BC Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders 8/6/21 - CFL Picks & Predictions
Last Updated: 08/04/2021 at 9:37 AM ET
On Friday, the BC Lions visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the opening game of the 2021 CFL regular season for both. The BC Lions finished the 2019 regular season 5-13 in the West division. The Lions have a talented quarterback in Michael Reilly but the offensive line in 2019 was porous in pass protection. Reilly finished his first season at BC with 3,897 yards passing, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
The BC Lions addressed their problem on the offensive line by signing Ryker Mathews, who is an exceptionally strong pass blocker. Bryan Burnham and Lemar Durant will be Reilly’s top targets. In 2019, Burnham caught 100 passes for 1,492 yards and 11 touchdowns while Durant caught 57 passes for 810 yards and five touchdowns. The defense for BC was its strength in 2019 allowing only 326.8 yards and 25.1 points per game. The front four and linebacker corps have had various changes but the secondary is largely intact from 2019 and will be the unit’s strength.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were 13-5 in 2019 and won the West Division by a slim margin over the Calgary Stampeders. Quarterback Cody Fajardo returns for Saskatchewan. Last season the former Nevada Wolf Pack QB passed for 4,302 yards with 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Fajardo also rushed for 611 yards in 2019 and is a legitimate dual-threat at QB. Shaq Evans returns as the top wide receiver for Saskatchewan after gaining 1,134 yards with five touchdowns in 2019 and will be joined by Kyran Moore, who had 996 yards receiving and six touchdowns in 2019.
Running back William Powell Is the unheralded key to the Roughriders success and in 2019 rushed for 1,093 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense, Saskatchewan will miss Charleston Hughes as the defensive lineman signed during the CFL hiatus with the Toronto Argonauts. Micah Johnson was signed by Saskatchewan and will be their best pass rusher. In 2018, Johnson had 14 quarterback sacks with Calgary. Defensive back Ed Gainey is the leader for the Saskatchewan defense. Gainey had two interceptions in 2019 but picked off 10 passes in 2017 and is an excellent leader.
Saskatchewan will be at home on Friday and the Roughriders will use that to their advantage when hosting the BC Lions. Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo will use his top wide receivers Shaq Evans and Kyran Moore to move up and down the field and will use the strong running game of William Powell to keep the BC defense off balance. BC has a tough defense and will keep the game close, but Saskatchewan will pull away late to win. Final Score Prediction, Saskatchewan Roughriders win and cover ATS 31-20
