American rookie Drae McCray emerged in the preseason and SportsCage analyst Glen Suitor believes his presence pushed veteran Saskatchewan Roughriders' returner Mario Alford to be better in Week 1 versus the Ottawa Redblacks.
"The best way to motivate a player is to put a really good player on the depth chart behind them. You can make all the speeches you want, you can get them riled up, you can challenge them verbally, you can push them in practice — the best way to get the most out of every player is to have that guy behind him on the depth chart be as good as him or better," Suitor explained on the SportsCage.
"You think about catching a punt, 12 guys bearing down on you, you're going full speed the other way and they're coming full speed this way. You have to be fearless to be a great returner, hit the whole full speed and if it's there, great, if it's not, you get whacked. Mario has still got it."
During the home opener, Alford returned one missed field goal 60 yards, five punts for 45 yards and four kickoffs for 112 yards.
"When Ottawa scores, they go up by seven and Mario Alford takes it back to midfield, all of a sudden the whole team feels better," Suitor said. "His big returns and field position was so important."
Suitor was impressed by Riders' running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon.
"You can tell by his confidence level, even on smaller runs, he was getting up and the potential was there," Suitor said. "He can be a keeper and the only thing that's holding him back from being a regular player is opportunity."
The 28-year-old Bertrand-Hudon finished the game with 57 rushing yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns, one on the ground and one through the air. Suitor believes Saskatchewan's running back coach, Andrew Harris has been a positive influence on Bertrand-Hudon.
"We talked about it in the booth, I saw a little bit of Andrew Harris in his running style," Suitor said. "He's still his style, but I saw a little bit of that patience at the line of scrimmage, taking the ball, taking a hop step and then hitting it. He created a lot on his own. I thought he had a great game and I'm happy for him."
The Riders travel to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats on Saturday. Catch the pre-game show with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates at 2 p.m. while 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.
