REGINA -- Heading into the 2025 Canadian Football League campaign, Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver KeeSean Johnson had already developed a reputation as someone who could get the job done on the field.
Catching 56 passes for 746 yards and five touchdowns will do that for a player.
Now, that reputation includes the ability to come up big in clutch situations when his team needs him the most.
Exactly half Johnson’s 66 catches -- 33 total -- have been second-down receptions which resulted in a first down. That’s prolonged drives leading to flipped fields and more than a few touchdowns for himself and his teammates, in addition to turning a pretty good receiver into one of the most valuable on the team.
“I actually had no clue that the number was that high, but that's a good thing,” Johnson told voice of the Roughriders, Dave Thomas. “Anything that's helping my team to victory, that's all I'm here to do.”
Making those key catches hasn’t hurt his statistics. Johnson heads into Week 15 against the Montreal Alouettes tied for the league lead with 66 receptions and sits third overall with 908 receiving yards. Asked how that second-down success comes about, Johnson said it’s a whole bunch of different factors coming together at the right time on each play.
“Our coach is having the faith to call in the plays first, then [quarterback] Trevor [Harris] having the trust to look at me, and then me getting open. All those things go hand-in-hand and we take pride in it as a whole offence.”
As he alluded to, Johnson is one of many contributors in what is rapidly turning into a storybook season for the Green and White as Saskatchewan sports a CFL-best 10-2 record. It’s almost the complete opposite to where the team was at this time last year -- coming off a 26-21 loss to the Bombers, mired in a seven-game losing skid and wondering how things were going to turn around.
“We're fighting together as a team and we've had a year to build with each other,” Johnson said in reference to the difference compared to last year. “We know more ins and outs of each other, from top to bottom, from coaches to players, and I feel like that's leading us to the right way.”
Next up are the 5-7 Alouettes on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium, followed by the final bye week of the regular season for the Roughriders. Johnson expects the team to continue their focus despite the time off ahead, and hold the same mantra as they have all campaign -- 1-0 this week, on to the next.
“Among our whole team, right after our game, that's something that we talk about,” he said. “Enjoy this win for the night, but let's go and move on the next day and let's come in and let's work to get better.”
Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates have the Rider Broadcast Network pre-game show at 2 p.m. on Saturday, followed by Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder with the game call at 5 p.m. on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
