5 Things to Know for 2025: Saskatchewan Roughriders

Kristina Costabile

CFL.ca

@kcostabile1

As the 2025 season approaches, CFL.ca is here to catch you up with the 5 Things To Know series. Each article will look at key storylines facing each team this season, while examining off-season movement and where your team might stand in 2025.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

In their second season under head coach Corey Mace, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are looking pretty similar to how they did last year. And that’s just how they would like it.

Continuity is the name of the game, with plenty of stars, including starting quarterback Trevor Harris, returning for 2025.

After exiting the playoffs just one game away from suiting up in the 111th Grey Cup, the Riders will be hoping that familiarity on the roster, along with a few new additions, will push them over the top to get to the championship in Winnipeg this November.

Here are five things to know about the Saskatchewan Roughriders ahead of CFL Kickoff on June 5.

THAT’S A DIFFERENT LOOKING QB ROOM

The starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders is the same as it was in 2024: Trevor Harris. He signed a new one-year deal in December before his contract expired, after being named the West Division’s All-CFL quarterback last season. Harris threw for 20 touchdown passes and 3,264 yards in just 12 regular games and also completed 72.4 per cent of his passes, setting a franchise single-season record for accuracy. He showed no signs of slowing down last year and some analysts are even predicting he could win MOP this year.

What is different is Harris’ backups with two former Calgary Stampeders joining the QB room. Jake Maier signed a one-year deal with the team in January after he was acquired by Saskatchewan in a trade with the Stamps in December. Tommy Stevens hit the free agent market in February and signed with the Riders on the day his contract expired.

Maier and Stevens bring different skillsets to their new team that offensive coordinator Marc Mueller will be excited about using.

Stevens excelled at short yardage with his big frame (six-foot-four and 245-pounds), racking up 10 touchdowns on the ground (tied with Chris Streveler for most in the CFL last year). His longest touchdown scamper was 69 yards and was, funnily enough, against the Riders back in Week 16. Maier has proven himself to be a starter in the CFL, taking over the role from Bo Levi Mitchell in Calgary.

And while he may not suit up this year, the Riders also added Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke in last week’s CFL Draft, a pick that could pay off in the long term.

THAT’S NOT A DIFFERENT RECEIVERS ROOM, THOUGH

There’s one group on the Riders roster that is counting on continuity and that’s the receivers.

Kian Schaffer-Baker, Shawn Bane Jr., Samuel Emilus, and KeeSean Johnson are all on the roster for this season, giving Harris a group of reliable, explosive pass-catchers that he already has chemistry with.

Schaffer-Baker and Emilus are two of the top Canadian playmakers in the CFL while Bane Jr. hit 1,000-yards in 2023, his last full season, and Johnson is on the cusp of breaking out.

General manager Jeremy O’Day also extended Mario Alford (returner extraordinaire but can also pinch hit as a receiver if need be; remember the game in Hamilton last season?) and depth Canadian Mitch Picton during free agency earlier this off-season.

Everyone usually talks about new additions to teams, but don’t sleep on this group. With another year in the same system, this receiving corps could be even better in 2025.

THERE’S A NEW(ISH) GUY IN THE DB ROOM

He hasn’t been here for a while, spending a handful of years in the NFL, but CFL fans remember Tevaughn Campbell very well and now he’s back north of the border, signing with the Roughriders.

Campbell made waves at the CFL Combine in 2015, running a 4.36-second forty-yard dash, which is the fastest electronically-timed dash in the history of the combine. The six-foot, 200-pound defensive back went on to get selected in the third round, 22nd overall, during the 2015 CFL Draft by the Calgary Stampeders.

The 31-year-old will join a secondary that’s already stacked with talent. 2024 Most Outstanding Defensive Player Rolan Milligan Jr., who led the CFL with eight interceptions, returns as does the ever-dangerous corner Marcus Sayles. Canadian Nelson Lokombo and second-year DaMarcus Fields are also ready to suit up in 2025.

With his experience playing at the pro level on both sides of the border, Campbell could help the Riders take its already dangerous defence to another level.

BEEFING UP THE DEFENSIVE LINE

Mike Rose coming up BIG ‼️#CFLGameDay: LIVE on TSN
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/GHEgLEq8H1

— CFL (@CFL) August 5, 2024

Sure, the Roughriders didn’t really have a problem getting after the quarterback in 2024, they were fourth in the league with 38 sacks, but why not add a little more beef in the trenches?

The team went out and signed Shane Ray this off-season, reuniting Ray and Mace, who were together in 2022 in Toronto, along with signing Mike Rose. Ray brings familiarity with his new coach and eight career sacks to Riderville while Rose (36 career QB takedowns) links back up with Micah Johnson after the pair were teammates in Calgary in 2017 and 2018.

Those two new guys join Malik Carney, Johnson and Canadians Lake Korte-Moore and Charbel Dabire in what could be, on paper that is, one of the most ferocious defensive lines in the CFL this season.

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR YEAR NO. 2 UNDER COREY MACE?

Corey Mace’s first year as head coach was pretty successful by all accounts. He helped his team secure a home playoff date after the Riders missed the last two post-seasons and advanced to the Western Final. After finishing 9-8-1 in the regular season, Mace was named the West Division’s Coach of the Year.

It’s worth noting that Mace was also the team’s defensive coordinator and he put his signature all over the defence. Saskatchewan finished the regular season as the best team against the run (80.3 yards per game on the ground) and in forcing turnovers (49). The unit was also second in opponent net offence (356.1 yards per game) and was third in offensive points allowed (23.0 per game) and touchdowns allowed (42).

So what’s next for him in year two?

I haven’t talked to Mace this off-season but I can almost guarantee he’d say he’d want his team to get to the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg. We’ll have to wait and see if that comes true but his journey to get there will begin when the season kicks off on June 5 in Saskatchewan.

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