Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Meaningless.
Seems like the right word that best describes the Roughriders’ season and their latest win.
The chances of making the playoffs are still alive in the realm of mathematics but when you need to win out and have every other domino fall the right way to make it happen, the realists are going to win.
However, meaningless isn’t really the word to describe the final six for the Roughriders, nor their overtime win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
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First off, there is the elephant in the room that is the pending decision by the team and the quarterback on Darian Durant’s future in Saskatchewan. If you have watched the last couple of games, there has been no doubt that Durant isn’t blowing smoke when he says he wants to play for the Riders and the Riders alone.
You’ve seen him hit like a linebacker to knock a ball loose after an interception and take over a game late like last week’s win over the Eskimos. He’s taken the extra hit to gain the extra yard and that is the what the team needs from veterans to have trickle throughout a very young locker room.
However, there are no guarantees, certainly in the Chris Jones regime as to who stays and who goes. It all has to make sense for both sides but the head coach has only said glowing things about his quarterback. Now we’ll see if the vice president and general manager can work out a deal that makes sense.
And that’s what can make the final third of the season meaningful for the Riders and Durant, if not on the field than off.
The VP and GM also has to take these final six games of the season to get further evaluation to know what pieces belong and which ones don’t for year two of Chris Jones’ rebuild of the Riders.
In a conversation earlier this season with Ottawa General Manager Marcel Desjardins, he didn’t shy away from comparing the Riders of 2016 to the REDBLACKS of 2014, almost an entirely new roster that took a considerable amount of time to gel and set in that family feeling that great teams need.
Desjardins took that first season, found the major holes and filled them via free agency in the off-season. They were primarily on the offensive side of the ball with the complete overhaul at receiver.
The Riders definitely have similar holes to fill. Jones has yet to find the defensive lineman that set the tone for his defence like he’s had in the past. It may just be where he spends any extra cash this off-season if nobody impresses during the final third of this season.
What’s next for Chris Jones and his Roughriders? (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)
Jones’ defences are usually ranked high in two categories: sacks and turnovers. The Riders are dead last in both this season and most of that is due to the lack of pressure up front.
The Riders also need to shore up the offensive line. Nothing hurt more than losing Chris Best in training camp and Brendon LaBatte early in the season but the lack of depth of Canadian offensive linemen was noted going into training camp. After the injuries, veteran Andrew Jones hasn’t played well enough to be a regular and then the team was dealing with rookie holdout Josiah St. John and Matt Vonk, who made his first start of his three year career a few weeks ago.
More snaps for both those young players in the final few games can only help in the long term.
Then there will be the inevitable, when the playoff math is at 0.0000 for the Riders and the team can start looking at some practice roster players in spot duty.
The other reality will be the likelihood quarterbacks not named Darian Durant get starts in the final few weeks. This can accomplish two very important things: Durant stays healthy going into the off-season after back to back off-seasons full of rehab; and you get to evaluate other players at the most important position.
Mitchell Gale got starts early this season, but the team may also want to take a look at Brandon Bridge as well.
But with all this being said, the Riders’ win over the Eskimos gives them extra hope to make the playoffs and that’s the mindset of an athlete — they never give up, nor should they.
Their attitude will always be ‘why not us’. Why can’t these Roughriders do the unthinkable and make the post season with 0.07 per cent chance going into the final six.
‘You’re kidding me, right?’
That’s probably the question your asking yourself, but talk to any pro. If they still have a chance, they believe they can make it happen.
Thanks to that mindset, Chris Jones will have a team playing desperate football to allow him to further evaluate the above to make the decisions he feels are best to make sure they aren’t relying on mathematics to keep their playoff hopes alive at this time next season.
