Jamie Nye: The Riders offensive line has given even the head coach reason to pause

A thoughtful pause by Riders head coach Craig Dickenson is actually a very understandable reaction after the LeaderPost’s Rob Vanstone asked about any concerns for the Riders offensive line.

As much as Dickenson believes they’ll ‘figure something out’ and things will be ‘fine’ up front, it’s the biggest question mark for the Riders midway through training camp.

With injuries to Terran Vaughn and Mattland Riley, a retirement from a potential replacement, a no-show from another American tackle, plus the numerous departures or opt outs since 2019, the offensive line is already lead to the players being juggled around with Dan Clark being the only mainstay.

The rest are unproven pros or would be first year starters. When he hears the reports of how good the defensive line is looking, sure that’s good for the defensive line, but it’s also a sign the o-line has struggled.

It’s only 10 days in. So… pause… don’t be a chicken little and scream that the sky is falling before they actually take on a team in different colours.

But it’ll be tough for Cody Fajardo to have a repeat performance from his exceptional 2019 if this offensive line doesn’t ‘figure something out’ before August 6th.