Players To Watch

There will be several players to watch tonight when the Riders and Ti-Cats meet in a 5 o’clock start.  Here are some on both teams to pay attention to.

NEW (old) BLOOD --  The Riders were busy this past week getting Jeff Knox Junior, Otha Foster and Marcus Thigpen signed to contracts.  All will start tonight according to head coach Chris Jones although Knox is not a listed as a starter on the depth chart.  Knox and Foster alongside Henoc Muamba makes the Riders better defensively.  The question is how long will it take them to gel.  Foster appears as if he is ready to step right back in to the spot he left at the end of last year to try the NFL.  I’m looking forward to see how these guys perform.

JEREMIAH MASOLI – The Tiger-Cats have won their last two since Masoli took over from Zach Collaros. Is that a coincidence or has Hamilton just had some fortunate breaks (ie: Toromto missing a last play field goal).  Masoli has had opportunities to run the Hamilton offence before and he has had mixed results.  The Riders “D” should give him a stiff challenge.

ROB BAGG – Every game this year, it has been one receiver standing out amongst the others. It could be Bagg’s turn tonight.  He will go up against rookie corner Richard Leonard.  I would look for Kevin Glenn or Brandon Bridge to try and exploit this matchup early in the game and often.

WILLIE JEFFERSON -  Jefferson has had huge games this year, and if the Riders are to be successful in shutting down Masoli tonight, he will have to come up with a play or two tonight.  If he and others can make Masoli uncomfortable resulting in bad throws and/or turnovers, it will go a long ways to the Riders getting the W.

Enjoy the game.