SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders entered training camp with a few questions.
After roughly two weeks of camp, head coach-GM Chris Jones and his staff believe they have got responses — but not all of them.
“A lot of those questions will be answered when we play a competitive game,” Jones said after Saturday’s controlled scrimmage at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
“Out here at practice, you get used to going against a guy and you know what moves he uses, so you might look a little bit better than when you go against a guy for the first time. The games will answer some of those questions.”
The CFL’s Roughriders played one pre-season game Sunday, falling 35-12 to the host Edmonton Eskimos. Saskatchewan’s last of two exhibition games is set for Friday against the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
So far in camp, the Roughriders have run more than 1,370 plays. They plan to devote the next few days of practice to their preparations for Calgary, which will mean fewer reps than a normal day of training camp.
The day after facing the Stampeders, the Roughriders — like every team — will have to make cuts to finalize a roster.
Here are some of the questions Jones and Co. had before camp and some of the issues that have arisen in the past 13 days.
The blind side: Having let Bruce Campbell walk as a free agent, the Roughriders needed to find a left tackle in camp.
Jones said in early May that the coaches would put three or four players at the position in camp and let them battle it out. It would appear that Terran Vaughn has won that battle, as he has been working with the first-team offence since camp opened.
Takoby Cofield and Jarvis Harrison remain in the mix, but neither man has supplanted Vaughn as of yet.
“He has only had one bad day this camp, where it threw up some question marks whether he’d be able to do it and be consistent enough,” Jones said. “He has shown up 10 of the 11 days and played very well.”
Cornering the market: Kacy Rodgers II manned the boundary corner position for two seasons, but he was released this off-season so that he could sign with the NFL’s New York Jets.
That left the Roughriders in need of a replacement — and Nick Marshall seems to have earned the job.
A quarterback in college, Marshall voluntarily moved to defensive back in hopes of finding employment in the NFL. He spent a couple of seasons in that league before being released and, in April, attended the Roughriders’ mini-camp in Bradenton, Fla.
A solid effort at that camp earned Marshall an invitation to training camp, where he hasn’t looked out of place while working with the starters.
On Saturday, Marshall was working at halfback while Ed Gainey nursed an injury.
Man in the middle: Henoc Muamba was released in the off-season after holding the job as Saskatchewan’s middle linebacker, so that hole had to be filled.
Jones said in the weeks leading up to camp that Sam Eguavoen would move from the weak side to the middle, but that hasn’t happened on a full-time basis — at least not yet. Instead, free-agent signee Sam Hurl has lined up in the middle with Eguavoen on the weak side and Derrick Moncrief on the strong side.
Jones has said Hurl isn’t physically capable of playing on the weak side because of the coverage responsibilities required by the position, so he has been in the middle. While there, the veteran has impressed the coaches with his grasp of the defence and with his blitzing ability.
The Roughriders plan to have a Canadian linebacker on the field at all times, so that could mean opportunities for Hurl, Cameron Judge and the other Canucks. Trouble is, Brandyn Bartlett, Kevin Francis and Micah Teitz have been injured for most of the past two weeks so they haven’t been able to show their wares.
Alexandre Chevrier (a 2017 draft pick), Dillon Grondin (who missed all of the 2017 season with a knee injury) and Adrian Clarke (a recent signee) have been getting plenty of work in camp.
Man down: Saskatchewan’s Canadian depth has taken a hit during camp.
In addition to Bartlett, Francis and Teitz, the Roughriders have lost nationals like offensive linemen Dariusz Bladek, Dalton Houghton and Josiah St. John, defensive linemen Zack Evans and Makana Henry, defensive backs Tristan Doughlin and Denzel Radford and receiver Devon Bailey for varying amounts of time.
On Saturday, Jerome Messam also was a spectator, but Jones said the tailback was “on a pitch count” — meaning he’s not going to participate in every practice.
Meanwhile, Evans was back on the field Saturday and some of the other members of that group are expected to return in the coming days.
“It’s not the first time we’ve been through that,” Jones said of having Canadian players sidelined. “If you remember, the last two years we had some of the same issues … You think, ‘Man, we’re deep at that position because we’re two or three deep at that Canadian spot’ (and then there are injuries).
“This not uncharted territory. This is something we’ve gone through before and we’re tried to make sure we’ve got enough depth to weather that.”
Running the rock: When Cameron Marshall was released on the eve of camp after failing his physical, many wondered who would compete with Marcus Thigpen to be the team’s international tailback.
Enter a pair of former teammates with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
Zac Stacy has been at Saskatchewan’s camp since it began and has looked good from the start. Tre Mason was signed midway through the second week and, as a result, is a bit behind Stacy — but Mason has shown some talent during the few practices in which he has taken part.
Thigpen, meanwhile, has resembled the player who carried the mail during the Roughriders’ playoff run last season. He’s quick, he’s strong and he’s multi-dimensional — but he also has to serve a two-game CFL-imposed suspension to start the season.
The backup plan: Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge have the first two spots on the quarterbacking depth chart locked up — although Jones has yet to announce who’s No. 1 and who’s No. 2 — so the battle is still on to see who fits where after that.
David Watford started the pre-season game in Edmonton and played the first half. B.J. Daniels ran the offence for much of the fourth quarter and produced the most yardage of the pivots who played in that contest.
That scrap likely will go down to the wire, too. Neither Collaros nor Bridge played in Edmonton, so they’ll probably get the bulk of the work in Friday’s game.
On Saturday, Jones noted the Roughriders have taken calls from teams interested in acquiring Bridge. But Jones said “it’s not even a question” of considering those offers since he knows the value of a proven backup quarterback.
