CFL Fantasy Podcast, Ep. 40: ‘Boycott average’
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are wreaking havoc, both on the field and in Fantasy.
Not only have Cody Fajardo, William Powell and Shaq Evans continued their emergence as top lineup picks every week, but the defence is making life difficult for opposing offences every time out.
Both of these factors should draw extra consideration this week in TSN CFL Fantasy presented by LeoVegas.
“Craig Dickenson taking over and Chris Jones leaving, they go out and make a couple of big additions,” said Pat Steinberg. “I really like this Riders team the way they’re playing, I like the way they’ve got a bit of an attitude and this offence is far and away better than we thought it was going to be.”
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The Riders are playing with confidence right now, something the REDBLACKS learned the hard way in a Week 11 loss. Dominique Davis threw an interception on each of his first three drives, while the Riders’ turnover chain — bearing the slogan ‘boycott average’ — saw plenty of use.
“Love the swag, it feels like a 2019 version Swaggerville,” said Jeff Krever. “To me, it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders having fun again.”
“I was going to say it’s more in your face, but I don’t know if anything’s more in your face than Swaggerville was,” added Hannah Nordman. “It effective. Especially when it’s gaudy like it is. It’s bedazzled, there’s watermelon on it. But that’s kind of the point. It’s over the top, it’s hideous and they got to wear it with pride, four times that game.”
There was lots to talk about on the CFL Fantasy Podcast presented by LeoVegas this week, from Chris Streveler‘s winning debut to the Andrew Harris suspension. Steinberg, Krever and Nordman get you ready for Mark’s Labour Day Weekend:
For Krever, the Riders’ recent success — including five straight wins — is a return to the last couple of seasons when Chris Jones was the head coach.
“Everyone thought maybe they lost a bit of that swagger when Chris Jones left,” said Krever. “These were the big bad Riders — the Chris Jones empire, big new stadium, all these athletic DBs, blitzing, aggressive defence. They were the bad guys in the CFL and coming into this year you went, ‘well, I don’t know if they’ve got this anymore’.
“Chris Jones was the identity of this team. It feels to me like they’re getting a little bit of that back. Yes, it was the Ottawa REDBLACKS, everybody talks about the level of competition. But to me this is a team that’s scary and has a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball.”
With the Bombers missing Matt Nichols and Andrew Harris, and the Eskimos and Stamps struggling to win consistently, the door might be wide open for the Riders to win the West.
“I like the chain, I like the swagger and this team is going right now,” said Steinberg. “If the playoffs started today, they’d be hosting the West Division Semi.”
