2017 Saskatchewan Roughriders season

2017 Saskatchewan Roughriders season
General manager	Chris Jones
Head coach	Chris Jones
Home field	Mosaic Stadium
Results
Record	10–8
Division place	4th, West
Playoff finish	Lost East Final
Team MOP	Duron Carter
Team MOC	Henoc Muamba
Team MOR	Tobi Antigha
Uniform

The 2017 Saskatchewan Roughriders season was the 60th season for the team in the Canadian Football League. It was the club's 108th year overall, and its 102nd season of play. The Roughriders improved upon their 5–13 record from 2016 and clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Calgary Stampeders on October 20, 2017. They finished in fourth place in the West Division and crossed over to the East Division playoffs for the third time in franchise history. They won their first ever East Semi-Final game by defeating the Ottawa Redblacks, but lost the following week to the Toronto Argonauts 25–21 in the last minute of the game.

This was the first season that the Roughriders were playing at their brand new stadium, Mosaic Stadium, following the previous 95 years at the site of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field. This was the second season under head coach and general manager Chris Jones. For the fifth consecutive season, the club held their training camp at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon with the main camp beginning on May 28.

Offseason

Player transactions

On November 15, 2016, Regina was announced as the host city for the inaugural CFL Week, which took place in March 2017. Regina was the only place besides Toronto to host the CFL's National Combine. On November 28, 2016, the Roughriders announced the signings of Bryan Bennett, Terrance Campbell, Kenny Horsley, and Thomas Mayo.

On December 1, 2016, Roughriders running back Joe McKnight was fatally shot in Terrytown, Louisiana in a road rage incident.

On December 6, 2016, Roughriders defensive end Eric Norwood announced his retirement. On December 7, 2016, defensive back Justin Cox signed an extension with the Roughriders. On December 19, 2016, Roughriders linebacker Marvin Golding was suspended two games for violating the CFL's drug policy. On January 3, 2017, the Roughriders announced the signings of Daniel Thomas, Jordan Reaves and Kelvin Muamba. On January 6, 2017, the Roughriders announced the extensions of kicker Tyler Crapigna and defensive back Ed Gainey through the 2019 season. On January 11, 2017, the Roughriders announced the extension of defensive lineman Jonathan Newsome through the 2018 season.

On January 13, 2017, the Roughriders traded the rights of quarterback Darian Durant to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for a fourth round selection in the 2017 CFL Draft and a conditional second round selection in the 2018 CFL Draft. The Alouettes would then re-sign Durant to a three-year contract on January 19.

On January 14, 2017, the Roughriders released linebacker Jeff Knox, Jr. so he could sign a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. On January 20, 2017, the Roughriders announced the extension of defensive lineman Willie Jefferson. On January 23, 2017, the Roughriders announced the signing of quarterback Kevin Glenn, who was released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on January 6. This will be Glenn's third stint with the Roughriders.

On January 26, 2017, the Roughriders announced the signing of wide receiver Duron Carter. The following day, the Roughriders released Dylan Ainsworth, Shamawd Chambers, Mitchell Gale and Curtis Steele. Later in the day, the Roughriders signed defensive back Erick Dargan, and released defensive back Otha Foster so he could sign an NFL contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

On February 14, 2017, the Roughriders signed offensive lineman Derek Dennis. That same day, they signed Canadian running back Kienan LaFrance.

On February 15, 2017, the Roughriders signed Canadian safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette, running back Aaron Milton, offensive lineman Ryan White and 2012 CFL Most Outstanding player, international wide receiver Chad Owens. The next day, the Roughriders signed running back Cameron Marshall and released offensive lineman Andrew Jones.

On February 17, 2017, the Roughriders re-signed offensive lineman Thaddeus Coleman. On February 20, 2017, the Roughriders released linebacker Korey Jones.

CFL draft

The 2017 CFL Draft took place on May 7, 2017. The Roughriders had the 2nd overall selection after a 5-13 season in 2016. The Roughriders had nine selections, as they gained three picks and lost one pick in trades. The team also forfeited their 3rd round selection when taking safety Kevin Francis in the 2016 Supplemental Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team	Hometown
1	2	Cameron Judge	LB	California, Los Angeles	Moorpark, CA
2	11	Dariusz Bladek	OL	Bethune–Cookman	Kissimmee, FL
4	30	Antony Auclair	TE	Laval	Notre-Dame-des-Pins, QC
4	32	Eddie Meredith	OL	Western	Toronto, ON
5	37	Mitchell Picton	WR	Regina	Regina, SK
6	46	Danny Sprukulis	OL	Toronto	Oakville, ON
7	55	Alexandre Chevrier	LB	Sherbrooke	Pointe-Claire, QC
7	57	Emmanuel Adusei	DT	Carleton	London, ON
8	64	Marc Glaude	OL	Montreal	Beaconsfield, QC

Preseason

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
A	Sat, June 10	7:00 p.m. CST	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	T 25–25	0–0–1	None	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
B	Fri, June 16	8:00 p.m. CST	at BC Lions	L 10–42	0–1–1	TSN	BC Place	15,632	Recap

Regular season

Standings

West Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Calgary Stampeders	18	13	4	1	27	523	349	7–3	L3	Details
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	18	12	6	0	24	554	492	6–4	W1	Details
Edmonton Eskimos	18	12	6	0	24	510	495	5–5	W5	Details
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	10	8	0	20	510	430	4–6	L1	Details
BC Lions	18	7	11	0	14	469	501	3–7	L1	Details

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
1	Thurs, June 22	5:30 p.m. CST	at Montreal Alouettes	L 16–17	0–1	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Molson Stadium	20,129	Recap
2	Sat, July 1	7:00 p.m. CST	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 40–43 (2OT)	0–2	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
3	Sat, July 8	8:00 p.m. CST	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 37–20	1–2	TSN/ESPN2	Mosaic Stadium	33,050	Recap
4	Bye
5	Sat, July 22	7:00 p.m. CST	at Calgary Stampeders	L 10–27	1–3	TSN	McMahon Stadium	30,274	Recap
6	Sat, July 29	4:30 p.m. CST	vs. Toronto Argonauts	W 38–27	2–3	TSN	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
7	Sat, Aug 5	5:00 p.m. CST	at BC Lions	L 15–30	2–4	TSN	BC Place	23,415	Recap
8	Sun, Aug 13	6:00 p.m. CST	vs. BC Lions	W 41–8	3–4	TSN/ESPN2	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
9	Bye
10	Fri, Aug 25	7:30 p.m. CST	at Edmonton Eskimos	W 54–31	4–4	TSN	Commonwealth Stadium	41,738	Recap
11	Sun, Sept 3	2:00 p.m. CST	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	W 38–24	5–4	TSN	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
12	Sat, Sept 9	1:00 p.m. CST	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 28–48	5–5	TSN	Investors Group Field	33,134	Recap
13	Fri, Sept 15	5:00 p.m. CST	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 27–19	6–5	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,604	Recap
14	Sun, Sept 24	2:00 p.m. CST	vs. Calgary Stampeders	L 9–15	6–6	TSN/ESPN2	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
15	Fri, Sept 29	5:00 p.m. CST	at Ottawa Redblacks	W 18–17	7–6	TSN	TD Place Stadium	24,893	Recap
16	Sat, Oct 7	2:00 p.m. CST	at Toronto Argonauts	W 27–24	8–6	TSN/RDS2	BMO Field	15,102	Recap
17	Fri, Oct 13	8:00 p.m. CST	vs. Ottawa Redblacks	L 32–33	8–7	TSN	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
18	Fri, Oct 20	7:00 p.m. CST	at Calgary Stampeders	W 30–7	9–7	TSN	McMahon Stadium	27,316	Recap
19	Fri, Oct 27	7:30 p.m. CST	vs. Montreal Alouettes	W 37–12	10–7	TSN/RDS	Mosaic Stadium	30,083	Recap
20	Sat, Nov 4	5:00 p.m. CST	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	L 13–28	10–8	TSN	Mosaic Stadium	31,627	Recap

Post-season

Schedule

Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
East Semi-Final	Sun, Nov 12	12:00 p.m. CST	at Ottawa Redblacks	W 31–20	1–0	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	TD Place Stadium	24,107	Recap
East Final	Sun, Nov 19	12:00 p.m. CST	at Toronto Argonauts	L 21–25	1–1	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	BMO Field	24,929	Recap

Team

Roster

Saskatchewan Roughriders roster
Quarterbacks  3 Vernon Adams 16 Brandon Bridge  5 Kevin Glenn Running backs  8 Marcus Thigpen RB/WR/KR 29 Kienan LaFrance 26 Christion Jones 80 Spencer Moore FB 22 Greg Morris Receivers  6 Rob Bagg 89 Duron Carter 84 Chris Getzlaf 81 Bakari Grant 88 Caleb Holley  2 Chad Owens 14 Denzel Radford 82 Naaman Roosevelt 87 Joshua Stanford Offensive linemen 66 Dariusz Bladek 69 Bruce Campbell 67 Dan Clark C 68 Thaddeus Coleman 63 Derek Dennis 54 Peter Dyakowski 59 Josiah St. John		Defensive linemen 92 Tobi Antigha 77 Rakim Cox 74 Makana Henry  7 Willie Jefferson DE 99 A. C. Leonard 98 Ese Mrabure-Ajufo 97 Eddie Steele Linebackers 52 Brandyn Bartlett 47 Samuel Eguavoen 49 Jeff Knox Jr. 42 Derrick Moncrief 10 Henoc Muamba Defensive backs  0 Elie Bouka 17 Crezdon Butler CB 15 Mike Edem S 11 Ed Gainey 24 Jeff Hecht  1 Jovon Johnson 45 Kacy Rodgers Special teams 18 Josh Bartel P 21 Tyler Crapigna K 46 Jorgen Hus LS		1-game injured list 83 Devon Bailey WR 28 Shakir Bell RB 19 Marc-Olivier Brouillette S 91 Ivan Brown DL 27 Kevin Francis LB 57 Brendon LaBatte G 95 Antonio Longino DL 31 Glenn Love LB 35 Chris Lyles DB 32 Cameron Marshall RB 25 Taylor Mays DB 33 Trent Richardson RB 39 Quinn Van Gylswyk K 6-game injured list 43 Erick Dargan DB  9 Nic Demski WR 20 Otha Foster DB 85 Antwane Grant WR 48 Dillon Grondin LB 93 Nick James DL  4 Cameron Judge LB 51 Beau Landry LB 58 Eddie Meredith OL 96 Zach Minter DL 30 Cameron Ontko LB 12 Marquise Williams QB 62 Jeremy Zver OL		Practice Roster 61 Emmanuel Adusei OL 41 Albert Awachie WR 38 Alexandre Chevrier LB 50 Alexandre Gagne LB 78 Brendon Philogene OL 86 T. J. Thorpe WR 65 Terran Vaughn OL 13 David Watford QB 28 Melvin White DB 37 Sam Williams DB Italics indicate International player Roster updated 2017-11-13 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Active, 13 injured, 13 six-game, 10 Practice

Coaching staff

Saskatchewan Roughriders Staff
	Front office President and ceo – Craig Reynolds General manager and director of football operations – Chris Jones U.S. Scout – Ron Selesky Manager of Media Relations & Football Communications – Ryan Pollock Director of athletic therapy – Ivan Gutfriend Manager of equipment – Gordon Gilroy Manager of football research and development – Chad Hudson Manager of football administration – Aaron Thompson Head coaches Head coach – Chris Jones Assistant head coach – Stephen McAdoo Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Stephen McAdoo Quarterbacks & Passing Game Coordinator – Jarious Jackson Offensive line – Mike Scheper Wide Receivers - Markus Howell Running backs – Craig Davoren			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Chris Jones Defensive line – Ed Philion Defensive backs – Jason Shivers Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Craig Dickenson Special teams assistant – Craig Davoren Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning coordinator – Dan Farthing → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs