Should anybody be thrilled by a 37-1 loss in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first pre-season game? Of course not.
But we can’t judge head coach Craig Dickenson, general manager Jeremy O’Day or offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo off the result either.
The only thing we can learn from the first pre-season game was that Cody Fajardo is easily the backup quarterback for Zach Collaros this season.
Dyshawn Davis is a linebacker to look out for, especially with Solomon Elimimian continuing to battle with a calf injury. Someone will need to step up there.
And the Calgary Stampeders have once again found some talented players, while having a prepared and polished quarterbacking trio.
Dickenson wanted more from his backups when the Stampeders’ backups came in but didn’t see it. And yes, Dave Dickenson was calling a lot more deep balls than McAdoo was for the Riders. But it’s pre-season. No coach is going to show their cards now.
The second pre-season game is much more interesting to me as we get to see if Collaros is as polished as we’ve seen from other starting quarterbacks in the pre-season thus far.