Piffles Top 5 – Things to Watch For Riders vs Stampeders
Published: Thursday, Jun 22nd 2023, 10:06pm
By Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD)
1. Brett Lauther – I love me some Brett Lauther, he has earned himself some leeway as the Riders kicker over his career. But he’s been quite shaky all season long, including the preseason. Can he turn it around this week? I said after last week’s game that it was time for some legit competition to challenge him, but I hope he can shut us up and turn in a perfect game.
2. Can Samuel Emilus stay hot? What a breakout game for second year receiver Sam Emilus last week with the first three touchdowns of his career! What’s in store next? Is he able to build off that game and continue his new found chemistry with Trevor Harris? With Derel Walker on the 6-game injured list, the Riders need guys like Emilus (Tevin Jones & Shawn Bane Jr.) to step up.
3. Pressure, Pressure, Pressure! – Outside of a sack on a hail mary play at the end of the first half last week, the Riders D got precisely zero pressure on Zach Collaros. That needs to change against Calgary this week. Jason Shivers’ defense needs to get creative with stunts and blitzes this week and force some turnovers from Jake Maier.
4. Tackles – Fresh off his 2 game suspension for PEDs, Colin Kelly is able to play this week against the Stamps. It’ll be good for the Riders to have experience at tackle going forward. And it won’t just be Colin Kelly getting a starting spot, training camp #1 Left Tackle Jerald Hawkins has returned to the team and appears poised to make the start this week, despite not getting a single snap in the preseason. Sure hope his conditioning is there, he hasn’t played meaningful snaps in years.
5. Action Jaxon – With the injury to starting safety Jayden Dalke, it appears that the Riders are turning to Jaxon Ford to make his first CFL start in just his third game in the league. There are a lot of injuries to the Riders right now, but Ford is ahead of Nelson Lokombo, Godfrey Onyeka and the recently returning Kosi Onyeka on the depth chart. While I don’t expect a perfect game, I’m really going to try and focus on him and see what he has.
We previewed this game on the latest episode of the Piffles Podcast. Have a listen or watch on YouTube!
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