Will the Riders’ aerial offence return?

This year's edition of the Saskatchewan Roughriders has already proven to be a dramatic improvement over last year's basement-dwelling squad, as the 3-0 Riders are the only undefeated team in the CFL heading into their Friday night matchup with 1-2 Calgary (9 p.m. Eastern, TSN). However, what's notable about the Riders' success is that it largely hasn't come from what was expected to be their primary strength, their passing offence. In fact, following a remarkable start to the year where he threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns against Hamilton, quarterback Darian Durant has thrown for just 203 and 172 yards in the team's lasttwo outings. Moreover, the team just put star Canadian receiver Rob Bagg on the nine-game injured list with a suspected torn ACL, and that likely won't help. The Riders have still found ways to win so far thanks to their strong defence and special teams, but they're going to need more of a passing game if they want to maintain their success over the long term.

What's gone wrong with the aerial attack? Well, it's not about the top-two targets, as the Riders' "Batman and Robin" duo of Weston Dressler and Chris Getzlaf is an impressive one. As Rob Vanstone points out, though, most of the supporting cast hasn't really stepped up, and they'll have to now that Bagg is gone. Moreover, while rookie running back Kory Sheets has been a revelation in the ground game, collecting 245 yards on 41 carries (6.0 yards per attempt), he's only caught seven passes so far and is also still adjusting to the pass-blocking duties expected of tailbacks in the CFL. The running back plays a critical part in CFL aerial offences, both in stepping up to stop rushers and in catching short passes, and Sheets is still developing those parts of his game. Similarly, many of Saskatchewan's import receivers have shown promise, but are still adjusting to the CFL game. It takes time to figure out how things work up here, but the Riders will need some of these guys to catch on sooner rather than later.

The blocking has also been an issue at times. While this year's offensive line is a far cry from the sieve-like 2011 edition, it hasn't quite rounded into top shape yet. That's understandable, considering that none of the Riders' current starters up front played for them last season. There's plenty of talent there between CFL veterans Brendon LaBatte and Dominic Picard, rookies Ben Heenan and Xavier Fulton and second-year man Chris Patrick, but they're all still adjusting to a new scheme and a new quarterback. Fulton's adjustment is particularly difficult; he's an American in his first CFL season, so he's never had to deal with the full-yard neutral zone before, and he's only being asked to play left tackle, the quarterback's blind-side protector and thus the most crucial position on the line. It's not just about individual performances, either, as offensive lines have to be able to work together for real success. There's reason to believe these guys can round into a capable unit, and they've shown lots of promise, but they're not quite there yet.

Durant isn't completely blameless either, though. While he's doing very well on the accuracy front (his current completion mark of 67.0 per cent is a full six points above his career average, and he's thrown four touchdowns without an interception), much of that has come on the shorter passes more prominently featured in the Riders' new offence. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the short-to-medium distance pass has been the bread-and-butter of CFL stars like Ricky Ray and Anthony Calvillo, amongst others, and it works just fine as long as you can keep the sticks moving consistently and sprinkle in a few longer passes to keep the defence honest. That's where Durant's struggled in the last few games, though; his touch on his deep ball's been off, and he's even badly missed on some shorter throws that would have given the Riders points. There are more problems in this passing game than just the quarterback's play, but a lot of Saskatchewan's recent offensive struggles are on Durant, and he and his teammates will have to turn that around for the Riders to stay at the top.