GDT OTT @ SSK 8pm Thu Jun 5, 2025

[TecnoGenius]

Season opener game.  It's a W vs E game, so as always, we root for the E to rob our divisional rivals of 2 points.

SSK:

OL woes are apparent, and they're forced to go 3 IMP OL.  Yoshi is back.

Because of that they're forced to start 3 NAT REC!  KSB, Busby, Emilus.  Meyers/Johnson round out the corps.  To me this looks like the weakest corps in a while.

QB-crippling Miles Brown is gone (to CGY).  DL still looks decent.  LBers look strong.

If I'm playing SSK, I'm chucking it solely to the strong side, which has only Fields (fans hated him in '24), and NAT Campbell at corner.  The weak side should be stout with (our!) Sayles and (apparently #2 best CFL player) Milligan.

4 QBs are dressing, which is strange... doesn't that mean they have to take off a DI?  They still show 4 DIs (aka DAs), so I'm not sure how this makes sense.

https://www.riderfans.com/filedata/fetch?id=1226626


OTT:

OL mostly the same.  QB room missing Masoli (gone somewhere else).  Call it a wash.

Gino Lewis will be deadly.  Their whole REC corps will be deadly, with only NAT Keelan White at the "token NAT" wide out position being a question mark.

They clearly mark, and will clearly use, the DNA/DNS trick with Adeboboye starting in front of Stanback.  Stanback will get near 25 snaps for sure.  Nice, and smart, ratio cheat code.

DL mostly the same: should be stout.  LB gets Pickett back from injury.  With JSK they should be strong.

DB corps gains Henderson, but with only Priester of note there, they would appear to be weak at DB (though Pickett will help unless pinned).  If I'm facing OTT, I'm chucking it up a lot, especially that weak side.

https://www.riderfans.com/filedata/fetch?id=1226634

Should be a great game!  Both teams look middling.  Both have decent continuity.  I could see a lot of points being put up, especially by OTT.

Let's go REDBLACKS, let's go!

[Jesse]

Go Dru!

Something we haven't brought up yet, with Zach's one year extension, it lines up his and Dru's contracts again. If Zach wants to hang them up after '26, Brown is currently available for '27.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Should be an entertaining tilt!

Watching Riders lose is always a favourite past time.

Go Bob Dyce Go

[Blueforlife]

Techno thanks so much for the deep dive!!!!

[markf]

Yes...

Good analysis. Thanks.

For Harris' sake I Hope Sask has some quick hitters, or a ground game  or something to slow down Ottaw D line.

I assume this will be suitor.  Unfortunate.

[Waffler]

My 2¢.  Home field advantage helps. Wondering if Regina is still the league capital for late/dirty QB take downs. First two games are sometimes preseason-like and hard to predict.

[Stats Junkie]

4 QBs are dressing, which is strange... doesn't that mean they have to take off a DI?  They still show 4 DIs (aka DAs), so I'm not sure how this makes sense.

The Roughriders issued an updated depth chart yesterday - Jack Coan is on the 1-game injured list

[theaardvark]

Go Dru!

Something we haven't brought up yet, with Zach's one year extension, it lines up his and Dru's contracts again. If Zach wants to hang them up after '26, Brown is currently available for '27.

Dru has no reason to come back to Winnipeg.  We chose Zach over him, and Ottawa chose him.

Buck is gone, many of the players he was here with are gone.

Short of Ottawa being a complete dumpster fire, I can't see any reason for Dru to even consider coming west again.

[blue_or_die]

Dru has no reason to come back to Winnipeg.  We chose Zach over him, and Ottawa chose him.

Buck is gone, many of the players he was here with are gone.

Short of Ottawa being a complete dumpster fire, I can't see any reason for Dru to even consider coming west again.

did your account get hacked?

[Blueforlife]

Dru has no reason to come back to Winnipeg.  We chose Zach over him, and Ottawa chose him.

Buck is gone, many of the players he was here with are gone.

Short of Ottawa being a complete dumpster fire, I can't see any reason for Dru to even consider coming west again.

Money is why he would come
O and Grey Cups lol
Wait, cheaper to live here and also playing the best fans and a packed house
Will it happen, who knows but I would love that

[theaardvark]

did your account get hacked?

I'd love to see Dru back, but who was the last QB that left the team that gave him a starting job voluntarily.

To think that Ottawa could not offer him the same money we could, well, it is an $SMS league.

Like I said, other than Ott becoming a dumpster fire, or Winnipeg having no QB development success over the next 2 years and still maintaining their GC contender status, I really don't see us being able to sign him.

If he does well this year, OTT will extend him again, they'd be stupid not to.  And if he doesn't do well, why would we want him back?

Its just not a scenario I see playing out.  Wish we could have, still think we could have stayed with him over Zach and done very well, but that was never going to happen with our management.

[Blueforlife]

I'd love to see Dru back, but who was the last QB that left the team that gave him a starting job voluntarily.

To think that Ottawa could not offer him the same money we could, well, it is an $SMS league.

Like I said, other than Ott becoming a dumpster fire, or Winnipeg having no QB development success over the next 2 years and still maintaining their GC contender status, I really don't see us being able to sign him.

If he does well this year, OTT will extend him again, they'd be stupid not to.  And if he doesn't do well, why would we want him back?

Its just not a scenario I see playing out.  Wish we could have, still think we could have stayed with him over Zach and done very well, but that was never going to happen with our management.

If Dru is lucky will play for 10 more years and will likely play for at least a couple different teams but yes Ottawa would be silly to move on from him anytime soon.  He will follow the $.

[gobombersgo]

[gobombersgo]

[gobombersgo]

Saskatchewan Roughriders to field four new starters for season-opener against Ottawa
By 3Down Staff -June 4, 2025

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will field four new starters when they host the Ottawa Redblacks for their season-opener on Thursday.

Payton Collins, a 24-year-old rookie out of Eastern Kentucky, will start at left tackle as Trevon Tate has been moved to left guard. Collins is six-foot-seven and 301 pounds and allowed only seven sacks on 2,209 collegiate pass-blocking snaps.

The Roughriders have two new starters along the defensive line, though neither are new to the CFL. Mike Rose, who was brought in following his release from the Calgary Stampeders, will start at defensive tackle, while Shane Ray will start at defensive end following a stint in the NFL. Ray won a Grey Cup with head coach Corey Mace with the Argonauts in 2022.

Saskatchewan will have start Tevaughn Campbell at field-side cornerback. The 31-year-old native of Scarborough, Ont. joined the team as a free agent in February after a six-year NFL stint with the New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Jacksonville Jaguars. Campbell played collegiately at the University of Regina.

The rest of the team's starting lineup is comprised of holdovers from last season, including franchise quarterback Trevor Harris, running back A.J. Ouellette, star Canadian receivers Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus, defensive tackle Micah Johnson, middle linebacker Jameer Thurman, and boundary halfback Rolan Milligan Jr., the league's reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

The Roughriders went 9-8-1 last season to finish second in the West Division, including a 5-4 record at home. The team tied its first meeting with Ottawa before winning the subsequent matchup at Mosaic Stadium by a score of 29-16.

Saskatchewan placed eight players on the one-game injured list, including quarterback Jack Coan, fullback Albert Awachie, receivers Shawn Bane Jr. and Tommy Nield, offensive linemen Jacob Brammer and Braydon Noll, and defensive backs Jaxon Ford and Kosi Onyeka. Mace had previously indicated that he expected Brammer to start this week, though he will not.

Three Canadian players have officially been placed on the six-game injured list, including offensive linemen Sean McEwen and Philippe Gagnon and defensive lineman Charbel Dabire.

Thursday's game is scheduled to kick-off at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

https://3downnation.com/2025/06/04/saskatchewan-roughriders-to-field-four-new-starters-for-season-opener-against-ottawa/