Roughriders have plenty of weapons in their receiving corps

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Shawn Bane Jr. picked up right where he left off.

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After racking up 1,104 receiving yards on a league-leading 93 catches during the 2023 CFL season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver put together a five-catch, 125-yard performance in Saskatchewan’s Week 1 victory over the Edmonton Elks.

Oh, and he also had three touchdowns.

“It’s everything you want it to look like to begin with,” said Bane.

While Bane’s Week 1 yardage looked similar to what he put up on a weekly basis last year, his position on the field looked different as he lined up at wideout for most of the 29-21 victory in Edmonton after playing slotback last season.

However, the position change is nothing new to the 5-foot-9, 178-pounder who spent two years with the Calgary Stampeders prior to signing in Saskatchewan last off-season.

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“I played there in Calgary so I’m familiar with it,” said the 29-year-old Bane. “I like being moved around. I think it’s fun and the defence can’t get a bead on me.

“I just want to be the deep threat; the threat period.”

Riders’ quarterback Trevor Harris — who threw for 305 yards in the Week 1 win — is happy to have a playmaker with that much speed on the roster, wherever he lines up.

“He’s just got a different gear,” said Harris. “He’s just very difficult to defend if you don’t disrupt his route.”

While Bane stole the show last week with his performance, second-year receiver Jerreth Sterns put together a solid day as he had 81 yards and a team-high seven catches on 10 targets.

The 24-year-old had seven catches on two separate occasions last year during a season where he had 44 total catches for 449 yards in 11 games after joining the team midway through the year.

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This year, with a full camp and pre-season under his belt, the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder is feeling much more comfortable.

“I wouldn’t say my approach or mindset shifted, but it is different though being there for training camp,” said Sterns. “Last year I was just new to Canadian football in general.

“This year I knew what to expect.”

For Harris, who missed the final 13 games of the year with injury, he’s quickly realizing how talented the Western Kentucky University product is.

“Insane route runner,” Harris said of Sterns. “He’s very technical. He understands depth. He understands timing.

“He’s just one of those guys where you can count on him to win. He’s very difficult to defend because he makes all of his routes look the same.

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“He’s just so smooth. We call him J-smooth.”

As the Roughriders (1-0) get set to visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-1) on Sunday (5 p.m., TSN), Bane and Sterns are hoping to put together solid encore performances.

However, if either one of those receivers draws more attention from the opposition, it will open up space for other playmakers like Samuel Emilus and Kian Schaffer-Baker, who each had four catches in Week 1.

“We saw this throughout camp quite often with the talent that we have in that room,” said Riders’ head coach Corey Mace. “Last week it was Bane’s day and maybe it could be this week as well but if you lock in on one of those guys, there’s going to be some other guys that are going to be open.”

For Sterns, he says there’s a belief within the group that it doesn’t matter who racks up the most targets, as long as they get the win.

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“I just think in this offence, it will vary week-to-week,” said Sterns. “Some games I might only get two targets; some games I might get 10.

“We’re just an unselfish group of receivers so I’m not really worried about (targets). At the end of the day, we just want to win and score points.”

tshire@postmedia.com

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