The Saskatchewan Roughriders have made plenty of changes on the offensive side of the football this winter. They have added quarterback Trevor Harris, a collection of new receivers and possibly three different starters on the offensive line.
But on defence there has been minimal changes from last season. The Riders added defensive tackle Micah Johnson (Hamilton) and linebacker Micah Teitz is back after being out of the lineup with an injury. Players who left Saskatchewan include linebacker Darnell Sankey (XFL’s Arlington) and defensive end AC Leonard (Edmonton).
Jason Shivers returns as the defensive coordinator for the Roughriders, a job he has held since 2019.
On Monday, Shivers joined Michael Ball on the SportsCage.
Like the players, most of the coaching changes in Saskatchewan took place on offence. Shivers is looking forward to meeting the new coaches on the staff.
“It’s always exciting to work with new coaches, hear new ideas, gain insight from their past experiences and try to add to mine.”
Defensive Line
There will be one new positional coach on defence for the Riders. Del Cowsette was hired to be the team’s defensive line coach following the departure of Ben Olson. Shivers says the main goal of the D-line is to apply pressure to the quarterback.
“Being able to collapse the pocket a little bit more, keep the quarterback in the pocket a little bit more and get back into that sack race.”
The interior of the Roughriders defensive line will have a lot of experience with players like Johnson and Anthony Lanier. Shivers feels the veterans will provide leadership for the younger players like Demarcus Christmas and Miles Brown.
“They understand the message, they understand the objective we’re trying to achieve, that helps the whole group.”
On the edge, Saskatchewan will have Pete Robertson back in 2023. Last season, Robertson got off to a strong start as he accumulated seven sacks in the first four games of the season before he suffered a foot injury against Ottawa in Week 5. The Riders defensive coordinator says “Pistol” Pete is a savvy veteran.
“He can play in the moment, when he gets to the quarterback, he’s not just looking for the sack, he’s looking for the sack strip.”
Shivers adds Robertson brings daily energy to the football field.
“You can’t wait to get back in the building cause you know guys like that are going to be smiling, chomping at the bit to work.”
Stefen Banks is in line to start on the opposite side of Robertson after the green and white signed the former Stampeder last month. Shivers is excited to watch Banks in-person after spending a lot of time watching film of the defensive end. He noted the Riders plan on using a rotation for the defensive line once again, but anticipates Banks will be a factor in that group.
Linebackers
There will be changes to the linebacker unit but with familiar faces. Larry Dean will replace Sankey at middle linebacker after Dean spent last season at the weak-side linebacker position. Shivers thinks the 34-year-old can use last year’s experience to help him in 2023.
“I think that’s going to be a huge benefit moving back inside to his natural position at MIKE linebacker where he now has a really good understanding of what’s going on to the right of him and to the left of him.”
Saskatchewan will be looking for Teitz to fill a spot as an outside linebacker. The Calgary product missed the entire 2022 season following a groin injury. Shivers believes Teitz’s return will be a big boost for the Roughriders.
Safety
On the back-end of the defence, one position that will be determined in training camp is the starting safety spot. Last year’s starter, Mike Edem remains unsigned. Shivers says free safety is an important position in the Roughriders scheme.
“For us our free safety is like our quarterback, he knows coverage, he has to know fits, he has to know blitzes cause they’re could be times where he becomes the SAM linebacker, there could be times he could become the WILL linebacker, in our scheme we like to move guys around.”
Jayden Dalke is one candidate for the spot according to Shivers. He added the team will look at some rookies that will attend camp.
