Riders’ Johnson, Marshall named West Division all-stars

Two members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence were named West Division all-stars Wednesday.

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson and cornerback Nick Marshall were the only two Roughriders named to the team in voting by members of the Football Reporters of Canada and CFL head coaches.

Neither A.C. Leonard nor Jonathan Woodard — the Roughriders’ defensive ends who finished 1-2 in the league in sacks in the regular season — was selected.

“I don’t know what more A.C. Leonard can do. His stats, the timing of the plays, they aren’t empty-calorie stats,” Johnson said after practice Wednesday. “I don’t really see how A.C. isn’t an all-star but it is what it is. We’ve got a lot of guys playing (at an all-star level).

“Although I got it, I wish a few of my other brothers could have got it with me.”

Another possible all-star snub on the Riders’ defence was safety Loucheiz Purifoy, who was named Saskatchewan’s most outstanding defensive player.

“(He does) everything,” Johnson said. “A Swiss army knife — he can literally play anywhere in the secondary and can play linebacker too.

“(He’s) a vocal guy for us and he’s a real cerebral player. He’s extremely smart on the field and can dissect what the offence is doing and get guys in the right positions.”

“I feel like the guys they’ve missed, I feel like they know who should be on the all-star team and so do I,” Marshall added. “We know who’s supposed to be on the all-star team and who’s not.”

Johnson, 33, had a league-high eight tackles for loss in the 2021 regular season, along with 19 tackles, two sacks, one pass knockdown and one fumble recovery in 12 games played.

It’s the fourth time in his career Johnson has been named a West Division all-star. He also earned the honours in 2016, ’17 and ’18 when he was with the Calgary Stampeders.

“It doesn’t (get old),” Johnson said. “It’s always a good feeling to collect some accolades and it always feels cool.”

Marshall, 29, appeared in all 14 regular-season games and tied Ed Gainey for the team lead with three interceptions. Marshall added 30 tackles and a team-high seven pass knockdowns.

It’s the first all-star nod of his three-year CFL career.

“It feels great to be labelled as an all-star, but I’m not going to focus too much on it. I’m just focused on Calgary,” said Marshall, whose team is to play host to the Stampeders on Sunday (3:30 p.m.) in the West Division semifinal.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had 15 players selected to the all-star team, followed by the Stampeders (seven), B.C. Lions (three) and Roughriders (two). The Edmonton Elks were shut out.