‘They did everything we asked of them:’ Riders wrap up rookie camp

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson got what he was after during the CFL team’s three-day rookie camp.

Players got after it.

“I was just really pleased with the effort level,” Dickenson said after Friday’s rain-soaked workout at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

“We had a lot of guys out here, this was their first experience in the CFL, (their) first experience being coached by our staff, and they hustled (and) they did everything we asked of them.

“We asked them to show good energy and show that they cared about football and wanted to be here and we had everybody out on time today.”

The camp was the first opportunity for Dickenson and his staff to take a look at the players they brought in during the off-season through free agency or the draft.

Some have already experienced camps with other teams or in other leagues, but quarterback Mason Fine had a leg up: He was with Saskatchewan last season.

“Coming into rookie camp, I felt very confident about the playbook,” Fine said. “I still met with Coach (Jason) Maas last year and this off-season. I felt really good about coming into this rookie mini-camp and really, that took a lot of stress off.

“The difference between last year and this year is (knowing) the playbook and just going out there and playing football instead of thinking so much.”

It was the first time Fine was able to throw to the receivers who were in camp and he liked what he saw, knowing the organization wouldn’t have brought them in if they couldn’t play.

One of those receivers was Riley Boersma, whom Saskatchewan selected in the eighth round of the 2022 CFL draft out of the University of Regina.

Boersma not only got a lot of help from whoever was tossing him the ball during the camp, but he heard it directly from Dickenson too. The head coach offered Boersma pointers throughout the camp.

“It feels really good and I kind of like how Craig does that. It doesn’t matter what kind of draft pick you are, how high or low you were. He treats everyone the same and he coaches everyone up just the same,” Boersma said.

The former Rams receiver had a stellar national combine, but still fell to the final round of the draft. That gave him a little bit of incentive during rookie camp.

“I didn’t really care where I got drafted, I just wanted the opportunity to come out here and play,” Boersma said. “I knew once I got the opportunity, I would do everything I could to take advantage of it.

“(Being an eighth-rounder) motivates me a little bit, but I got the opportunity and that’s all that really matters to me.”

Even though there were some learning moments for Boersma, Dickenson liked what he saw from the young receiver.

“We knew he could move, we knew he was a good athlete, but what we saw here was a high level of compete and I thought he picked up the playbook fairly well. Riley did a good job this week,” Dickenson said.

But it wasn’t just about individual efforts for the head coach. He was impressed with both the offensive and defensive lines on the first couple of days and how each group matched their level of competition day after day.

One group was very consistent and caught Dickenson’s eye.

“The DBs are a good group,” he said. “The advantage they have is we’ve got a lot of numbers, so they were a little bit fresher than the wide receivers they went against.

“But we will probably lose a few of those guys (to cuts); we’ve just got too many. Overall, the DB group, that’s a good group and I think there are some guys there who are going to help us.”

That’s where the tough part comes for the coaching staff in making cuts. Dickenson expected seven or eight players would be cut Friday as the team tries to get down to 85 players plus non-counters (draft picks and territorial juniors) by the opening of main camp.

That’s slated for Sunday, pending labour negotiations between the CFL and the CFL Players’ Association.

“The good thing is we got everybody through rookie camp healthy, so that’s a good start,” Dickenson said. “Now we’ve just got to have the most competitive training camp we can have.

“We challenged the rookies to give the vets everything they’ve got and to try to beat them out for a job. It’s going to be a fun week until we play that first pre-season game (May 23 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers).

“That first pre-season game is going to be big for a lot of these guys to hopefully stick around and push some of the vets.”