Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
James Letcher is returning somewhere new.
After signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in February, the speedy kick returner is looking forward to his first season with the Green and White after spending his first three CFL seasons with the Montreal Alouettes.
“New city, new province, new team, new players, new coaches — I’m enjoying it,” said Letcher. “I think green is my favourite colour now.”
With the Roughriders electing to move on from veteran Mario Alford in the off-season, Saskatchewan sought out a new returner. And after Letcher was released by the Alouettes on Feb. 2, the Roughriders agreed to terms with the 26-year-old the following day.
In his CFL career with Montreal, the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Kansas City product has racked up 1,744 punt return yards, with two touchdowns, and 1,680 kick return yards in 30 games.
Last season, Letcher returned 39 punts for 428 yards while taking back 19 kicks for 476 yards, as he was limited to nine games with an injury. He also recorded five catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.
In 2024, Letcher recorded 2,287 combined return yards, leading the league in that category.
Knowing the player they signed in the off-season, Letcher didn’t record any stats in Saskatchewan’s two pre-season games as the Roughriders prepare for the regular-season opener on June 13 against the B.C. Lions after a bye in Week 1 of the CFL season.
“They know how to take care of their players to make sure we’re really go whenever the time comes,” said Letcher. “It’s always good to be out there and get some reps in but if the coach wants to see some other guys get in and let them spin for a few, then that’s fine with me.”
Even though he will primarily be used as a returner in Saskatchewan, Letcher — who has nine receptions and three carries in his 30 career regular season games — hopes to be used a little bit more on offence than he did with his previous team.
“It’s always good to show them what I can do, more than just returning,” he said. “They saw it a little bit in the (second pre-season) game, although I didn’t get a pass, they saw me running around a little bit, and I’m doing that in practice as well.
“Hopefully they’re continuing to see what I can do on offence as well.”
This year’s training camp was starkly different than Letcher’s first camp with the Alouettes in 2023, when the Washburn University product came in to camp late before getting plenty of action in Montreal’s two pre-season games.
That year, with Chandler Worthy handling return duties for the Alouettes, Letcher was added to the practice roster to begin the season before getting his first opportunity later in the season when Worthy was hurt.
“I came in late to camp, so I was just trying to make a good impression in the pre-season games,” said Letcher. “So being on that bubble … it’s definitely nerve-racking.
“You don’t what the coaches are thinking, because they might tell you, but you don’t know for sure until you get that phone call or that text, or whatever it is that they want you, or they don’t want you.
“It could definitely be hard mentally, but as a roster guy, I know that they want me, and I just got to make sure that I’m giving them everything they want and need at practice and in games … because I’m even though I’m a roster guy, I’m not 100 per cent on the team, I still have to make the team.”
Cuts coming
Saturday is cut-down day for the Roughriders as final roster decisions will be made. And with so many players in camp and only a limited number of reps to go around, another reason Letcher didn’t get as many reps is because the coaching staff wanted to evaluate the players behind him on the depth chart.
“You look at those things and (with) guys that are battling, you put them in positions to work with some other people to see what they look like,” said head coach Corey Mace. “And sometimes it’s in a one-on-one setting, sometimes it’s a certain team setting, a special teams match up.”
With three weeks of on-field work in the books, including both pre-season games, it’s now up for the coaches and management to decide who is on the active roster, who is on the practice roster and who will be released.
“There’s debate, and there should be,” said Mace. “If there’s never any debate then that means we didn’t have good players.
“It’s a healthy debate and I tell these guys at the beginning of camp, ‘Make one of us stand on the table for you when today comes,’ and I think a lot of guys did that.”
