By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

First Week of Regular Season or Third Exhibition Game

Jun 11, 2025 | 10:37 AM

The views and opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Pattison Media.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders opened their season with an entertaining 31-26 win over the Ottawa Redblacks which saw the Riders basically in control of the game until the 4th quarter when Ottawa launched a comeback that fell short. The game had everything from injuries to crucial players to big special teams returns, to Mathieu Betrand-Hudon running wild and well behind the Riders yet again rebuilt offensive line.

The Riders launched their new defensive line which solidified the win for the team in the fourth quarter with multiple sacks, but both teams had the look of teams who did not play many of their starters during the exhibition season and the lack of cohesion was a definite factor in the game.

Running back AJ Ouellette was knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion, defensive player of the year Rolan Milligan was out with an apparent neck injury, Kian Schaffer-Baker was out with a high ankle sprain and the Riders lost yet another offensive lineman who had his leg rolled up on and likely has some kind of knee injury.

On Friday after the game the Riders signed Ka’Deem Carey, former running back with Toronto and Calgary who could be ready to step in considering he is familiar with what the Riders are trying to do on offense. On Tuesday the Riders moved indoors because of air quality concerns And Ouellette and Milligan were back in the mix, although one wonders if Ouellette will actually play on Saturday against Hamilton if he doesn’t clear concussion protocol.

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While Bertrand-Hudon was the star out of left field for his running, the offensive star was Samuel Emilus who had over 100 yards receiving and was the spark the Riders offense needed. Quarterback Trevor Harris was OK but again the lack of consistent playing time during the exhibition games showed up with some of the timing not being there with his passes.

Mario Alford came back from nearly being a training camp cut with a solid performance running back punts and coming close a couple of times. On defense you could not fault the defensive line, especially in the fourth when they got some timely snaps.

There might be a problem with pass defense as the Riders seem to be favoring a zone defense that does not allow deep passes, in theory, but allows quarterbacks like Dru Brown the opportunity to move the ball up and down the field. This explains the over 400 yards passing Brown enjoyed along with the occasional looking at the receiver rather than engaging with the receiver the Riders showed at times during the game.

While the injuries were a bother, the way the team responded was very encouraging. I’m not really nervous about injuries on the offensive line because after the 2024 season, enough players got playing time so the Riders can mix and match depending on the injury.

Add to this the impressive running of Bertrand-Hudon and even Ouellette and the fact the Riders did not give up a sack and the Riders held their own against a good defensive line in Ottawa.

The signing of Carey who is an excellent tackle to tackle runner shows the Riders responding to a potential situation in their backfield and also makes it clear the Riders will be consistently running the ball this year. I would suspect Carey will play in the Hamilton game because prudence dictates that Ouellette’s’ concussion should be given a chance to heal before he returns to action.

This being said, you have to wonder if the Riders have a running back with a glass hip and maybe jaw, they should be looking to expanding their running game to include players with some durability. It was interesting to watch the game with the starters getting full minutes and some being in better condition than others, which makes things like a player rotation at various positions more necessary than ever.

I think Ottawa lost the game due to a lack of discipline, which was highlighted after Ottawa scored a touchdown but then took an unnecessary roughness penalty and had to kick off deep in the own end. The Riders got excellent field position, got a touchdown, and went on to win.

Both the Riders and Ottawa could stand to use more playing time with their respective units to develop timing and be more effective. The Riders ended up winning because they took advantage of the two injuries on Ottawa’s offensive line which made the running game a non-starter for them.

The running of Bertrand-Hudon, who was gassed by the end of the game, showed the Riders do have the depth in case of injuries but they need to work on their cardio in order to avoid more injuries and become more effective.

Getting Milligan back in the defensive secondary will be important this week because the Riders go to Hamilton for the Tiger-Cats home debut. Hamilton went to Calgary with a loaded roster and came out flat against the Stampeders, begging the question of whether the Tiger-Cats are much ado about nothing.

Hamilton did come back against Calgary’s defense to make it competitive, but the Riders defense is different than the Stampeders. The Riders have more continuity and to be honest, I am looking forward to seeing what this defensive line can do two weeks in a row.

The Riders should win this Saturday contest against Hamilton and as long as they avoid more injuries, their continuity should help against teams who spent a lot in free agency but haven’t gotten all the pieces working on the same page. Riders 32 Hamilton 17.

Montreal made a fool out of me by whipping the defending Grey Cup champs, who have their own problems on the offensive and defensive lines. Davis Alexander who took over from Cody Fajardo seems capable of leading the Montreal offense, but it is the defense that will dictate how far Montreal will go this season.

Montreal goes to Ottawa, and I would think Ottawa’s discipline issues will be arising again and again costing Ottawa a win. Ottawa probably has the best receiving corps in the league, but as mentioned, they were missing two starters on their offensive line against Saskatchewan and their defensive secondary had some tackling issues.

At this point Montreal is just too solid on defense and able to run a competent offense. Montreal should win this one 30-18.

After Calgary surprised Hamilton, they go into Toronto and from what I have seen of Calgary, they have redone their defense and use Vernon Adams Jr. as the pivot for their offense. They came through their two exhibition games in great shape and beating Hamilton at home sends a message they are not inclined to be anyone’s poodle this year.

The question I have about Calgary is about depth, something we talk about all the time in Saskatchewan and Calgary seems eager to stack up their wins early in the schedule before teams get a handle on what the Stamps are trying to do on offense and defense.

Argo fans may say it was asking too much to go into Montreal and start the season with a win, but the Argos have more than enough question marks on their offensive and defensive lines which makes it a fair question.

There is talk of Chad Kelly starting, which would be interesting considering he broke his ankle real good in the eastern final, but I don’t see him getting on the field until he is fully recovered. Nick Arbuckle, who won the Grey Cup for Toronto’s offense, although I thought Wynton McManis was the real MVP of the game, did not bad but again, Toronto is going to have to establish its own identity this year separate from last year.

The Argos will have to go through some growing pains and at this point, Calgary is more of a team than the Argos are and have been establishing an identity for themselves. Calgary has that going for them, Toronto right now does not. Calgary spoils the banner raising and ring ceremony 33-18.

One of the big question marks was how the BC Lions would come out of the game under a new head coach. Last year Vernon Adams led the team until Nathan Rourke came back from the NFL and the Lions, probably under pressure from the marketing department to get Rourke on the field, did just that only to have the Lions slide out of first place to third and go out in the western semifinal amidst reports of a divided locker room.

The Lions blew away Edmonton in a battle of Canadian starting quarterbacks and it was clear Rourke’s head is in a better place than it was last year. The Lions go to Winnipeg who will be without quarterback Zach Collaros who declined to return a message about a drug test and was suspended for a game.

Chris Streveler takes the lead for the Bombers but while the Bomber fans are talking themselves into thinking Streveler is a dollar store Matt Nichols, Streveler cannot pass, relies on his running ability and when you have a one trick pony, it is easy to come up a defense against him.

Factor in the Lions dealing with Tre Ford, the running quarterback for the Elks, and it won’t be a game the Lions can say they haven’t seen anything before. While Rourke will likely want to be going head-to-head against Collaros, BC should take what they can get and beat the Bombers and put some space between them and their competitors.

Lions win this one 16-7 because I have a lot of respect for the Bomber defense.