A View From The Stands – Pre Season Game 1 Edition

A View From The Stands – Pre Season Game 1 Edition

Published: Saturday, Jun 1st 2019, 1:06pm

By: Sheldon Jones (@Sheldon_Jones83)

• – Thankfully i was NOT in the stands for the game. Glad the smoke cleared but i can not handle a smokey day like it was earlier in the day.
• – Watching the game on TSN but also listening in to Derek Taylor’s debut as the new Voice of the Riders. I knew he had experience doing play by play back in the day at the University of Manitoba but i think he did a very good job. Can’t say it enough that he was a great hire for CKRM and all Rider fans.
• – Love the shoe choice by Menard-Briere, however not much else noteworthy about him. Jon Ryan and Brett (FUQN’) Lauther’s jobs are set in stone, but the Riders have kept a kicker on the practice roster in the past so maybe they can develop him a bit more.
• – Good first series for Cody Fajardo. Threw the ball well and on target. By far the best QB on the field for the Riders and should have solidified his spot as the number 2.
• – Good First punt for Jon Ryan as well. Interesting that Dickenson choose to punt on 3rd and less than a yard but i think it was a great choice. Get a quick look at a game situation with your punt team. Jon had a shaky second punt but looked to knock the rust off. With our starters in our special teams will be game changers and we should win the field position game this season.
• – Going to be very hard for #26 McRoberts to make the team when you not only get a PI penalty in goal but then also are offside when the Defense make the second consecutive stop on 2nd and goal…
• – Not a good look for the first Global player to miss a convert and then get a delay of game penalty on the ensuing kickoff but i will state that i for one am excited about CFL 2.0 nonetheless.
• – I am ecstatic that the CFL employed 2 female officials for the game. Hopefully this will lead to some full time female officials.
• – Love seeing Fajardo scrambling. Love the receivers and running backs throwing blocks even more!
• – Butler looks good, shifty. Morrow also looked good, i know running backs are a dime a dozen but looks like we will have a serviceable backup in case Powell gets injured.
• – Like the play of Davis # 35 on defense. Two tipped balls and looked to cover well. Bouka looked good as well.
• – Not worried about our secondary as none of the starters were playing. If there are significant injuries we could be in trouble but our starting secondary is second to none…
• – Local boy Mitch Picton shakes off an early fumble with a couple good catches just before the end of the first half. I look for the Riders to keep Mitch and the two draft picks and let Watson go, but he will have to perform in game number 2 on Thursday.
• – Harker looks good under pressure. After today’s game i would have my QB depth chart as Collaros, Fajargo and Harper. This is Watford’s 3rd year and i see more potential in developing Harker.
• – Hard to be pissed off at Calgary for blitzing after we sent a safety blitz in the 3rd quarter. Usually coaches won’t blitz in the exhibition but you need to practice your blitzes too.
• – All in all it was everything that a preseason game is, the team that plays their starters gets off to a good start then it’s a crap shoot from there. IMO the score doesn’t matter in the preseason but there will always be those “fans” that will be saying that the sky is falling, but we are going to be OK.
• – Looking forward to Thursday. I know preseason football is not that exciting but i have been waiting 6 months for live football and i couldn’t be happier that the wait is over. The weather looks great and it’s going to be a fun night down at Mosaic. I don’t know about you, but i will have Long Live the Night on repeat all week long.