It took only a few days after the end of the Grey Cup for talk and action surrounding the Saskatchewan Roughriders to turn toward the team's plan for 2010. So let's take a look at the 'Riders' free agents as to who should be back, and who we can expect to see playing (or not playing) elsewhere.
I'll note that the outset that the classifications below aren't based solely on the quality of the players involved. Instead, the CFL's strict salary cap and the ready availability of import replacement players at many positions mean that the question of whether a player should be brought back is based on age/potential, import/non-import status and presumed salary expectations as well as current ability.
Must-Signs
RB Stu Foord - Young. Talented. Popular. Local. And not well-enough established to demand starter money - though the 'Riders might want to consider paying him something close to it in order to secure a long-term bargain from a player who seems ready to step into at least a co-starring role at a skill position.
DE Stevie Baggs - He'll presumably want star money after a season where he could easily have been the league's Defensive Player of the Year. But he's both highly talented on his own and a perfect fit for Gary Etcheverry's defence, so I'd expect the 'Riders to be willing to find room in the budget.
CB Omarr Morgan - Based on how rejuvenated he looked in 2009, Morgan should be able to lock down a corner for the 'Riders for several more seasons as long as the price is right - and since he took a hometown discount to return in 2008, that shouldn't be a problem.
Worth Bringing Back
S James Patrick - Experienced and skilled enough to be a leader in the 'Riders' secondary, but young enough to stick around for many years to come.
FB Chris Szarka - He'd actually have been a prime candidate to go elsewhere if not for his successful run for City Council. But it's hard to see him leaving Regina now, and that should ensure that his price stays low enough for the 'Riders to bring him back.
RB Wes Cates - The flip side of Foord being a must-sign is that the 'Riders have a tough call to make with Cates. As long as he doesn't mind being a 1A back (and paid accordingly) rather than a feature runner, he'd be more than worth re-signing for his blocking and pass-catching ability. But the 'Riders' can't afford another season getting less than 5 yards per rush out of their feature tailback, and they may need to let Cates walk if he still expects to play that role.
QB Steven Jyles - A reasonably talented and experienced #2 if Saskatchewan can't find anyone better in the offseason. But with the Lions figuring to cut at least one former starter loose (Jarious Jackson? Buck Pierce?) and the Argos having to decide whether they want to pay Kerry Joseph MOP money to back up Cody Pickett, I'd take some time to see who else might be available before locking in Jyles.
DB Eddie Davis - When Davis was injured in 2007, the 'Riders' defence went into a funk until he returned. When he was injured in 2009, the 'Riders barely missed a beat with Chris McKenzie taking Davis' place. Which isn't to say that Davis wasn't still effective, but it may be time to transition a younger and cheaper starter into the defensive backfield.
WR Gerran Walker - Walker proved to be an effective #4 receiver in the latter half of the season. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's looking to be more of a feature receiver than he'll ever be in Saskatchewan - and the 'Riders shouldn't be heartbroken to let their next set of receiver recruits battle Johnny Quinn for Walker's spot in the lineup.
Probably Looking Elsewhere
LB Tad Kornegay - An effective utility defender who found his way onto the West All-Star team thanks to games missed by the likes of Maurice Lloyd, Rey Williams and Jojuan Armour, making for what figures to be a substantial gap between Kornegay's value on the field and his contract expectations in what's likely to be his only chance to get paid like a star. For a reasonable cost the 'Riders should be happy to have him back, but I'd expect him to get at least one big contract offer - and the 'Riders can get far better value finding somebody else to fill the spot rather than matching the price.
G Marc Parenteau - An effective starter last season and reserve before that. But with Belton Johnson, Bobby Harris and (most importantly) Wayne Smith returning from injuries and Joel Bell firmly entrenched at the right tackle spot, Parenteau's starting job figures to disappear in 2010. And with the re-signed Chris Best added back into a deep pool of non-import reserves, the 'Riders won't have much need to pay Parenteau a premium to stay as a backup.
RB Hugh Charles - Charles has shown glimmers of ability the past two seasons, and is worth bringing back to camp if he doesn't have greater opportunities elsewhere. But he's a clear #3 on the 'Riders' depth chart behind Cates and Foord, and based on the success of three rookie RBs in 2009 there doesn't seem to be any lack of imports ready to perform as feature runners in the CFL.
LS Jocelyn Frenette - For two seasons now, the 'Riders have kept both Frenette and Kevin Scott on their roster. And while Frenette has done well to improve his effectiveness on the 'Riders' cover teams, it's time to cut down on the number of roster spots used for long snappers.
(Edit: fixed typo.)
Showing posts with label stu foord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stu foord. Show all posts
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday Morning 'Rider Blogging
After yesterday's bludgeoning at the hands of Montreal, there isn't too much room for doubt that the 'Riders have a long way to go this season. But while some of the weaknesses exposed by the Alouettes are ones which figure to be fixed only with time and practice (Durant's decision-making) or better health (the offensive line in particular), there are a few areas where the solutions might be a lot less complicated.
To start with, the main issue on the defensive side of the ball continued to be a problem finishing off tackles. And once again, as pointed out last week by non sequitur in comments, the main culprit was Tad Kornegay - who seems to combine excellent instincts to sniff out the ball on running plays with a fundamental weakness in bringing down the ball carrier. And with the same problem surfacing in consecutive games against a power back in Jamal Robertson and a small but elusive runner in Avon Cobourne, there doesn't even seem to be much prospect of avoiding the problem by spotting Kornegay against particular types of players.
Which isn't to say that Kornegay's cover skills and versatility can't make him a useful part of the team. But his current starting linebacker role doesn't seem to be the right one - and it remains to be seen how many more big rushing games the 'Riders will give up before deciding to put another more sure tackler in the linebacking corps.
Otherwise, the defence played roughly to expectations. Granted, there were a couple of breakdowns on the Als' two passing touchdowns, but it's probably inevitable that a scheme built on confusion and misdirection will sometimes backfire. And against the Montreal in particular, the exchange of big plays resulting from the 'Riders' risk-taking probably kept the team in the game about a quarter longer than would have been possible if Calvillo had been allowed to pick apart a vanilla defence from the game's first drive.
Unfortunately, the offence looked to be generally unprepared either to strike when the Als were vulnerable, or to get Saskatchewan back in the game once Montreal started piling up points in the second half. And much of the problem seemed to revolve around Durant, who seemed hesitant to commit to running the ball even when that was the one apparent opening left by a well-balanced Montreal defence.
That said, replacing Durant with another quarterback wouldn't figure to improve matters any: in his case, better to let him play through the rough spots and hopefully learn for future games. But there was one position where the 'Riders' choice to stick with a starter seemed like a curious one.
For all his strengths as a running back, Wes Cates is seldom one to makes plays on his own. While he's a star-calibre player thanks to his blocking, pass-catching and ability to make use of blocks in front of him, he doesn't have either the speed or the shiftiness to make plays on the ground when his offensive line isn't up to par. And in a game where Cates was bound to be facing some rust and the 'Riders' line was overmatched from the start, it might have made sense to give Hugh Charles some opportunities to try to change the pace of the running game.
In fairness, though, one of the major issues for the offence in the first half was a problem with field position. But there too, I'd think there's a fairly obvious internal fix to be made.
In evaluating punt and kick returners, I'd tend to see three main issues: ball control, raw speed, and instincts to turn that speed in the right direction. And most of the 'Riders' returners this season have had trouble in at least one of those areas: Casey McGahee fumbled away the job in the preseason, Eric Morris has shown a tendency to start off returns effectively but then spin himself into the ground without reaching top speed, and Johnny Quinn's first game was marked by ill-fated attempts to run sideways or backwards which failed to generate him any space to turn upfield.
Of course, Weston Dressler showed plenty of ability in all three areas last year. But I'd agree with Ken Miller's decision that Dressler is best off focusing on his duties as a receiver - and indeed I'm not sure that it does either Dressler or the team much good to put him back on special teams when the team is struggling as seems to have been the plan so far.
Fortunately, there's another option who ranks near the top of the CFL in the few kickoff return opportunities he's received as the second returner back. And particularly given that an opportunity for Stu Foord to work on reading blocks on special teams would seem to serve him well in his development as a ratio-busting running back, I'd have to wonder if the 'Riders would be better off in both the short term and the long term giving him the role of primary returner.
Now, a few yards of field position or a couple of more sure tackles may not have made a huge amount of difference in yesterday's game. And indeed it may be that the 'Riders' best strategy for next week is to avoid overreacting and work with the lineup they have. But after a game where the team seemed to lose far too many of the small battles, I'd have to think there's reason to look for any possible source of improvement - particularly given the danger that the team might get pushed to far bigger changes if it can't make the adjustments needed to win with Durant at the helm.
(Edit: fixed typo.)
To start with, the main issue on the defensive side of the ball continued to be a problem finishing off tackles. And once again, as pointed out last week by non sequitur in comments, the main culprit was Tad Kornegay - who seems to combine excellent instincts to sniff out the ball on running plays with a fundamental weakness in bringing down the ball carrier. And with the same problem surfacing in consecutive games against a power back in Jamal Robertson and a small but elusive runner in Avon Cobourne, there doesn't even seem to be much prospect of avoiding the problem by spotting Kornegay against particular types of players.
Which isn't to say that Kornegay's cover skills and versatility can't make him a useful part of the team. But his current starting linebacker role doesn't seem to be the right one - and it remains to be seen how many more big rushing games the 'Riders will give up before deciding to put another more sure tackler in the linebacking corps.
Otherwise, the defence played roughly to expectations. Granted, there were a couple of breakdowns on the Als' two passing touchdowns, but it's probably inevitable that a scheme built on confusion and misdirection will sometimes backfire. And against the Montreal in particular, the exchange of big plays resulting from the 'Riders' risk-taking probably kept the team in the game about a quarter longer than would have been possible if Calvillo had been allowed to pick apart a vanilla defence from the game's first drive.
Unfortunately, the offence looked to be generally unprepared either to strike when the Als were vulnerable, or to get Saskatchewan back in the game once Montreal started piling up points in the second half. And much of the problem seemed to revolve around Durant, who seemed hesitant to commit to running the ball even when that was the one apparent opening left by a well-balanced Montreal defence.
That said, replacing Durant with another quarterback wouldn't figure to improve matters any: in his case, better to let him play through the rough spots and hopefully learn for future games. But there was one position where the 'Riders' choice to stick with a starter seemed like a curious one.
For all his strengths as a running back, Wes Cates is seldom one to makes plays on his own. While he's a star-calibre player thanks to his blocking, pass-catching and ability to make use of blocks in front of him, he doesn't have either the speed or the shiftiness to make plays on the ground when his offensive line isn't up to par. And in a game where Cates was bound to be facing some rust and the 'Riders' line was overmatched from the start, it might have made sense to give Hugh Charles some opportunities to try to change the pace of the running game.
In fairness, though, one of the major issues for the offence in the first half was a problem with field position. But there too, I'd think there's a fairly obvious internal fix to be made.
In evaluating punt and kick returners, I'd tend to see three main issues: ball control, raw speed, and instincts to turn that speed in the right direction. And most of the 'Riders' returners this season have had trouble in at least one of those areas: Casey McGahee fumbled away the job in the preseason, Eric Morris has shown a tendency to start off returns effectively but then spin himself into the ground without reaching top speed, and Johnny Quinn's first game was marked by ill-fated attempts to run sideways or backwards which failed to generate him any space to turn upfield.
Of course, Weston Dressler showed plenty of ability in all three areas last year. But I'd agree with Ken Miller's decision that Dressler is best off focusing on his duties as a receiver - and indeed I'm not sure that it does either Dressler or the team much good to put him back on special teams when the team is struggling as seems to have been the plan so far.
Fortunately, there's another option who ranks near the top of the CFL in the few kickoff return opportunities he's received as the second returner back. And particularly given that an opportunity for Stu Foord to work on reading blocks on special teams would seem to serve him well in his development as a ratio-busting running back, I'd have to wonder if the 'Riders would be better off in both the short term and the long term giving him the role of primary returner.
Now, a few yards of field position or a couple of more sure tackles may not have made a huge amount of difference in yesterday's game. And indeed it may be that the 'Riders' best strategy for next week is to avoid overreacting and work with the lineup they have. But after a game where the team seemed to lose far too many of the small battles, I'd have to think there's reason to look for any possible source of improvement - particularly given the danger that the team might get pushed to far bigger changes if it can't make the adjustments needed to win with Durant at the helm.
(Edit: fixed typo.)
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