Riders’ continuity at offensive line a source for early success

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are introduced before CFL football action against the Montreal Alouettes in Regina, on Saturday, September 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

It is quite rare for a football team to have the same five starters back-to-back weeks at offensive line, let alone season-to-season.

Yet, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have managed to keep the majority of their line through this past offseason.

“More rare these days, just with free agency, and the importance of the position” head coach Corey Mace noted about the turnover.

“For us, anywhere on the team where you have a little continuity will help advance a little bit faster than previous years.”

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Saskatchewan’s five starters in Week 2 against the B.C. Lions were Payton Collins, Zack Fry, Logan Ferland, Jacob Brammer and Jermarcus Hardrick – all five were dressed for the 2025 Grey Cup game in November.

Although Fry was the sixth man behind Trevon Tate, who is no longer with the team, having a returning core has already led to early success in 2026.

“It’s been good because we all kind of know how we want to play,” Brammer, a guard, said Thursday.

“We just have a lot of continuity within the group; we all hang out outside [of the locker room]. We’ve built those bonds and we were really excited to keep the group together and go into the season like that.”

In its season opening win against the B.C. Lions, Saskatchewan allowed just one sack and kept quarterback Trevor Harris mostly upright the entire game.

That a major piece why the Riders were able to put up nearly 500 yards of offence – with 417 passing and 77 on the ground – against a team which included the reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player, Mathieu Betts.

“Shoutout to the receivers and Trevor,” Jermarcus Hardrick was quick to say following Saturday’s win. “It definitely could have been more, [B.C.] has a great defensive front.”

“They’re awesome,” Harris responded about his big men up front. “I’ll tell them in the huddle, ‘I might need an extra click here,’ and they [give it to me].”

“They’ll be getting some dinners this year,” the quarterback added.

Erik Andersen is the newest member of that offensive line, making his CFL debut last Saturday.

He says having the veteran core around him has made it easier to mesh with the rest of the line.

“They’re really good football players,” the rookie told CTV News. “Really good people who just approach every day the right way.

“If every everyone does their part, and all the positions work together, we’ll get the results we want.”

The Riders faced a slight injury scare in the opener when Hardrick, the 2025 Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman, went down temporarily.

However, the line still didn’t miss a beat.

“That speaks a lot to the preparation we put in through the off-season, the Zoom meetings,” Brammer said. “We showed up a week prior [to training camp], we wanted to get everyone on board and just be ready to go as quickly as possible.”

“We trust everyone in the room, whether the be the practice squad guys, the sixth man – we trust everyone that if someone does go down, someone’s ready to step right up into that position,” he added.

Mace calling the line’s relationship off the field crucial to the Riders’ future goals.

“It’s easier when the guys know what to expect, what’s going on within the offence and certain looks you’ve seen [in] different teams or different opponents, even narrowing down to the players they’re going to be facing,” he said.

This week, Saskatchewan takes on a defensive front which could includes interior linemen Jaylon Hutchings and Folarin Orimolade.

The two pass rushers combined for 58 tackles and 12 sacks in 2025.

Both d-linemen have been dealing with injuries to start the year and missed Calgary’s Week 1 game against Winnipeg. However, both were full participants at Stamps’ practice this week.

Even with Hutchings and Orimolade being questionable, Saskatchewan will have to deal with defensive end Clarence Hicks – who had 28 tackles and 12 sacks last year.

“Everybody will always look at [their] sack numbers but it doesn’t always tell the truth about the defensive line. If you can disrupt [an offence], and certainly they’ve got a unit that is [capable of that], it’s another tall task for us and our offensive line,” said Mace.

“These guys understand what it is and the challenge is not something these guys shy away from. [I’m] looking forward to that matchup – I’m sure they are as well. It’s going to be a good game for people who like to watch the trenches.”