Trevor Harris and Henry Burris are in the same conversation once again.
Grey Cup-winning quarterbacking cohorts with the Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2016, they are also 1-2 in one statistical category with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Since the Roughriders first fully embraced the concept of aerial football 90 years ago, only two players have thrown for 3,000-plus yards over their first 11 starts with Saskatchewan.
Burris boasted 3,225 yards (70 of which were compiled in overtime) after 11 appearances with the Green and White in 2000.
Harris breezed past the 3,000 milestone on Sunday, when he threw for 368 yards against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 59th Labour Day Classic.
Entering Saturday’s rematch in Winnipeg, the Roughriders’ Harris has 3,059 yards in 11 starts — five in 2023 and six this year.
Here is a lengthier, legend-laden list of the Roughriders’ highest passing totals over the 11-game time frame:
3,225 — Henry Burris
3,059 — Trevor Harris
2,816 — Kerry Joseph
2,796 — Cody Fajardo
2,649 — Joe (747) Adams
2,620 — Kent Austin
2,526 — Zach Collaros
2,334 — Darian Durant
2,329 — Tom Burgess
2,233 — Marcus Crandell
2,226 — Kevin Glenn
2,051 — Nealon Greene
1,935 — Ron Lancaster
Take note of Durant’s total — a merger of the jersey numbers of Lancaster (23) and George Reed (34).
Even at an early juncture in Durant’s career, there were signs that he, too, would become a Roughriders icon.
(Yes, that is tangential, but the 23-34 jumped off the page — OK, the iPhone calculator — when the tabulations were done the other day.)
Harris is also in the upper tier in this category: Most touchdown passes by a Roughrider after his first 11 starts.
24 — Henry Burris
21 — Glenn Dobbs
19 — Trevor Harris
19 — Kerry Joseph
15 — Joe (747) Adams
15 — Darian Durant
12 — Tom Burgess
12 — Ron Lancaster
Now, let’s examine Harris’s stats after his first six games of 2024. (He missed six other contests with a knee injury.)
With 13 touchdown passes, he is — depending on how you look at it — fourth or fifth in Roughriders history in touchdown passes after a quarterback’s first six games in a season.
19 — Tom Burgess, 1989
17 — Darian Durant, 2013
16 — Kent Austin, 1991
14 — Henry Burris, 2000
13 — Trevor Harris, 2024
12 — Ron Lancaster, 1966
12 — Kent Austin, 1992
12 — Kent Austin, 1993
12 — Kerry Joseph, 2006
11 — Kevin Glenn, 2017
10 — Ron Lancaster, 1976
10 — Henry Burris, 2004
10 — Darian Durant, 2010
The 2000 total for Burris includes two TD passes that were thrown in overtime.
If you include them, Burris is fourth. If you limit the discussion to TD passes in regulation time, Harris leapfrogs Burris and assumes the No. 4 spot.
Overtime also influences some of the totals on the following list — most passing yards after a quarterback’s first six games in a season:
2,230 — Kent Austin, 1992 (111 in OT)
2,224 — Kent Austin, 1993 (40 in OT)
2,212 — Kent Austin, 1991
2,105 — Joe Paopao, 1985
2,040 — Darian Durant, 2010 (70 in OT)
1,907 — Henry Burris, 2000 (70 in OT)
1,837 — Reggie Slack, 1998
1,822 — Tom Burgess, 1989
1,802 — Henry Burris, 2004
1,794 — Kent Austin, 1990
1,785 — Trevor Harris, 2024
Harris is once again in esteemed company when you consider a statistic that was compiled strictly for the purposes of this column: Most multi-touchdown-pass performances after six games:
6 — Darian Durant, 2013
5 — Kent Austin 1991
5 — Kent Austin, 1992
5 — Kerry Joseph, 2006
5 — Henry Burris, 2000
5 — Trevor Harris, 2024
Harris could very well move up the ladder on the following list — consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass in one season:
13 — Kent Austin, 1992
11 — Kent Austin, 1991
9 — Nealon Greene, 2003
8 — Ron Lancaster, 1975
6 — Ron Lancaster, 1976
6 — Tom Burgess, 1989
6 — Kerry Joseph, 2006
6 — Trevor Harris, 2024
(Do we have time for one more? Lovely!)
Entering Saturday’s finale of a home-and-home set with Winnipeg, Harris has 31,669 career passing yards. He is 72 yards shy of moving into 16th on the CFL’s All-Time list.
Slightly ahead of Harris, at least for the moment: Darian Durant.
