Buffalo Bulls In The CFL

Naaman Roosevelt:

Less than a year ago Naaman Roosevelt was playing with the Roughriders practice squad. his season he has put himself on pace to break CFL records.

Naaman Roosevelt on record-setting pace as a Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver | Regina Leader-Post
Roosevelt is on pace to shatter the CFL’s team’s single-season receiving-yardage record — a standard that has stood for 35 years.

Roosevelt, who has 477 yards after the Roughriders’ first four games of the 2016 season, is on pace for 2,146 yards over an 18-game regular schedule. Joey Walters holds the club record of 1,715 yards, set during the 16-game season of 1981.

Although Roosevelt is still a considerable distance away from the record at this early juncture, there isn’t any doubt that he is already one of the league’s top receivers.

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To watch Naamen this week you can tune into ESPN2 Tomorrow at 10PM as the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Calgary Stampeders.

Natey Adjei

Adjei is making the most of his time on Edmonton's roster. He was released by Toronto and picked up by Edmonton in the offs eason. Adjei did not make the Eskimos' roster but was signed to the practice squad.

And injury opened up a spot for him and he has made catches in two consecutive games.

Adjei and Edmonton are on ESPN3 this Saturday at 7pm. They will be hosting the Ottawa Redblacks and Ernest Jackson.

Ernest Jackson

Jackson is having a quiet-ish season this year. But most of that is owed to plethora of receiving threats in Ottawa.

Redblacks receiver Ernest Jackson raves about Burris | Ottawa Citizen
Jackson is one of a group of elite Redblacks receivers, catching 84 passes for 1,036 yards in 2015. While his pace is behind that so far in 2016 — 24 catches for 251 yards — he’s confident his turn will come. Maybe it will happen Sunday at TD Place versus the Toronto Argos.

"It’s all about fitting in, especially with our offensive scheme," he said. "My time is going to come. It’s going to come around to my time, I’m just waiting for that. I feel like we’re the best set of receivers, but that’s the way every team’s receivers should feel. If you don’t feel that way, you’re never going to be that group."

Every week it seems like someone in Ottawa "get's their turn" and Edmonton's defense has been pretty bad this year so this could be Jackson's week to take the spotlight.

Drew Willy

I suspect, in the not too distant future, a lot of crow could be eaten by brash Winnipeg fans who have pronounced an end to the Drew Willy era.

In case you missed it Willy has struggled this year, there was pressure on the coach, and he benched his starter so that backup Matt Nichols could get a crack at it.

And it seemed to work. The Bombers won last week.

CFL Blitz: Injured players make pretty good team | CFL | Football | Sports | Tor
It may have been a desperation move, but the decision by Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea to replace Drew Willy with Matt Nichols at quarterback got the desired result.

Nichols went into Edmonton, his former stomping ground, and stomped the Eskimos, giving the Blue and Gold their first win at Commonwealth since 2006. Nichols provided a spark to not only the offence, but to the entire team. They ran the ball with ease, the defence made Mike Reilly look like a human being, and they overcame significant injuries to get the rare victory in norther Alberta.

Now I've maintained that the issued in Winnipeg are deep. Willy is not without fault but for two plus seasons his protection has been pretty bad. Nichols comes in and the Bombers do what clubs do for the backup. They step up.

We saw it with Frank Reich back in the day with Buffalo.

That stepping up, and the benefit of playing one of the CFL's poorer defenses helped Winnipeg to look good. Bomber Buzz said pretty much the same thing.

In the words of Doug Brown, "If Nichols plays, O’Shea stays."

With a confident Matt Nichols playing solid, turnover-free football in his first start of the season, the Bombers added a rare win to their formerly 2-25-1 record in Alberta since 2003, defeating a stunned Eskimos team 30-23.

It also, perhaps prematurely and by default, unofficially put a nail in the coffin of WillyPeg in the capital province of Manitoba which, despite a porous 2016 season for starting QB Drew Willy, remains an inconclusively positive or negative check-point for the Bombers.

Here are my thoughts are the Bombers’ huge win at the Brick Field in Commonwealth Stadium.

1. Mike O’Shea’s decision to bench franchise quarterback Drew Willy in favor of Matt Nichols did exactly as intended: it sparked the rest of the team, emphasizing that no one’s job is safe, and that the Bombers are in must-win mode. Although Edmonton’s defense is nearing ’15 Saskatchewan-like ineptitude, and it possibly still would have been won if Willy was at the helm, it was a great confidence builder for a team that definitely needed a boost after dropping back-to-back games at Investors Group Field -- Bomber Buzz

The Bombers will have a chance to prove Edmonton was no fluke when they host Hamilton, tonight at 7:30 on ESPN3.