Saskatchewan Roughriders observers will be focusing on positional battles during the CFL team’s training camp in Saskatoon.
Chris Jones, meanwhile, will have his eyes on a bigger prize.
“We need to see great leadership,” says the Roughriders’ head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations. “We need to see a determined attitude that we’re out to prove exactly who we are and what we are.
“I think maybe we had some of it last year, but I don’t think we had enough of it. In order to be a playoff contender and a championship football team, you’ve got to have a very clear vision as to where you’re going, what you’re doing and how you’re going to get there. That’s what I want to see.”
The Roughriders went 5-13-0 in the 2016 regular season and missed the playoffs. Injuries limited the contributions of some of Saskatchewan’s frontline players through the season and exposed a lack of depth at certain positions.
Jones and his staff tried to address that in the off-season, signing a raft of free agents and scouring North America for prospects.
“At the end of last year, we sat down as a staff and we talked about some of the things we felt we needed and some of the key ingredients,” says Jones, who missed the playoffs last season for the first time in his 15-year CFL coaching career.
“It’s not necessarily all 40(-yard dash) times and athletic ability and stuff like that. We need some guys who care about this football team and put the football team ahead of themselves. That’s kind of what we’ve tried to target.”
Among the players the Roughriders signed this off-season are veterans like safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette, quarterback Kevin Glenn, receiver-returner Chad Owens and defensive tackle Eddie Steele.
Jones hopes those players — along with returning veterans like receiver Rob Bagg, centre Dan Clark and guard Brendon LaBatte — will lead by example and help the Roughriders rebound from their 2016 season.
“Kevin Glenn has been the consummate leader,” Jones says of the 17-year CFL veteran. “If he’s asked to be a backup quarterback, he doesn’t bitch and complain. All he does is do everything he can possibly do to help the team win. Then when he’s given his opportunity as a starter or the backup, all he does is come in and complete footballs.
“Chad Owens — same thing; he’s just a worker. He’ll do whatever he needs to do to try to win the game. Those are some of the signings that will hopefully bring the character that we were lacking at times last year for whatever reason.”
Glenn goes into camp as the projected starter to replace Darian Durant, who was traded to the Montreal Alouettes in the off-season.
Glenn, who turns 38 on June 12, enters the 2017 season with 191 career starts in the CFL. The four other quarterbacks currently on the Roughriders’ roster — Brandon Bridge (one start), Bryan Bennett (zero), Maty Mauk (zero) and Vince Young (zero) — have combined for one career start in the league.
Many eyes will be on Young at camp as the 34-year-old tries to resurrect his football career. The former University of Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Titans pivot hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2011 and hasn’t been part of a pro football team since 2014.
Jones has stressed over and over that the No. 1 job is up for grabs, but he also has said Young must perform to earn a spot on the roster.
The head coach also will have his eyes on the battle at receiver, where the Roughriders have an abundance of talent.
Returnees like Bagg, Ricky Collins Jr., Caleb Holley and Naaman Roosevelt will be joined in camp by newcomers such as Owens, Duron Carter and Bakari Grant in a pitched battle for roster spots.
“It’s going to be fun to watch exactly who comes to the top in that unit,” Jones said recently. “If you go across the board, there’s 15 good names there. There’s going to be some good competition.”
The offensive line features a solid cast of veterans, but questions about their health remain. If Clark and LaBatte can stay upright — and if someone can fill the vacancy at right guard — the line may not be a concern.
Tailback will feature a battle in camp between nationals Kienan LaFrance and Greg Morris and internationals Cameron Marshall and Daniel Thomas.
The defensive line is a work in progress, with Steele and fellow free-agent addition Zach Minter joining holdovers such as Willie Jefferson, A.C. Leonard, Ese Mrabure and Jonathan Newsome.
Henoc Muamba, Sam Eguavoen, Kevin Francis and Tyler Hunter give the Roughriders a veteran nucleus at linebacker. Free-agent signee Glenn Love also is in the mix and first-round draft pick Cameron Judge could be an option as well after he signs.
Jones wants to see more production from his defensive backs — “We’ve got to be great in the secondary,” he says — so returnees Ed Gainey and Kacy Rodgers Jr., and newcomers such as Brouillette, Mike Edem, Zavian Bingham and Alfonzo Dennard have to make an impact.
“Defensively as a whole, we left a little bit to the imagination last year — and I’ll put that squarely on myself because I’m a defensive guy,” says Jones, who’s also the Roughriders’ defensive co-ordinator.
“We’ve got to be solid up front, we’ve got to put better pressure on the quarterback with four (rushers), we’ve got to be able to blitz better than we did last year, and we’ve got to be able to do multiple coverages and not turn people free in the secondary and give up big plays.
“We’re plenty athletic enough. It’s a matter of how far we’ve come mentally.”
The Roughriders’ first training camp workout is slated for Sunday, 9 a.m., at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus. The Roughriders’ first pre-season game is set for June 10 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.
