New Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive coordinator Kelly Jeffrey has pledged to use Mario Alford more on offence in 2022 but the electric returner is skeptical that he’ll actually see meaningful minutes.
“We’ll see. They say they will but once that time comes, I just think they’ll put me on a little hold like, ‘We don’t need him doing too much,'” the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Special Teams Player admitted during an interview on 620 CKRM’s The SportsCage this week.
“Hopefully, they actually let me be out there because I definitely want to be out there on some offence, for sure.”
Alford was a bright spot in a dismal season for the Riders in 2022, coming over in July via trade from the Montreal Alouettes. In 13 games with the team, he returned 44 punts for 530 yards and one touchdown, 38 kickoffs for 990 yards and two scores, and three missed field goals for 129 yards and another major.
What he didn’t do was contribute on offence, finishing the season without a single carry or reception. That was a glaring error according to Jeffrey, who promised to find ways to utilize the “Ferrari-like” speedster.
“Whatever I can do to help my team, man, get me out there,” Alford said. “I always wanted to play receiver up here but with my return ability, they’ve just kept me safe with that stuff, if that makes sense.”
In five seasons in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts, Alouettes, and Riders, Alford has seen very little offensive usage. He has eight catches and one carry for 81 combined yards in 28 games, with eight of those touches coming in his rookie season.
However, he proved to be a dynamic pass-catching weapon during his time at the University of West Virginia. As a senior with the Mountaineers in 2014, the five-foot-nine, 182-pound target caught 65 passes for 945 yards and 11 touchdowns — tied for the most of any player in the Big 12.
That experience and his reported 4.27-second speed raises some interesting possibilities for Saskatchewan, both to get him the ball and scheme others open.
“Especially with a guy like me and what I do in the return game, they see me in the game, they’re gonna be keying me anyway. They’re gonna be threatened by me just being on offence because I’ve never played on offence the past three, four years, since I was in Toronto,” Alford said. “When guys see me in the game, they know something’s up so I’m sure that’s gonna scare the defence a little.”
Still, the Riders can’t afford to lose out on his return game prowess for any length of time and Jeffrey admitted in that same introductory press conference that any offensive usage would be sparing. Despite possessing many of the same traits as former Most Outstanding Player Brandon Banks, Alford is unlikely to get a full-time shot at receiver.
The 31-year-old has made his peace with that fact and is thrilled to be staying in Saskatchewan regardless, having signed a contract extension in November.
“They gave me the keys to help scheme up specialty returns and stuff like that. They let me be who I am,” Alford said of the team.
“They just let me do me and we draw up the scheme together. I like how we have a relationship with that, I think that’s what makes us dangerous. I really love playing for them.”
