With a deep receiving corps, there is a catch.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are blessed with far more talented pass-catchers than the active roster or starting lineup can accommodate.
Nine different receivers have seen front-line duty on offence this season for the Green and White, which carries a CFL-best 10-4 record into Friday’s game against the host Ottawa REDBLACKS.
And a 10th receiver, who boasts 1,000-yard credentials, made his 2025 regular-season debut last Saturday in Edmonton — where Shawn Bane Jr. was deployed as a returner.
“I’ve never been part of a team this deep, or a (receivers) room this deep — even with the teams I played on in Calgary or with teams that won a Grey Cup,” Roughriders Receivers Coach Marquay McDaniel marvels.
“As far as Canadian talent, and as far as the depth all around, we have a legit eight, nine, maybe 10 starters in the room. You don’t see that very often.
“It’s crazy. The talent in this room makes my job a lot easier.”
KeeSean Johnson’s talent is illustrated by the fact that he is third in the league in catches (78) and receiving yards (1,088). He is the CFL’s runaway leader in second-down receptions (38).
Dohnte Meyers, whose 59 receptions include a team-high seven touchdown catches, is 102 yards shy of joining Johnson in the 1,000s.
Bane Jr., who had 93 catches for 1,104 yards in 2023, returned to live action on Saturday after missing nearly a year with a knee injury.
Two-time 1,000-yard receiver Samuel Emilus was also reactivated for the game in Edmonton. He had missed six games with a knee injury after earlier sitting out three contests with a foot issue.
Kian Schaffer-Baker — like Emilus, a top-flight National receiver — is getting closer to seeing game duty after recovering from a foot injury he sustained in the regular-season opener.
The Roughriders’ new Canadian Air Force also includes Tommy Nield, Ajou Ajou, Dhel Duncan-Busby and Mitch Picton, all of whom have received starting assignments this season.
Along with being blessed with a wealth of National receivers, the talent base among the Americans is such that it has been difficult to find room on the roster for Bane Jr. and Joe Robustelli in recent weeks.
Robustelli boasts the Roughriders’ highest single-game receiving yardage total (191) this season but, even while taking his skills and productivity into account, it has been difficult to find him playing time of late.
“Especially with the ratio,” McDaniel notes, “but you understand who’s coming back (from injuries), too. They’re guys. They’re starters in this league and starters on this team.
“They all want to be in there and that’s what you love about it. As a ballplayer, you want to be competitive, plus you’ve got to understand the situation.
“Guys understand the ratio and all that stuff, because it’s not in our control. We’ve just got to make the adjustments and go. When you get your number called and your chance to put it on film, put it on film.”
McDaniel cites continuity as a key factor behind the Roughriders’ ability to withstand injuries to top-flight pass-catchers. Every receiver except Nield is a returnee from 2024.
Nield, who spent the past four seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, has four touchdown catches in seven games as a starter with Saskatchewan.
“Toronto runs a similar system,” McDaniel points out. “There’s maybe a little different verbiage, but Tommy’s a smart guy so it’s not hard for him.”
The receivers’ intelligence, across the board, is an asset.
“It’s easier when you do have smart guys, because you don’t have to keep coaching the same things,” McDaniel says. “You don’t have to coach X’s and O’s. You can coach detail. You’re not wasting time getting guys in the right spot. They know where they’re going to be.
“It’s getting them to see the picture and slowing the game down. ‘Break the huddle. Slow the process. What am I looking at?’
“Defences only do so much, so there’s little things each guy does to give away their coverage. It’s about finding those things and teaching them that ‘I would have run this route because of this,’ and little things like that.”
Attention to small details has helped the receiving corps as a whole register impressive numbers this season despite the roster flux.
“The ceiling is untapped with this group,” Schaffer-Baker says. “We’ve got so many great players all around, whether it’s O-line, special teams or the quarterback room. We have so much depth.
“When you step on this field, you know you’ve got someone right behind you who is trying to take your spot. That just makes you be the best version of yourself each and every day.”