ANALYSIS: THE ROUGHRIDERS WERE BUILT TO LOSE
By: Braedyn Wozniak, RP Show Intern
Roughriders A “House with Leaky Windows” – Mike Richards
The drum is getting beat to death, but with the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2022 playoff hopes officially snuffed out (un-officially snuffed out since Labour Day) it’s time to look to the future.
Raw Mike Richards, host of his own talk show on Sauga 960, voiced his opinion on the Rod Pedersen Show Monday.
“(When) I look at what they have done this year and the way some teams go about their business, I only look at one place. And I’m just looking at ownership,” he said. “I look at consistency of message and if it doesn’t trickle all the way down, it is your fault.”
Placing blame for this season is a near impossible task. Fajardo’s gotten blame, Craig Dickenson’s gotten blame, Jeremy O’Day has gotten blame, everyone has gotten blame.
I think it’s fair to say everyone owns a chunk of responsibility for this whole debacle. But responsibility surely lies greater upon those who have the greatest power. Those at the top.
“Everyone’s getting mad at Fajardo and Craig Dickenson,” said Richards. “The reality is someone chose that guy to play that position. They’re paying him money because they believe that he was the right fit.”
“If there’s a wrong fit, I’ve got to look at the general manager and evaluation of that athlete, or the guys who are hiring the guys. That’s always where the problem is, and good ownership you can see because it’s consistent.”
The Riders will surely clean house after this disaster. Once they predictably lose to Calgary this Saturday in the last week of the season, they will have lost 11 of their last 13 games.
A brutal ending for a team that started 4-1 and had aspirations of hoisting the Grey Cup at home in Regina like they did in 2013.
So much talent was acquired at skilled positions, but lack of respect for building an offensive line by O’Day, who was an offensive lineman for the Riders himself, destroyed any dreams this team had.
“It’s like building a house where you have this great blueprint and you decide you’re going to have all these wonderful furnishings inside the interiors and then you go cheap on the windows and the windows leak,” said Richards.
“You don’t sit there and go ‘Ahh the window guy was garbage, he was junk.’ No, you hired that person to do that job. If they weren’t good in protecting, in this case, the house, or your quarterback, you can’t win. It’s as simple as that.”
What stings more is the fact that the core of this team has talent, and they have proven to be capable of competing. In 2019, a Fajardo pass doinked off the crossbar of the uprights and cost them a chance at beating Winnipeg and advancing to the Grey Cup.
How quickly things have changed. With an in incredibly leaky offensive line and a losing culture quickly taking over, the Riders front office has serious work to do this off-season.
They may try to scapegoat Fajardo and Dickenson, but O’Day and company are in deep water and may have run out of oxygen.
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV and WQEE Radio. Call you cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
Rod, what are your odds that JO actually and deservedly gets canned?
50/50
what about the President (the book keeper), what are his chances of keeping his job? still 50/50???? One thing I noticed the whole year is ODay and the President (forgot his name) have not made their presence felt the whole year. I saw one interview with ODay, thats it.
The entire operation is a complete mess. It starts and it ends at the top. This is what happens when someone forces a hire on someone. The people in the roles reach their level of incompetence, they were not placed in there based on merit. Case in point. We are now making Jim Hopson a diety like figure in Riderlore. The bottom line is he had a business accumen, Type A personality, a mandate to make change, and a background that showed he can do it. He also understands football so nobody in Football Ops is going to snow him.… Read more »
I am thinking Marc Trestman as the HC. May need to lure him with the GM job as well but go out and get him. He loves the CFL and I think he is involved in the USFL or one of those junk leagues in the US.
Agreed. Sim up the keadership, or lack thereof, in one word:
Accountant.
Case closed.
Great comment!!
Rod, I have commented on this point a few times. Fajardo is still a good choice, IF you get the other pieces sorted out. By that I mean, start with the Oline, it needs to be way, way better. Then go to the DLine, it needs to be way way better. Add to that an OCoordinator who is better than Maas. Plus, perhaps get a receiver or 2 that are a bit more robust than the Riders. Back to Cody…….who else do they have in mind?? Better have a replacement in mind before you fire who you have. BLM is… Read more »
As a long time season ticket holder, they bring in NLM, I’m out!
It wasn’t just the O Line. After Marino was cut, the pass rush disappeared. I saw poor tackling, especially in the secondary. And all those long pass completions! Ouch!