Kian Schaffer-Baker<\/a> \u2014\u00a0like Emilus, a top-flight National receiver \u2014\u00a0is getting closer to seeing game duty after recovering from a foot injury he sustained in the regular-season opener.<\/p>\nThe Roughriders\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Robustelli boasts the Roughriders\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially with the ratio,\u201d McDaniel notes, \u201cbut you understand who\u2019s coming back (from injuries), too. They\u2019re guys. They\u2019re starters in this league and starters on this team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all want to be in there and that\u2019s what you love about it. As a ballplayer, you want to be competitive, plus you\u2019ve got to understand the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys understand the ratio and all that stuff, because it\u2019s not in our control. We\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDaniel cites continuity as a key factor behind the Roughriders\u2019 ability to withstand injuries to top-flight pass-catchers. Every receiver except Nield is a returnee from 2024.<\/p>\n
Nield, who spent the past four seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, has four touchdown catches in seven games as a starter with Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
\u201cToronto runs a similar system,\u201d McDaniel points out. \u201cThere\u2019s maybe a little different verbiage, but Tommy\u2019s a smart guy so it\u2019s not hard for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The receivers\u2019 intelligence, across the board, is an asset.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easier when you do have smart guys, because you don\u2019t have to keep coaching the same things,\u201d McDaniel says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to coach X\u2019s and O\u2019s. You can coach detail. You\u2019re not wasting time getting guys in the right spot. They know where they\u2019re going to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s getting them to see the picture and slowing the game down. \u2018Break the huddle. Slow the process. What am I looking at?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cDefences only do so much, so there\u2019s little things each guy does to give away their coverage. It\u2019s about finding those things and teaching them that \u2018I would have run this route because of this,\u2019 and little things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attention to small details has helped the receiving corps as a whole register impressive numbers this season despite the roster flux.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ceiling is untapped with this group,\u201d Schaffer-Baker says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got so many great players all around, whether it\u2019s O-line, special teams or the quarterback room. We have so much depth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you step on this field, you know you\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a deep receiving corps, there is a catch. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are blessed with far more talented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-182859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}