Photo: Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame
We’ve already counted down the top 20 passers in CFL history, so it’s time to take a look at the top ten passers in the history of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
10) Kevin Glenn — 8,435 yards
2001-2003, 2015, 2017
The one-time All-East Division selection’s best CFL seasons came outside of Riderville but he was always well-liked in the province, earning three separate stints with the team. Glenn went 15-21 as a regular-season starter with the Roughriders, throwing 40 touchdown passes and 40 interceptions. The native of Detroit, Mich. is arguably best remembered for being the only player in league history to be a member of all nine teams.
9) Henry Burris — 9,044 yards
2000, 2003-2004
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee started 32 regular-season games over three seasons with the Green and White, splitting time with Nealon Greene and Kevin Glenn. Burris threw for 54 touchdowns and 43 interceptions during his tenure in Saskatchewan, then spent over a decade getting tormented by Rider Nation when visiting as a member of the Calgary Stampeders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Ottawa Redblacks.
Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
8) Trevor Harris — 9,087 yards
2023-present
The 39-year-old was named All-West Division with Saskatchewan in 2024, then led the franchise to its fifth-ever CFL title in 2025, earning Grey Cup MVP honours in the process. Harris ranks first in franchise history in completion percentage and quarterback rating and has now gone 21-11 as a regular-season starter in Riderville. The native of Waldo, Ohio is set to return to the Roughriders in 2026 on a contract worth $455,300 in hard money.
7) Joe Paopao — 9,337 yards
1984-1986
The native of Honolulu, Hawaii didn’t do a lot of winning in Riderville — he went 13-25-2 as a starter over three seasons and never led the team to the playoffs — but had two of his three career 3,000-yard seasons as a member of the Green and White. An inductee of the B.C. Lions Wall of Fame, Paopao is arguably best remembered for his five seasons as the head coach of the Lions and Ottawa Renegades.
6) Cody Fajardo — 10,632 yards
2019-2022
The University of Nevada product went 27-17 over three seasons as a starter with the Riders, leading the club to back-to-back appearances in the West Final, and ranks second among qualifying players in completion percentage (70.5) and quarterback rating (97.6). Fajardo was named All-CFL and the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player in 2019 when he threw for a league-leading 4,302 yards and ran for 10 touchdowns. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2023 Grey Cup when he led the Montreal Alouettes to a championship.
5) Tom Burgess — 11,850 yards
1987-1989, 1994-1995
The native of Newark, N.Y. played two different stints in Saskatchewan, winning a Grey Cup as a backup to Kent Austin in 1989. He went 20-26 as a starter in Riderville and had a perfectly even touchdown-to-interception ratio, throwing 76 of both. Burgess was inducted into the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour in 2009 and also remains a top-ten passer for the Ottawa Redblacks franchise. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the 1990 Grey Cup when he led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a championship.
4) Frank Tripucka — 14,387 yards
1953-1958, 1959, 1963
The former first-round NFL draft pick had three separate stints with the Roughriders, which were broken up by a four-year run with the Denver Broncos from 1960 to 1963. Tripucka led the West Division in passing yards four times and was the CFL’s leader in passing touchdowns in 1958. He’s a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour, the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame, and the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Tripucka passed away in 2013 at the age of 85.
3) Kent Austin — 26,626 yards
1987-1993
The six-foot-one, 195-pound passer still holds the club records for single-season passing yards (6,225) and single-game passing yards (558), the former of which ranks second all-time league-wide. Austin also ranks second in team history in touchdown passes (152) and interceptions (134) and leads all Saskatchewan quarterbacks in career 300-yard passing games (42). He was inducted into the team’s Plaza of Honour in 1999 and later returned to Regina as the club’s head coach, winning the Grey Cup in 2007.
Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders
2) Darian Durant — 28,507 yards
2006-2016
The native of Florence, S.C. won two Grey Cups in Riderville, including one as a starter on home soil in 2013. The two-time All-West Division selection was once the CFL’s single-season leader in touchdown passes and passing yards and remains the league’s all-time leader in playoff passer rating (min. 150 attempts). Durant was inducted into the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour in 2024 and still regrets leaving Regina after the 2016 season, wishing he’d instead finished his career in Saskatchewan.
1) Ron Lancaster — 46,710 yards
1963-1978
The ‘Little General’ made 240 starts over 16 seasons in Riderville, more than double the amount of any other quarterback in team history. He remains the club’s all-time leader in virtually every passing category, including completions (3,186), attempts (5,834), touchdowns (299), and interceptions (358). Lancaster was a seven-time All-West Division selection, four-time All-CFL, two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player, one-time Grey Cup champion, and is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Plaza of Honour, and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He died of a heart attack in 2008 at the age of 69.
