REGINA -- When KeeSean Johnson showed up at Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp last season, it was as a wide-eyed rookie looking to get his feet wet in the Canadian Football League.
One 746-yard receiving year later, Johnson is aiming to put his experience to good use and take a bunch of positive steps forward as the Riders open the 2025 season against the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium. The first and most obvious improvement from last year to this year is simply experience, as he related to voice of the Roughriders Dave Thomas.
“You feel a lot more comfortable out there with the guys, being able to see things differently, what the defence is doing,” Johnson said. “I feel like it's going to translate and help us succeed.”
Getting to the point where his skills fit even better into that equation was a product from plenty of effort back home, and not just on the football field.
“Watching film, seeing little things that I can improve on and taking it to the field or weight room,” Johnson said, who racked up 56 receptions for 746 yards and five touchdowns last season. “Hard work, putting in the hard work.”
One area of the team that has had to work hard to get up to speed is the offensive line. With two players on the one-game injured list and two on the six-game injured, it’s been a matter of next man up. The Riders take the field against Ottawa short-staffed up front, but Johnson is confident the crew will get the job done.
“We got a lot of dogs in our offence, starting from o-line, even guys that had to step up,” Johnson said. “All the guys in the building, they’ll put their foot forward and do what they got to do. Get up to speed if they weren't in as much with the first group, second group, no matter what it comes down to. I know we got guys like [centre Logan] Ferland, that's going to get those guys right.”
One area that could be a concern is the overall lack of offence in the preseason, where the Riders scored only one touchdown late in their 27-20 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last Saturday. But preseason is preseason and Johnson has no concerns when it comes to Saskatchewan's offensive capabilities.
“You go out there and try not to do too much [in preseason], but now we're ready, looking forward to week one and putting up points,” he said.
The Roughriders themselves are more than aware of what Johnson is capable of, even if he did fly under the radar for the opposition at times last season.
“I’m not sure KeeSean is still a secret in this league, but I hope so, I hope the focus is elsewhere.” head coach Corey Mace said. “He’s a heck of a game receiver and I know in the building we certainly have a lot of eyes to him and we value what he is able to do at the position. He has nothing but confidence from his quarterback and certainly the coaches and players alike.”
Catch Thursday’s pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 4 p.m. while Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 7 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
