Riders’ Harker spent pandemic learning new playbook, new hobbies

Preparations for the 2021 CFL season were a family affair for Isaac Harker.

“I was having my sister (Tori) call out the (plays) so I could call out the (plays) and work on footwork. The biggest thing was visualization and doing that five times a week and it’s huge and such a big advantage and now all that’s left to do is get some physical repetitions,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback said after Wednesday’s training-camp workout at Mosaic Stadium.

“For every couple hours of playbook study and help out, I had to get her a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. She probably knows the offence as well as anyone.”

Harker’s younger brother, Garrett, also lent a hand. Harker threw to his brother and Roughriders teammate Jordan Williams-Lambert, who is also from Indiana, during the off-season.

“Pretty much any receivers I could get my hands on,” Harker said.

And with trying to get to know a new offence under offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas, the pandemic gave Harker 18 months to fully immerse himself in it.

“The pandemic was big because it afforded me a lot of time to work and hone my craft,” Harker said. “I know (the offence) like the back of my hand. I could be brain dead and someone could call a play from this offence and I feel like I would show some activity.”

Harker was the backup to Cody Fajardo throughout most of the 2019 season. When Fajardo couldn’t play in the Nov. 2 contest against the Edmonton Football Team due to injury, Harker stepped up and completed 23 of 28 pass attempts for 213 yards in a 23-13 win.

As if Harker wasn’t busy enough preparing for a CFL season, he also found time to take a job training youth quarterbacks and get them prepared for their draft.

“They hired me to help with mental preparation for guys who are coming out of college and then I was helping train the youth groups and stuff,” Harker said.

And he also picked up some new hobbies.

“They kind of varied and I’m kind of a weird guy so it went from playing guitar to studying sports psychology,” the 25-year-old said. “The first song that made me want to play guitar was In Bloom by Nirvana and the first song I learned was Arizona by Kings of Leon.”

Harker’s ability to learn and pick up skills isn’t a secret to the coaching staff.

Harker, who has a masters in Mineral and Energy Economics, scored in the mid-40s on the Wonderlic Test. The test, given to football players, tests their problem solving and cognitive abilities. It is scored out of 50.

Only a handful players have scored higher than Harker on the test, including longtime NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who scored 48 out of 50. Maas also scored highly on it with a 43.

“(Harker) is one of the smartest guys I’ve been around, very intelligent and very thoughtful in how he thinks about things,” said Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson. “He’s got wisdom to him that is a little bit beyond his years.”

And Dickenson expects Harker to take a big step this season.

“We feel like Year 2 is the jump – that’s when a player goes from kind of understanding and maybe being a practice roster guy to being an impact player,” Dickenson said. “It just takes a while to figure this (Canadian) game out. It’s different in enough ways that it takes a little bit of experience to figure out the nuances.”

But while Harker is out to prove he deserves the backup spot, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see the other backup quarterbacks — Paxton Lynch, Mason Fine and Tom Flacco — find success.

“If there’s one thing I know, it’s that I want the Riders to be the best football team they can be and that means getting the best out of everyone in the room and seeing who is the best,” Harker said.

“I’m not afraid of anybody when it comes to quarterbacking or mastery of the offence or leadership. I feel like I can hang with anybody and I’ve put in the work to be confident in that regard. A rising tide lifts all boats and I just want to bring everybody up.”

Notes: Williams-Lambert suffered a cut on his right hand on Tuesday. Dickenson said the receiver is expected to be out seven to 10 days. Wide receiver Paul McRoberts lined up in the slot in Williams-Lambert’s absence … Tackle Terran Vaughn suffered a shoulder injury on Wednesday. Dickenson doesn’t expect it to be serious and the offensive lineman is day to day.