Darian Durant compared Trevor Harris to Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ricky Ray.
"I think when you look at Ricky Ray, his ability to dissect defences, they don't have the biggest arms in the world, so they use major anticipation — they know where their guys are going to be. I look at them very similar in what they're able to do," Durant told Brendan McGuire on the SportsCage.
"Ricky played such a long time and Trevor will play a long time because they're so accurate because they have a command of offences. Ricky Ray is the first guy that comes to mind when it comes to being able to be a field general and being able to put the ball where you want to put it every play."
Ray played 16 years in the CFL from 2002 to 2018, split between the Edmonton Eskimos, now known as the Elks, and the Toronto Argonauts. During Ray's time with the Argos from 2012 to 2018, Harris was his teammate for four seasons and they won a Grey Cup in their first year together. After the 2015 season, Harris left Toronto to go to the Ottawa Redblacks in free agency.
Harris has been with the Riders since 2023. This year is his 14th in the CFL. This season, the six-foot-three, 212-pound quarterback has started four games for the Green and White, completing 72 percent of his passes for 1,418 yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Focusing on the Riders next game, they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday. Hamilton's starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell was injured in the team's previous game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, suffering an ankle injury in the third quarter. The Ticats lost the game 14-13 with Tre Ford and Jake Dolegala both playing quarterback.
Historically, Ford has not lost against Saskatchewan when he was originally with Edmonton according to 3DownNation. Ford's first time playing Saskatchewan as a starter came in 2023 in Week 15, the Riders lost 36-27. The following year, the Roughriders lost to Edmonton 42-31 in Week 9.
"Tre has had a lot of success playing in Saskatchewan. The crowd won't be a factor. The way the Riders play defence, for quarterbacks who can hold the ball, who can run around and buy time, it definitely makes it a lot easier for guys to come open down the field. I think you saw that in Edmonton, and if the Riders come with the same game plan, I think you'll see Tre try to extend plays with his legs to try to allow the big play to happen downfield, and that's usually when it happens," Durant said.
“When guys are in zone, they're looking in the backfield. You usually play on the timing. DBs usually break on footballs with the timing feeling like the defensive lineman can get there in a certain amount of time. But when you're playing against a guy like Tre Ford, there's no sack that he can't escape from. He's very dangerous against a defence like this. So the Riders definitely have their work cut out for them this week. He's had a lot of success playing at Saskatchewan, I think that the Riders have to be well prepared and don't let this be a trap game for them."
