The spotlight on Nelson Lokombo shines bright.
Lokombo is returning to his old position when the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday. He takes the place of Jaxon Ford, who had a mostly miserable showing in last Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the B.C. Lions and has been ruled out against Toronto with an ankle injury.
“I see that the hostility in some cases in Rider Nation has been shifted from the kicker to the free safety,” CFL analyst Glen Suitor said on the SportsCage. “I think Lokombo has probably got slightly better speed, a little more agile.”
The one demerit against Lokombo, Suitor notes, is that he has just one interception in 57 CFL career games, albeit not all in a starting role. That one pick came last season. Ford recorded his first CFL pick against B.C. in what was his 47th career game. That was the silver lining in his performance.
Lokombo has appeared in just five of nine games for the Riders so far in 2026 and has lined up at corner rather than safety, where he’s mostly been the last two campaigns.
“He’s had opportunities and hasn’t made the big play in the interception department,” Suitor said.
Suitor said the Riders can make things easier on Lokombo by playing more zone defensive schemes. A Cover 2 game plan could be the ideal setup.
“What it does to help the free safety is it cuts his responsibility down in a big way,” Suitor said. “Now he’s only dealing with helping half the field not, basically, three-quarters of the field.”
Watch the full segment below.
