Kian Schaffer-Baker isn\u2019t about to let any projections satisfy him. <\/p>\n
Through the first six games of the 2026 CFL season, the 28-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver is on pace to rack up 1,968 receiving yards, which would break the club\u2019s record of 1,715 receiving yards set by Joe Walters in 1981. <\/p>\n
Despite logging a one-catch, nine-yard game in Week 5, Schaffer-Baker has gone over 100 yards three times this season while recording 656 receiving yards in six games. <\/p>\n
Still, he\u2019s not satisfied. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, never,\u201d said the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Mississauga product whose career high is 960 receiving yards in 2022. \u201cIf you\u2019re satisfied, you\u2019ve already lost. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not looking to improve, you\u2019ve already lost the battle. We\u2019re always looking at ways to get better and go 1-0 each and every single day.\u201d <\/p>\n
After being selected by Saskatchewan in the fourth round of the 2020 CFL draft, Schaffer-Baker has recorded seasons of 563, 960, 430, 735 and 177 receiving yards in his first five seasons. <\/p>\n
Last week, despite recording a career-high 185 receiving yards,<\/a> topping his previous personal best of 170 yards in 2022, Schaffer-Baker\u2019s performance was soured as his team lost 36-34 loss to the Edmonton Elks in a game that was decided on the final play<\/a>, with Edmonton kicking a 57-yard field goal for the win. <\/p>\n \u201cThe goal each and every single week is to go 1-0,\u201d said Schaffer-Baker, who had six 100-yard games in the first 57 games of his career. \u201cWe fell just slightly short of that goal. <\/p>\n \u201cHow can we go 1-0 this week? That\u2019s all we\u2019re thinking about. Each and every single day, every opportunity we get, 1-0.\u201d <\/p>\n This week, Schaffer-Baker and the Roughriders (4-2) will get a chance for redemption as they are set to visit Edmonton (6-1) on Saturday (5 p.m.) in the second half of a home-and-home series in Week 9. <\/p>\n \u201cMost definitely,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes you\u2019ve got to wait a couple weeks to get your lick back, but we get this lick back in a couple of days, so we\u2019re looking forward to this.\u201d <\/p>\n Schaffer-Baker isn\u2019t the only Roughrider receiver having a strong start to the season as KeeSean Johnson and Samuel Emilus are also on pace to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark. With 567 yards, Johnson is on pace for 1,701 while Emilus is on pace for 1,344 after recording 448 yards in his first six games. <\/p>\n Johnson (43) and Schaffer-Baker (42) also rank second and third respectively in the CFL in receptions, which has them both on pace to beat Saskatchewan\u2019s single-season record of 123 by Don Narcisse in 1995. <\/p>\n However, projections, as Schaffer-Baker points out, are only projections. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always what ifs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if I picked a different number? I could have won the lottery the last three weeks? I don\u2019t leave anything up to what ifs.\u201d <\/p>\n To continue the projection thread through the first third of the season, Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris, with 16 passing touchdowns in six games, is on pace to beat Kent Austin\u2019s single-season record of 35 passing touchdowns in a season. There\u2019s no doubt he\u2019s benefitting from the trio of receivers including Schaffer-Baker. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first got here, I didn\u2019t get to play with him in \u201823 but during that season, I thought it\u2019d be an opportunity for me to study the games of each of the receivers,\u201d said Harris, who was limited to five games that season while Schaffer-Baker missed the first 10 weeks recovering from off-season hip surgery. \u201cAnd after the season I said, I hope we get a full season together because I think you\u2019ll go for 1,500 and I think maybe I lowballed him. <\/p>\n \u201cBut either way, that\u2019s really not what it\u2019s about. And Schaff will tell you the same thing \u2026 It\u2019s not about numbers; it\u2019s about us doing the best we can for the Saskatchewan Roughrider football club and doing what it takes to win games.\u201d <\/p>\n While Schaffer-Baker ranks second in the league entering Week 9 behind Montreal\u2019s Tyson Philpot, who is also on pace to break records as he has 839 yards and 55 receptions in seven games, he maintains his belief of wins serving as the most important stat for a football player with the ultimate goal of winning the Grey Cup, like the Roughriders did in 2025. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about,\u201d said Schaffer-Baker. \u201cThat\u2019s what we all come in here each and every single day chasing. <\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is not to win 10 games or to have 1,500 yards or 20 touchdowns, it\u2019s to finish with that Grey Cup in that last game of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n Injury Report<\/p>\n Emilus (foot) didn\u2019t participate for a second straight day however it appears there\u2019s a chance he will still play this week.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re pretty hopeful,\u201d said head coach Corey Mace. \u201cWe should see him out here tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n Defensive back Nelson Lokombo (ankle) logged a second straight full workout while halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. (knee) left the workout early. His status is unknown. <\/p>\n Linebacker Ryder Varga (knee) appears poised to make his Roughrider debut this week after starting the season on the six-game injured list while fuard Zach Fry (knee) and running back A.J. Ouellette (knee) are destined for the injured list. <\/p>\n tshire@postmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kian Schaffer-Baker isn\u2019t about to let any projections satisfy him. Through the first six games of the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[291591,49,48,521,522,276177,276912,276178,158032,520,276176,82],"class_list":["post-835801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-291591","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-category-cfl","tag-category-football","tag-category-saskatchewan-roughriders","tag-category-sports","tag-cfl","tag-leader-post","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835801","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=835801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}