade Canadian talent.
First, let’s look at the cuts. Smith was an obvious surprise, yet at the same time not a surprise. His inability to read the defense before reacting indicated he didn’t understand the playbook and hadn’t progressed past last year when he would get happy feet.

I remember talking to Chris Best at the Pros and Joes evening where he said Darian Durant and former Rider quarterback Keith Price had a nice roll out where the offensive linemen would be confident where the quarterbacks would be.

Smith on the other hand was all over the map, and when you have a player making moves on his own, offensive linemen either have to hold or hold their blocks longer, getting flagged usually.

Then at the BC game I saw Smith taking a shot at a BC Lion after a play where Smith hadn’t particularly been roughed up. When I heard the same thing in the Edmonton game, I thought of a lack of maturity in someone who was supposed to be a leader and taking stupid penalties that would kill drives. Remember 2015 anyone?

I like Brent Smith and the passion he plays at quarterback.

Unfortunately a never say die spirit doesn’t make up for an inability to read a playbook and be able to execute simple plays. I am not a BJ Coleman fan after watching him serve up three interceptions here against BC and my biggest criticism is how badly the Riders seemed to have recruited for the backup quarterback spot behind Durant, who is not riding a magic carpet of confidence with major injuries the past two years.

Now, before I continue with the cuts, I have to temper my criticism with noting how the Riders have two kickers on their roster and the reason is some teams would have grabbed them like the Riders grabbed the BC practice roster players.

The Riders are hanging on to a kicker in the event a trade can be made for a backup quarterback with CFL experience. Well, that’s my expectation and I hope the Riders can follow through on that one.

Among the notable quarterback cuts by CFL teams was Tajh Boyd by Montreal and I watched the second half of the Montreal-Toronto exhibition game and I was not impressed with Boyd throwing his own version of Coleman interceptions. The Riders seem to be going with Coleman as the sole backup, but this can change in two weeks before the Riders play their first game, with Simms on the injured list, perhaps he got injured pulling a roll of fat, but the time off will give him an opportunity to learn the playbook and perhaps get into a Jenny Craig program.

Other than Smith there were plenty of surprises, with Aaron Picton ranking with the top of the list. Picton is a former University of Regina Ram player who was drafted by Calgary, then traded by Calgary to Saskatchewan. Picton apparently showed well in a mini camp, but then appeared to plateau by unnamed sources in Saskatoon. Picton wasn’t offered a practice roster spot and considering the Riders Canadian offensive line depth, this is an interesting situation.

Clarence Denmark was an interesting cut, I thought he had kept his spot with his reaction to an underthrown Brent Smith ball against the BC Lions for a touchdown. However the Riders seem keen on the speed of Ricky Sanders and the height of John Chiles.

Jones continued to exorcise the Riders of 2015 by releasing Markus White and Tyree Hollins, who I thought had some moves and experience in the defensive secondary. Michael Dwyer, the troubled running back the Riders bought in last week, may hang around along with some of the other players, but at this stage of writing, I have no knowledge of such a move.

A player I would have loved to have seen cut is Curtis Steele, the former Argo running back who made his debut against Edmonton fumbling and dropping balls hither and yon. While Jones seems set in his players and confident in what they can do, those of us not living under the Jones cone of confidence have to wonder what some of these deadbeats have to offer. I would gladly apologize if during the season Steele proves me wrong, but I think his graph of progress has him gone by Labour Day.
In the meantime we have a week of CFL football, thank you Jebus! So this is how the week should go down, but rarely does in my Rider tinged world.

Thursday has Hamilton at Toronto at BMO field and I think long and hard about my 2007 Grey Cup experience where I was forced to drink with Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans because Toronto people had no idea why I was wearing my oh so cool Rider owners leather jacket. My natural inclination to go all Samuel L. Jackson on those bomber fans sorry asses and quote Corinthians before smiting them with the jawbone or ulna of Kevin Glenn dissipated as I realized if we fans were to keep this league going, we would have to overcome, to a very limited extent, our fellow fans lack of flush toilets in their crumbling new facilities.

That being said, I always thought in my limited Toronto experience 1989 and 2007 that the Skydome was like playing in the biggest underground parking garage and I had experienced more fan excitement in BC Place, McWoman Stadium and the Brick, or Deuce in Deadmonton.

Hey, years later I was impressed with the noise at Dollarama Field in the City that God Forgot, otherwise known as Winnipeg.

So my genuine western Canadian heartland of football hope is that finally, the Argo fans are not spit on like they were with Rogers, that the tailgating takes off (they should really copy Calgary’s tailgating because it is the best) and they have a chance to grow in a facility that wants them. Not sure about ticket numbers even though die hard Rider fans follow these as fervently as they do stats because hey, we like to travel, and we like to see full stadiums and healthy ratings.

Hamilton showed their most devastating play against Ottawa with a fake punt and to be honest, I was impressed with Toronto’s defense against Montreal, particularly in the second half. If Toronto gave Kevin Glenn trouble with a group of misfits under Rich Stubler, they will surely confound Kent Austin (whose autographed practice jersey with the Riders I picked up this offseason!) and whatever Chuckles the Clown shows up at QB. Toronto for the win.

Friday night Montreal goes to Winnipeg and gets tetanus shots before entering Dollarama Field. Jim Popp was forced to cut a very capable cornerback I hope to see in Green and White because talk on the Anglais side of the street is Montreal is already over their salary cap for the season. Montreal’s performance against Toronto in the final exhibition game has the stench of trying to bolster local attendance and hope to Jebus that their defence, or what is left of it, can hold off the barbarians until Kevin Glenn gets up close and personal with Duron Carter. This will be interesting to watch from a Rider point of view as Weston Dressler lines up at wide receiver and Ryan Smith goes to slot back.

This will feel totally unnatural and counter to the laws of God and Man, but that’s the price we paid to bolster our defense. Winnipeg’s offensive line is the key to defeat, and with Montreal bringing their team, as opposed to seven quarterbacks, I like Montreal better in this one.

On Saturday there is a double header with Ottawa going to Deadmonton in a Grey Cup rematch in the first game. Edmonton send a couple of messages to Calgary and Saskatchewan in their respective wins and as the defending Grey Cup champions, I must now acknowledge they are definitely for real in June. Other than a coaching staff, Edmonton lost a few people, not as much as I would have expected, and Jason Maas chosen wisely in bringing Mike Benevedes in to handle the defense. Benevedes is a natural defensive coordinator and maybe if Wally was more supportive, would have hung on in BC.

Ottawa by comparison has a relatively intact offense but had their defensive line strip-mined by the Riders. Jaimie Elizondo is running the offense in Ottawa and with no running back, the pressure will be on Henry Burris to rise once again from his ego to lead the Redblacks. However, the prospect of Deadmonton breaking down is a topic for another week. This week Edmonton will beat Ottawa in what may stand as the high point of their season. And aren’t I the cocky one?

The second game is Calgary at BC and once again I have to fume at TSN for having a soccer fixation, although it is probably cheaper to just air the signal without the associated production costs. I would have loved to have seen Calgary and how Dave Dickenson was handling his team as opposed to being just an offensive coordinator. This has Jedi master Wally Buono against the student in Dickenson and while Wally was robbed of two Canadians through sloppiness, I wonder how confident he will be in not wearing headphones and letting his coordinators handle the game? This game fascinates me, much like perogies and cabbage rolls with fried onions and sour cream fascinates me. I am going to go with Calgary in this game because former U of R Rams QB Marc Mueller, grandson of Ron Lancaster, is coaching with Calgary.

So for my predictions here we go:
West
Calgary 11-7
Edmonton 11-7
Riders 9-9
BC 9-9
Winnipeg 7-11

East
Toronto 11-7
Hamilton 10-8
Ottawa 9-9
Montreal 8-10

Western Semi Final – Riders over Edmonton
Eastern Semi Final – Hamilton over Ottawa
Western Final – Calgary over Riders
Eastern Final – Hamilton over Toronto
Grey Cup – Calgary over Hamilton