Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
REGINA — Those looking for a bright spot during the Riders’ 1-10 season should look no further than second-year receiver Naaman Roosevelt.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Buffalo product hasn’t just been the Riders’ best receiver; he’s put himself in the conversation for best in the league.
Roosevelt certainly showed signs of becoming a regular contributor in the past, specifically in his rookie season when he recorded 488 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games despite the Riders being without their starting quarterback all that time.
Then, along with Chris Jones, came plenty of questions, including who would catch the ball for the Riders this season and whether Roosevelt would be in Jones’ plans (think back to the decline of Fred Stamps when Jones arrived in Edmonton and the subsequent trade to Montreal a year later).
The Riders’ new boss cast aside any doubts over the use and potential of Roosevelt however, raving about his big-play ability early in training camp. The rest, of course, was history.
From then on, Roosevelt has been one of the most relied upon receivers in the league and easily the Riders’ Most Outstanding Player thus far in 2016:
For starters, Roosevelt’s 111 targets are second only to Adarius Bowman (112) and make up more than a quarter of the Riders’ total passing attempts so far this season. Yes, that’s one in four passing attempts (26 per cent, to be exact) by Saskatchewan in 2016 going in Roosevelt’s direction.
The story doesn’t end there, however. First, Roosevelt isn’t just getting a whole bunch of targets because he’s the only good player on a 1-10 team (first of all, the Riders’ other young and talented receivers like Caleb Holley and Ricky Collins would object to that notion).
Second, he’s making good on a lot of those targets. Roosevelt has hauled in 76 of his 111 targets (a 68 per cent success rate, second on the team only to Holley) and with 1,095 yards (third in the CFL) is averaging 99.5 yards per game. In short, Roosevelt has a ton of yards but he’s had to work for all of them and his numbers are indicative of future success.
The Riders haven’t gone away from Roosevelt all season and apparently don’t plan on doing so any time soon. If that’s the case, look for the Buffalo native to not only threaten for the receiving title this year but the history books as well.
At his current pace, Roosevelt is on track to record the highest receiving yards total since Geroy Simon had 1,856 yards in 2006 and the most catches since Derrell Mitchell’s 160 in 1998.
Win or lose, the Riders are can’t miss TV each week and their number one receiver is a big reason why.
