KeeSean Johnson isn’t big on numbers — even though some big numbers are beside his name.
Johnson is second in the CFL in catches (32) and receiving yards (438) for a Saskatchewan Roughriders team that carries a 3-1 record into Sunday’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
It helps that Johnson has every nuance of the playbook committed to memory. But the statistics he has produced to this point aren’t even in the recesses of his mind.
“I try not to look at the stats until the end of the year,” Johnson said after Thursday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium. “I just go week by week and let our team’s wins keep adding up.
“At the end of the year, we’ll look at (individual stats) and see what happens.”
A lot happens when he is on the field. Last Friday, for example, he caught nine passes for 137 yards and one touchdown to help Saskatchewan defeat the host Ottawa REDBLACKS 27-22. He was subsequently named one of the CFL’s three Players of the Week.
The recognition is nice, of course, but the pendulum can swing in both directions.
“Some people might go on the Internet and look at what good things people can say about them,” Johnson said. “But what if you have a week where you don’t play so well? Obviously, you’re not going to make every play, so are you going to go look when someone says something bad about you, too?
“That’s just something I try to stay away from. I’m not looking at the good or the bad. I just keep my head down and grind, day in and day out, and do as much as I can to help our offence and our team.”
That approach has helped Johnson enjoy one of the finest starts of any Roughriders receiver.
His 32 catches are the third-most after four games, behind Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ray Elgaard (34 catches at this stage in 1985) and all-purpose running back Lucius Floyd (33 in 1992).
Johnson’s four-game receiving yardage total of 438 is also third best. Elgaard (1985) and Naaman Roosevelt (2016) are tied for top spot with 477 yards.
Moreover, Johnson is one of only five Roughriders to have reached 100 receiving yards in three of the team’s first four games of a season. The others: Elgaard (1985), Roosevelt (2016), Joey Walters (1981) and Larry Thompson (1994).
With another 100-yard performance on Sunday, Johnson would join Walters (1981) and Elgaard (1985) as the only Roughriders to reach triple digits four times in the first five games.
At this rate, Walters’ franchise single-season receiving yards record (1,715 in 1981) is in jeopardy. Johnson is on pace for 1,971 yards.
His receptions total extrapolates to 144 over a full season. Don Narcisse established the Club record of 125 in 1995.
A typical eight-catch outing on Sunday would tie Johnson with Narcisse for the second-most receptions by a Roughrider after five games. Here are the leaders:
42 — Ray Elgaard, 1985.
40 — Don Narcisse, 1998.
37 — Naaman Roosevelt, 2016.
36 — Craig Ellis, 1985.
35 — Lucius Floyd, 1992.
35 — Weston Dressler, 2012.
Johnson is also nicely positioned to move into the upper echelon in the category of most receiving yards after five games:
634 — Ray Elgaard, 1985.
558 — Hugh Campbell, 1965.
543 — Naaman Roosevelt, 2016.
518 — Joey Walters, 1982.
472 — Jeff Fairholm, 1993.
458 — Joey Walters, 1981.
Johnson’s receiving cohort, Kian Schaffer-Baker, could also work his way into those lists. Schaffer-Baker has 28 receptions for 393 yards after five games.
Both totals rank Schaffer-Baker third in the league. The Montreal Alouettes’ Tyson Philpot leads the loop in catches (36) and receiving yards (587), followed by Johnson and Schaffer-Baker.
Factor in Samuel Emilus, whose 292 receiving yards put him in ninth place, and the Roughriders have an array of options.
“In our receiving room, we have a bunch of guys who can play at a high level,” Johnson noted.
The production level is well-established for Johnson.
As a first-year CFLer in 2024, he caught 56 passes for 748 yards and five scores in 12 games. He also caught at least one TD pass in four consecutive games — a feat that has been accomplished 20 other times in Roughriders history.
Johnson followed up in 2025 by catching 86 passes for 1,159 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games en route to earning All-CFL recognition.
“I think it comes down to his understanding of the defences that he’s seeing and his rapport with the quarterbacks,” Head Coach Corey Mace said.
“He’s smooth, man, and he knows how to get open. He has constantly done it. He has a good catch radius, soft hands, and he knows how to get vertical.
“All the intangibles you want in a really good receiver, he’s got them.”
