REGINA — This past weekend brought the time of year that always sees a few surprises when it comes to Canadian Football League rosters, and that was no exception when it came to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
A handful of names that were with the team through their Grey Cup run last season and others who had solid training camps were unable to crack Saskatchewan’s final roster, raising a few eyebrows when the teams announced cuts on Sunday afternoon.
Roughriders legend Glen Suitor joined the SportsCage for his Press Coverage segment on Tuesday and offered his take on the roster trimming and some of the surprises he saw.
Just in the initial conversion with Barney Shynkaruk, the likes of running back Mario Anderson, defensive back Benny Sapp III and kicker Jonathan Kim immediately came to mind, with Suitor also expressing surprise that former Ottawa Redblacks receiver Siaosi Mariner didn’t make the final cut.
“When I watched him in Ottawa, I thought this guy has upside, big-time potential,” Suitor said. “Big body, good reach, long arms, that kind of thing and he had a pretty good game in Ottawa that I was calling that night. I thought we might be scratching the surface on this guy, so that was a little bit of a surprise.”
Mariner was targeted twice but had no catches in the preseason opener against Calgary and two catches for 14 yards against Winnipeg in the preseason finale.
Kim was also a topic of conversation after not only a solid training camp but a perfect preseason that saw him hit all five attempts, including a long of 51 yards. Australian-born Alex Hale got the final call, though, with his Global status believed to have played a part in that.
Teams must dress a minimum of one Global player and a maximum of two for each game, with Hale now filling that role.
While Suitor has seen firsthand the kind of talent that’s out there on the world stage — he took in the exhibition games between Canada and Italy back in November that saw Canada take 56-0 and 20-17 wins — he doesn’t agree with the CFL’s Global player mandate.
“As long as they're both close, then you can see why this decision was made,” Suitor said. “He can be our Global and if we bring on an American kicker, we're changing the ratio somewhere else with an American so that causes a little trickle-down effect. But if they're not really close, if Kim has an out-of-the-park better preseason and practice, then he's the guy, they're gonna go with an American.
“I can look in the mirror and say throughout training camps throughout the years there were Americans that were slightly better, but if they could play a Canadian safety, they're gonna still do that.”
There’s also the fact that the final cuts sometimes aren’t final at all, and players can still have a chance to catch on with the team or somewhere else once the usual spate of injuries begins to rear its head.
“You have to keep in mind that a lot of guys who are released are on speed dial from the organization,” Suitor said. “So all it takes is one injury and someone like Mariner knows the system. He knows the playbook, he can be inserted into the lineup in a heartbeat if someone goes down, knock on wood.
“You especially want to look at Week 1 or 2 and take a look at who goes down early because usually there's usually a team or two that gets hit pretty hard right out of the gate.
When that happens, they start calling these guys that have been released that have had good camps, a good preseason.”
Having played well against an opponent in the preseason could also turn out well, with that team likely having a bit of interest.
“They might not have room coming out of training camp on the roster or practice roster yet, but they do have him on speed dial as well,” Suitor said. “So if you're a veteran or guys that have had good camps, they're gonna give it a couple weeks and be ready.”
