3DownNation.com's John Hodge believes the Saskatchewan Roughriders are still 2026 Grey Cup favourites.
"They have to be Grey Cup favourites right now. They got worse in free agency, and that's fair to say when you look at the talent that was brought in — James Letcher Jr. is a really exciting returner, James Vaughters has some game left at defensive end," Hodge said on the SportsCage.
"They lost some great players, that is bound to happen any time you win a championship. Despite those losses, I really do see the Roughriders as the best team in the CFL right now. I would pick them to win the Grey Cup if I had to pick a team, certainly out of the West. I'd like to see a Montreal Alouettes team with a healthy Davis Alexander all year, but I do think the Riders should be the favourite in the West Division on paper right now."
Vaughters previously played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2025. In 18 regular season games, he recorded 36 defensive tackles, six sacks, and scored one touchdown on a fumble recovery. Letcher Jr. last played with the Montreal Alouettes, who used him primarily as a returner. Through nine regular season games in 2025, he returned 19 kickoffs for 476 yards and 39 punts for 428 yards. Offensively, the speedster registered five receptions for 42 yards and one touchdown.
Entering 2026 CFL free agency, the Riders had 44 pending free agents, 3DownNation insider Justin Dunk reported the team brought back 22. When Hodge was asked to grade the Roughriders free agency performance, he wanted to preface his thinking behind it.
“It depends on how you grade it. The way that I look at free agency is a net basis, what I mean by that is: did your team improve or not based on free agency?” Hodge said.
“I thought the Riders got worse, but I also don't think they really should be blamed for that. This is a Grey Cup-winning team, a championship team, a first-place team that had 44 free agents to re-sign. I thought they had a ton of success in doing that, bringing back their key guys. Essentially, the whole starting offence is back. The only real departure is Dohnte Meyers and there's not much you can do about that when he gets an offer from the Cincinnati Bengals. It's not like he went to the Redblacks or somewhere else in the Canadian Football League.”
There was one move Hodge didn't expect, which was Saskatchewan re-signing Canadian receivers Samuel Emilus and Kian Schaffer-Baker.
"They found the money, so I was very surprised by that, but I also think it's smart. If you're the Riders, you've now got two very expensive but also very talented receivers at your disposal, guys who both count towards that all-important Canadian ratio who are local stars. You've got an inexpensive but talented cast behind them, lots of depth, guys who might even end up starting alongside those two. The Riders started four Canadian receivers in the Grey Cup, they could do that again if they really wanted to for whatever reason," Hodge explained.
"I was surprised, especially with KeeSean Johnson signing a big-money deal to come back as well, but by that same token, the Riders deserve credit for that. There aren't many Canadian impact players in this league of that calibre. If you've got Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus, how many offensive players in the CFL who are Canadian do you put up there with them? Nathan Rourke is the best of them all, but outside of those three, Brady Oliveira belongs in that conversation, Tyson Philpot belongs in that conversation. There are probably another couple of guys, but it's a short, small group, so to have two of them is pretty sensational."
All three receivers inked two-year extensions with the Green and White: Emilus, Johnson, and Schaffer-Baker.
Meanwhile, the Riders lost backup quarterback Jake Maier to the Ottawa Redblacks in free agency. That is why Hodge made his pitch for Saskatchewan to give Jack Coan more opportunities.
"I have never watched him in practice, so my exposure to him is very limited. I know he's a big-bodied, big-armed guy from Notre Dame, so there are some collegiate accolades there," Hodge said.
"You do not know what a guy's going to do until they get pushed in the deep end. There are lots of examples throughout the history of football of guys who struggle in practice and then light it up on game day or the opposite. They look like a million bucks in practice and they can't do it in a game — they can't piece it together for whatever reason. I don't know if Jack Coan is going to be a successful CFL quarterback, but the Riders have put years of development into him, it's time to figure out what he is."
The six-foot-three, 218-pound quarterback is coming back to the Green and White for his third season after signing a one-year contract extension.
