Scruffy’s This N That

1 – RIDER FREE AGENTS: The CFL has released what players will become free agents in February. Jeremy O’Day and crew have to look at 32 players, which is more than any other team, and decide if they want to try and have them continue their CFL careers in Saskatchewan or let them go somewhere else. You obviously can’t keep everyone, even guys you want to retain for one reason or another, but with the Riders starting to build something some decisions have to be made as to what players you want to keep for continuity sake while looking at who else is available.

When I look at the Riders list, Trevor Harris is priority number one and he will be back. If there are five on the list that need to be back in my mind, it would be Harris, Micah Johnson, Anthony Lanier, Jameer Thurman and Shea Patterson. I’m sure my list differs from yours so let the debate begin. 

2 – THE QUARTERBACK SHUFFLE: The ink is barely dry on the CFL season and the quarterback shuffle has started. I think we all knew Vernon Adams was getting traded, but did we think he would be moved before December 1? I didn’t! The trade itself also surprised me as it involved draft picks with no players moving from Calgary to BC. 

Adams going to Cowtown settles the QB spot in Calgary and Davis Alexander’s signing settles things in Montreal. With all that has gone on, I would expect Trevor Harris to be signing a one-year deal or a modest two-year deal in Saskatchewan but that leaves others looking for a home.

In the West, the only question mark is in Edmonton. Do the Elkimos re-sign and elevate Tre Ford to the starter’s position. In the East, is Bo Levi Mitchell staying in Hamilton and is Dru Brown the guy in Ottawa?

As it stands right now, Jake Maier and Cody Fajardo are the two names looking for work. Nothing against either, but I don’t want either coming here as the number two guy. In fact, I am happy with the QB room as it stands right now. Re-sign Shea Patterson and continue developing Jack Coan. Give them another year in the Marc Mueller offence. Speaking of which……..

3 – MARC MUELLER: I have to admit I was caught a little off-guard when TSN’s Farhan Lalji (aka: the Adam Schefter of the CFL) said the BC Lions had asked for permission to speak with Riders OC Marc Mueller about their head coaching vacancy.

I think Marc Mueller can be and will be a CFL head coach, but I don’t think he is ready right now. I was somewhat surprised to see the Regina boy come back to be the OC of the Riders because of the fishbowl he is in and the fact he would be pestered more by his father (sorry Larry and yes I’m joking) but he flourished in year one.

I think he needs some more seasoning and he is in a good spot, but if he can land the job in BC or anywhere, good on him.

4 – GAMEBREAKER NEEDED: There is some talk around Riderville that GM Jeremy O’Day needs to go out and find a gamebreaker in free agency — someone who can flip the field in one play like Kenny Lawler or Eugene Lewis. Is Samuel Emilus not that person? I think it is fair to say that determining the status of Trevor Harris is priority number 1 for the green-and-white in the off-season, but I don’t think finding a gamebreaker is priority number 2. What area do you think the Riders need to improve before training camp starts?

5 – THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF: I didn’t like how college football morphed into some super conferences with the addition of teams. It’s still not ideal in my mind, but I LOVE the 12-team college football playoff format. We have seen some tremendous matchups already and the best is yet to come. The fact that teams 5-8 get home games and aren’t playing at a bowl will create some crazy atmospheres. The only thing I don’t want to see is conference matchups in a playoff game and we have two of those as it stands right now, but that can and likely will change as conference championships are held. Sign me up!

6 – NFL WEEK 13:  American Thanksgiving gave us an early start to Week 13 of the season with two “interesting” finishes, but there is a regular slate of games on Sunday.  Here are some notes to get you ready.

• Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating (117.9) and passing yards (3,053) and ranks tied for first in touchdown passes (27) entering Week 13. In his past four home starts, Jackson has 10 touchdown passes with one interception and a 142.2 passer rating. On Sunday against Philadelphia, Jackson can become the third quarterback all-time with a passer rating of 140-or-higher in five consecutive home starts within a season, joining Drew Brees (141.0 rating in 2018 with New Orleans) and Aaron Rodgers (140.9 rating in 2014 with Green Bay).
• In 11 games this season, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has 2,404 passing yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception and has not thrown an interception since Week 2. On Sunday at Atlanta, Herbert can join Aaron Rodgers (2018) as the only players in NFL history with at least 2,500 passing yards and one-or-fewer interceptions in his first 12 games of a season and become the third player in NFL history without an interception in 10 consecutive games (minimum 15 pass attempts in each game) within a single season, joining Tom Brady (11 consecutive games in 2010) and Derek Carr (10 in 2018).
• Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix has eight touchdown passes with no interceptions for a 118.6 rating in his past three starts and joined Dak Prescott (Weeks 9-11, 2016) are the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history with eight-or-more touchdown passes and zero interceptions in a three-game span.

7 – AT THE QUARTER POLE:  We have hit American Thanksgiving.  Is your NHL team in a playoff spot right now?  As Elliotte Friedman pointed out a few years ago, if your team is in a playoff spot at this time of year, chances are extremely high they will be in the Stanley Cup chase as the season hits the one-quarter mark.

187 of 256 teams (73 percent) that have made the playoffs going back to the 2005-06 season were in a playoff spot as of American Thanksgiving.  Those numbers don’t count the COVID impacted 19-20 and 20-21 seasons.   Last year, 13 of the 16 teams in a playoff spot at this time of year had an “x’ beside their name come playoff time.  The three that didn’t get in were Detroit, St. Louis and Seattle.  As of Thursday, your Eastern playoff teams were Toronto, Florida, Boston, Carolina, New Jersey, Washington, Tampa and the Rangers.  Buffalo, Philly and Detroit are just on the outside looking in.  In the West, you have the Jets, Wild, Stars, Vegas, LA, Calgary, Colorado and Vancouver with Edmonton, Seattle and St. Louis right there.   I think it is safe to say a couple of those teams not in right now will be, but who falls out.

8 – SECOND CHANCE:  Did the Canadian Hockey League have any other choice but give the 2026 Memorial Cup to Kelowna?  The Rockets were to have the event in 2020, but it and everything else got wiped out by COVID.  Much like the CFL gave the Riders a Grey Cup that was postponed by the pandemic, the CHL and WHL is giving Kelowna a second chance as host. Had Kelowna been able to host the 2020 event, I think the hockey world would be converging on Medicine Hat to see Gavin McKenna’s final days as a junior, but he and the Tigers will have to earn their way there now.

9 – BRYSON’S QUEST: I guess when you are bored as a pro golfer, you start doing trick shots.  That is what Bryson DeChambeau did as he attempted for several days to hit a hole in one in which the ball would go over his two-million-dollar home onto a practice green in his backyard.  It took him 134 tries to do it. At no point did he seem to shank one or scull one into his front window.  I can proudly say I would probably have done within my first five attempts if not sooner.

10 – THE RICH GET RICHER: The L-A Dodgers are obviously printing money. A team that is already paying an outlandish amount of cash to players are now paying 182 million over five years to Blake Snell and 74 million to journeyman Tommy Edman who got hot in the playoffs.  The Dodgers are well over the 300 million dollar mark when it comes to salaries.  That is twice the money that some teams are paying.  At some point, MLB has to step in and say a salary cap is needed.  If not, there are teams that might as well not take the field because they have no chance when they take the field on opening day.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• I guess those that went after Paul Bissonette found out what happens when you f-around! Add me to the list of those saying “attaboy Biz!!”
• Connor Bedard is struggling. Perhaps the Blackhawks should send him back to juniors for the remainder of his 19-year-old season.  Yes, I am joking and imagine what type of haul Regina could get if that happened.
• Why did it take so long for the Chicago Bears to tell Matt Eberflus he was no longer needed after that Thanksgiving Day disaster in Detroit. That should have been done as soon as the team landed back in Chicago Thursday night.  There was a lot of chatter about the end of that game, but none better than TSN’s Luke Willson.  He might be one of the best NFL analysts out there on either side of the border.   He’s certainly better than Dan Orlovsky and Booger McFarland.
• It may be an unpopular opinion, but if a head coach is fired like Jim Montgomery was in Boston, he/she should not be allowed to be a head coach for another team until the season is over.
• Does anyone understand the NBA Cup? I hope the NHL never follows suit on this one.

Have a great weekend everyone!