Jamie Nye: Ready for the Wild, Wild West

Opinion

I’ve been able to watch the first few days of Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp. Now I can’t wait for it to be over.

Seriously, let’s get on with the CFL season.

I know the players still need time to gel and the coaches need a lot more time to figure out who will make their opening-day roster, but I really can’t wait to see how this season is about to take shape.

I get asked often how I think the Roughriders will do in 2023. The common questions:

• Is Trevor Harris really worth $500,000?
• Is the offensive line going to be better?
• Are they going to make the playoffs?

The most honest answer I have is: “I don’t know.”

No, seriously. I really have no clue how this is going to play out and that’s why I can’t wait to start getting the answers to those questions.

And the uncertainty isn’t just with the Roughriders. There are serious questions across the Canadian Football League that nobody can answer.

Of course, the default cold take is saying Winnipeg is going to be the best team.

Eventually the Bombers won’t be. Yes, they again seem like the surest thing because of the lack of turnover in their roster, but that can only last for so long until they become a collective half-step slower.

If the Blue Bombers do become a half-step slower, the parity in the CFL will allow the other teams to quickly catch up, if not pass them entirely.

Behind them, you find the Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders, B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks hoping that this is the year the best in the West the last three seasons can be caught.

However, nobody can tell you which of those teams is going to take a much-needed step forward.

Is Jake Maier really going to be the next franchise quarterback in Calgary? His performance in the West semifinal has many pondering which quarterback we’ll see this season. Did the Lions expose his weaknesses and tendencies? If so, the Stampeders have no shot at getting to the Bombers.

Is Vernon Adams Jr. going to be able to carry the Lions like NFL-bound quarterback Nathan Rourke did?

That feels unlikely, but the Lions saw Adams lead the team to a winning record as their starting quarterback after the mid-season trade from Montreal.

Now he has a full camp and will also be pushed by his new backup, Dane Evans, who was dealt to B.C. from Hamilton.

The Lions also lost one of the top receivers in the league, Bryan Burnham, to retirement.

I have my doubts they’ll be a second-place team in the West this season.

But if it’s not Calgary and not B.C. to chase down the Bombers, do we really believe in Saskatchewan and Edmonton?

The Roughriders have changes at quarterback, offensive line, receivers and offensive co-ordinator. If it takes time for this team to find its rhythm, it should be forgiven. Except the Riders have a head coach and general manager on the last year of their contracts and it feels like winning early will be imperative to keep the critics at bay.

While Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones saw a big jump in Year 2 when he was in charge in Saskatchewan, that team had veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn leading the way.

In Edmonton, Jones has unproven Taylor Cornelius, who has flashed inconsistent play over his two seasons in the CFL.

Again, do you really think the Elks are going to find a second-year bump?

They did invest in Eugene Lewis and Steven Dunbar Jr. at receiver to complement the quarterback, but they tried the big-money, free-agent signing of Kenny Lawler last season — and that didn’t exactly work out.

So you see the conundrum on trying to predict the future of the Riders when you look at the uncertainty within their own division.

What should you also see? You should see an opportunity for the Roughriders to quickly rebound from a disappointing six-win season and pounce on their strongest rivals also trying to feel their way into the season.

June 11 — the date of the Riders’ regular-season opener in Edmonton — can’t come soon enough.