Lack of cohesiveness, leadership and crippling injuries were all factors in the Riders disappointing performance in the 2023 Canadian Football League (CFL) season, according to Wes Cates.
It is time for our final Rider regular season edition of X's and O's and emphasis on “final” because even though we will be here the rest of the way the Riders will not be Wes.
“Yeah Brit, it was a tough season. I guess it is, you know, just like the game we watched the other night. It started off good but had a terrible finish.”
We'll talk about the game first here. The Riders came out strong. They've been doing that a lot lately. They led for over half the game. What was the downfall?
“You know what – it comes out of turnovers. When you think about it as a whole – there was some holes that weren't filled in the 0-line due to injury and some things like that. Of course, Trevor Harris going down we're working with backup quarterbacks who are great talents, but just needed a little more time to develop. But I think it just came down to you know, Jake Dologala not taking care of the ball. He threw a couple of bad picks. I know he played a great game had some yards but just had turnovers. One right after the defence got to turn over and didn't get points out of it. Then one late in the game. You just can't have that. It's tough to overcome that when you're a team that really doesn't have identity and really can't run the ball.”
And the season's over because of it. We saw them this year Wes beat the Bombers, they beat B.C. They almost have the Argos yesterday or on Saturday. Then they lose the teams that were considered beneath them – in the Elks and the RedBlacks. Why for the second year in a row could they just not get it done and a second year in a row end on a seven game losing streak?
“I think they had the talent but they just didn't really have the cohesiveness and they didn't have the leadership at the positions they needed at, right? We had some young receivers, obviously some veteran receivers went down early in the season. You had some veteran o-linemen that didn't end up playing and then you had a veteran quarterback that was playing good football that we lost for the year and it was a valiant effort by the guys that were still in there. But at the end of the day, I just don't think they had enough experience to know what to do in the crucial moments and the Riders played some good ball and played some really bad ball at times, but they just didn't know how to win when it really mattered.”
Well, I know the question will loom and what's going to happen next season. Maybe with the coaches but also with the quarterback because Trevor Harris will be healthy again. Next year. He's also going to be 38 years old. He did sign two years here in Saskatchewan. We talked to him at open locker room as they were cleaning out their stalls for the final day and he said he still feels like he still has some left in him but he never knows what the future holds. Do you think we see Trevor Harris again?
“I think you do. I mean, I like the game that Trevor is playing right now. Obviously, he's not the type of quarterback you really want to see run and I think he did a great job of doing it when he had to. He just had some unfortunate luck. The way he broke his leg like that. But he's a great athlete, and he's a great quarterback. I don't think he really needs to be really mobile to be effective in this league. And he's proven that he doesn't need to do that. I think that he has some years left in the tank. I think he's determined because he felt like this year he could do something and that got taken away. So I think they’ll be ready to roll I think having some time off to really reflect and work during the season and having that full offseason I think got plenty of time to get back to his full potential.”
All right, well we will leave it there. That is it for the Riders this season Wes – maybe a little shorter than we might have expected. Not going to make you grade them this week because I think we know the way this ended how it was gonna go. But we're not done. We still have plenty of football left in the CFL. So I thank you for this one and I still will see you next week.
“Yeah, it'll be a fun playoffs. Some teams are coming on strong. I think the Riders just weren't one of those teams. So we'll just wait to see what happens within the next year. But it'll be fun and exciting in the playoffs. So I'm ready.”
I’m ready for it too. Thanks so much Wes.
“Thank you.”
Wes Cates is a Grey Cup Champion. He previously played as a running back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2007 until 2011.
In that time he recorded 46 touchdowns, over 4,700 yards rushing and 2,095 yards receiving.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Cates now calls Saskatchewan home.
