Rob Vanstone
The Leader Post

REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offence had plenty of speed in 2011, at least in one respect.

Nobody got off the field faster.

This is not a reference to one-play, 80-yard eruptions, but instead an allusion to the abbreviated, futile possessions that contributed to the Roughriders’ dizzying descent to the bottom of the Canadian Football League standings.

Newly appointed head coach Corey Chamblin has been empowered to find a remedy. He has quickly, and correctly, identified team speed as a priority. In fact, that was the first issue he raised upon meeting members of Regina’s media horde on Friday afternoon.

“If you look at the things about last year, there were some issues when we talk about team speed,’’ Chamblin said. “We want to get more speed as a team.’’

Chamblin is not focusing exclusively on the offence. He pointed out that improved speed is also paramount on defence and special teams.

But if you look at the 2011 Roughriders — as excruciating as that may be — the primary deficiency was the offence. And a clear deficiency on offence was speed, or lack thereof.

“Earlier in the year, I think that the receivers’ speed was slower,’’ said Chamblin, who was the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive coordinator in 2011.

“But when I looked at the last game, those same guys looked faster. I think that was because some of the guys were newer and they were learning the new system. Sometimes it’s not just the overall athletic speed when I talk about speed, but there’s also the mental part of knowing what you’re supposed to do and playing the game and utilizing the waggle and different things.

“I think overall we were good, but we want to be better.’’

Last season, the Riders’ only pure burner was Weston Dressler, but even someone with his wheels was seldom able to hit overdrive. His average per catch was a career-low 13.4 yards.

Chamblin said the statistical decline was partially attributable to the extended absences of receivers Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg, who had helped the Riders reach the Grey Cup in 2009 and 2010.

“I coached against this team,’’ Chamblin said.

“It’s different when you have certain receivers there, and now when you have guys who aren’t playing fast because they’re not sure where they’re supposed to be, it’s easy for you to roll coverage right over to Weston. It’s easy for you to double. It’s easy for defences to say, ‘We know this is where the ball is going,’ so there’s a lot of different factors.

“Weston did some good things in a couple of games with deep balls. It’s not going to be one person in this offence. He’ll get his deep (passes). Whoever else we have will get theirs. But the whole thing is, total team-wise, we have to use what we have better, and we have to bring in better (personnel) so that this is a better team.’’

That mindset does not preclude the Roughriders from featuring players who do not run the 40-yard dash in, say, 4.3 seconds.

Take Wes Cates, for example. He will be 33 by season’s end. Even in his prime, he was not a burner. Yet, Chamblin envisions a possible role for Cates, whose receiving ability out of the backfield could be utilized situationally.

The younger, faster Brandon West is more of a breakaway threat from the tailback position, but he is unpolished as a receiver.

Cates was an integral component of Roughriders teams that won three West Division titles in a four-year span, including the league championship season of 2007.

Chamblin was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defensive backs coach when they lost to Saskatchewan in the 2007 Grey Cup. He spent the following three seasons as the Calgary Stampeders’ defensive backs coach. The Riders beat Calgary in the 2009 and 2010 West finals.

“I’m very familiar with this team, and when it was on a high,’’ Chamblin said.

“I think what happens is there’s transition, because being in two Grey Cups, the next natural progression in the third Grey Cup would be a win. Sometimes we have to make changes, and sometimes transition doesn’t happen as fast as you would like. But when you look at the overall team speed, there were some areas where they weren’t as fast as they once were. Once again, it wasn’t just the athletic ability. It was more so the chemistry of playing fast together.’’

Or descending fast together, as was the case last season.