Saskatchewan Roughriders' defensive lineman Caleb Sanders is one of five players from the Green and White to make the CFL's honour roll for Week 3.
"Caleb's an excellent player, man. He works his tail off. Glue guy in the locker room. Certainly, he's got a really bright future ahead of him. I think you saw a lot of that last year and we'll continue to see more of it this year," head coach Corey Mace said.
"I don't know how to describe PFF and all those numbers. According to every o-lineman, it's horrible. I don't know, but I'm sure the guys are going to give Caleb a little BS for getting the recognition."
When Sanders was asked his PFF accomplishment, he provided a humble response.
"It shows what our coaching does and what the other guys do. We're a real player-led group," Sanders told voice of the Riders, Dave Thomas. "We got some older guys with a lot of experience in the room, so I think it's a shout-out to them. We did some extra things last week and I think they really paid off."
The Riders played the Toronto Argonauts in Week 3 as the team won 39-32. That game ended after Mario Alford returned a kickoff 99 yards for a game-winning touchdown.
"I'm not really one to get into real emotion during the game," Sanders recalled. "I think, for the most part, a lot of the guys stayed pretty level-headed. We knew that we were the better team, so we had to go out there and show it."
The six-foot-one, 270-pound defensive lineman is in his third season with the Riders. Last year, he played 13 games for the Green and White, registering 11 defensive tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble. Before joining the Riders, Sanders spent some time with the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.
Sanders appreciates having veteran players like Mike Rose and Micah Johnson to learn from on the Riders' defensive line.
"We got two of the best defensive tackles that have played in the league. It's really good to see what they have to offer," Sanders said. "They have two different playing styles, so it's nice to bounce off ideas from one guy or the other. Guys are always learning, even though they're still learning at this point. It's nice to have all that experience so you're never fooled by a situation or you're always prepared for everything."
The next game for the Riders will be hosting the B.C. Lions at home on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.
"I think as a D-line group, talking for all of us, we need to have a good pass rush. We've put together some games where we've been rushing well, we need to continue doing that," Sanders said. "If we're rushing at our best, no one can stop us. We need to go out there, rush our best, and I think everything else will fall into place."
Catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 2 p.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 5 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
