The first ever CFL game played at the new Mosaic Stadium was a big one for a couple of young quarterbacks trying to make their mark in green and white.
Brandon Bridge and Bryan Bennett had a chance to, as CJME’s Jamie Nye put it this week (I liked it, so I’m going to steal it), get Vince Young cut. So, how did that go? Well it depends on who you are talking about.
We’ll start with the good. Bridge definitely has the inside track to be the backup to Kevin Glenn to start the season at this point. Bridge finished the night completing 20 of his 26 pass attempts for 201 yards and one touchdown. The former Alouette was especially strong in the first quarter with his lone touchdown drive, which he later followed up with a drive that started fairly deep in Rider territory that ended in another three points. Most importantly, Bridge protected the football and didn’t force much.
The same could not be said for Bennett. The former Blue Bomber practice roster quarterback was the talk of training camp heading into the game and when the lights came on, it didn’t translate. Bennett was seven for 15 for 82 yards. If that wasn’t enough, Bennett also had problems holding on to the football with three fumbles, losing two of them. Bennett will get another chance next week as there’s little point in bringing in another quarterback at this point in the pre-season. However, he will have to be much better (duh).
Marquise Williams came in late and put together a drive to tie the game and deserves a longer look next week to see if he can do it again against defenders that are higher up the depth chart and not sitting back trying to prevent a big play late in a close game.
None of this means that the road to making the roster is any easier for Young after Saturday’s game. First, he still needs to get healthy because as the old saying goes, you can’t make the club in the tub. If Young does get back into playing shape, then he still has to perform, which has also been a question mark at times throughout training camp.
So where does this leave the Riders? It’s reasonable to be fairly confident in Glenn and Bridge at this point, after that? There’s still way more questions than answers.
Other thoughts
Naaman Roosevelt appears to be fine after missing the second half of last season with a knee injury. Roosevelt had four catches for 28 yards early, averaging seven yards a catch. With plenty of faces to see, Roosevelt didn’t see much time after that.
Antwane Grant showed some speed on a 27 yard catch and run (that also got some help from some Bomber missed tackles). Grant also had a couple of drops. He still finished the night as the Riders leading receiver with 63 yards. He could make the American receiver battle that much more interesting.
Cameron Marshall and Anthony Allen may have the inside track to start over the Canadians at running back. Both saw a bulk of the time against Winnipeg, picking up some yards when asked but also picked up the blitz well.
Overall, the offence needs to convert more of those field goals into touchdowns but as it’s pre-season, it’s not a huge concern just yet.
The Riders defence did a pretty good job getting pressure on the various Bomber quarterbacks at times. The team is going to need that going forward to try and help out a secondary that remains a work in a progress with injuries and departures leaving things in a state of flux.
The Riders have themselves a couple of good young kickers. We all know that Tyler Crapigna can kick field goals, he was a perfect two-for-two on Saturday. 2016 draft pick Quinn van Gylswyk went four-for-four (including the game tying kick with three seconds to go) and averaged over 41 yards per punt. Options are never a bad thing.
