Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Erik Andersen’s second stay at Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp has been a lot more involved in comparison to last season.
The 6-foot-6, 314 pound offensive lineman is preparing for his first CFL pre-season game after merely spectating camp last year while he recovered from a head injury.
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Now, the 25-year-old is pushing for a spot on Saskatchewan’s opening night roster with health and that experience in his back pocket.
“I didn’t get to go on the field last year,” Andersen said.
“It was good to meet some of the guys and see what was going on. This off-season, just being able to get more into the playbook was really beneficial before coming out here.”
Andersen has graduated as the top offensive lineman in Canadian university football, winning the J.P. Metras Trophy following his senior season with the Western University Mustangs.
He helped lead the Mustangs to achieving the highest points scored per game and rushing yards per game in U Sports, while being named a first-team All-Canadian for the third season in a row.
“The Metras was a great way to end it,” Andersen said. “I got to come down to Regina for the All-Canadian banquet, that was a good time.”
Andersen is part of a group of Canadian rookie offensive linemen at Roughriders camp, including Darius Bell and Jez Janvier, aiming to make the jump to the professional level.
Of the five offensive linemen which started in the Grey Cup last November, only centre Logan Ferland was a national player.
With the departure of Trevon Tate at left guard in the off-season however, Canadian Zack Fry has moved into the starter’s role through the first week of camp.
Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said a large piece of Andersen’s camp has been adjusting to the professional schemes required.
“Erik was a guy playing at Western, big, huge guy,” Mace said.
“They run the ball 700 times a game, so just different nuances of the game that he’s identified that he’s got to work on and what better way to do it? We’ve had some really good interior linemen giving him reps each day.”
The Roughriders believe Andersen could be a big part of their future in the trenches, as they spent a second round pick at 13th overall on the London, Ont. product in the 2025 CFL Draft.
“He’s still a (rookie) but you see everything that you loved about him, as to why we picked him as high as we did,” Mace said.
That individual success in 2025 didn’t translate to team success for Andersen at Western, as the Mustangs were upset 18-17 in a stunning quarter-final loss to the Guelph Gryphons in October.
Despite the sting of seeing his U Sports career ended much earlier than expected, Andersen was able to end his time at Western on a positive note graduating with a degree in criminology and psychology.
“As a team we didn’t reach our goals and wasn’t as successful as we wanted,” Andersen said. “It was good to go back one last season, graduated and got all my school done.”
Andersen has kept the door open to going to teachers’ college in the future, but not before exhausting the opportunities ahead on the gridiron.
He said the work has been put in to prepare for the biggest training camp of his life, now it’s up to executing with the snaps he’s given.
“It was really good to get in the playbook this off-season,” Andersen said.
“Meet with some of the vets, kind of know what to expect. There’s no going back (to college), there’s no sixth year. Just come out every day, go as hard as you can and try to play football as long as you can.”
Final #Riders walkthrough before Monday’s pre-season game ends with a three-point contest.
— The Green Zone (@GreenZoneSK) May 16, 2026
Reed Hughes with the winning shot today for the offence. pic.twitter.com/UAQqrhG2gP
Riders wrap up Week 1 indoors
It was a change of scenery for the Roughriders on Saturday, as their final walkthrough to wrap up the first week of training camp moved indoors to the Physical Activity Complex gymnasium on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
Mace said Friday’s snowfall made Griffiths Stadium too risky to use Saturday morning with just days until their first pre-season game in Calgary.
“That’s how games go,” Mace said.
“Sometimes you got a plan, you got to alter and execute. Today unfortunately for us, the field wasn’t I thought in safe enough condition for us to get out there and have a full practice. Luckily for us, we had (the PAC) accessible for us to get some good work in.”
The Roughriders ended the 90-minute walkthrough with a three-point contest in the home of the Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams between the offence and defence.
Long snapper Reed Hughes delivered the winning basket 3-2 for the offence, though Mace doesn’t believe there’s a future on the court for anyone on the roster.
“Absolutely not, not one person,” Mace said. “We are really bad at basketball, at least we can’t shoot. I assume we could foul, maybe play a little defence. Other than that, pass the ball.”
Quarterbacks Jack Coan and Brayden Schager split the majority of the 90 minutes in the team and offence-specific drills, with Mace saying the pair are likely to see plenty of snaps in Calgary on Monday against the Stampeders.
Running back Mario Anderson Jr. added it’s a game he’s spent months preparing for with valuable snaps on the line.
“I’m ready for it,” Anderson Jr. said.
“It’s everything I’ve been working for this whole off-season being able to maximize my opportunity, I’m always big on maximizing my opportunities. Whether that’s a quarter, a half, the whole game, special teams, whatever the case may be.”
Few veterans or starters are expected to see the field against the Stampeders for the 1 p.m. kickoff on Monday, opening the door for newcomers to the CFL like defensive back JuJu Hughes.
He said snaps aren’t guaranteed with so many players still on the roster, meaning he’ll have to be ready to contribute at any moment.
“Whenever your number is called you got to be ready,” Hughes said.
“If you’re starting or if you’re coming in late, it’s just watching the flow of the game. Once you get in there, you got to get in there like you’ve been in there.”
The Roughriders announced Saturday national offensive lineman Daniel Johnson has been placed on the one-game injured list, opening a spot for the team to re-sign defensive lineman Sundiata Anderson who was cut following rookie camp.
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