Riders Roster Still Provides Questions
Published: Monday, Jun 6th 2022, 2:06am
by Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD)
On Sunday, the Riders announced their cuts and practice roster going into the 2021 Regular Season and while there weren’t many surprises, I still have questions in a few spots going forward.
Among the notable names released include DB Blace Brown, DB A.J. Hendy, RB Shaq Cooper and WR Jester Weah.
Weah had a really good camp from all accounts and had a great TD grab in the first preseason game last Tuesday against the Bombers. The Riders elected to keep Dieuly Aristilde Jr on the practice roster (who also had a good camp).
And that’s where my first question on this roster comes in. What do the Riders do at receiver while Kyran Moore is sidelined?
Well the simple, quick answer is go with Jakob Prall, who was given every chance with the #1s against BC on Friday night. I don’t think he looked bad by any means, but he didn’t excite me. The coaching staff must really see something out of him as it looks like he’ll be the 5th receiver, joining Duke Williams, Shaq Evans, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Justin McInnis.
I’m interested in this receiving group going forward, because GM Jeremy O’Day has made it a priority over the last few drafts to bring in a plethora of Canadian receivers. They may even start 3 Canadians at receiver as the season progresses with KSB, McInnis and Wesley Lewis (former Redblack) or this year’s 1st round pick Samuel Emilus.
Cutting veteran RB Shaq Cooper also cleared way for newcomer Frankie Hickson to make the active roster and it appears he and incumbent Jamal Morrow will lead the run game. But who leads?
I like Morrow, but he doesn’t wow me as a runner. Hickson had a really nice preseason and I hope that he gets plenty of chances in the regular season to take that job and (haha) run with it. (Get it?) It just remains to be seen what the rotation will look like. Here’s hoping that we have found our next Kenton Keith or Kory Sheets.
The rest of the roster appears to be what we all have assumed going forward and I’m excited to see how this team looks on Saturday afternoon against Hamilton. Can’t wait to see everyone at Mosaic for the season opener!
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