• Looking to improve their league-worst offence, the Toronto Argonauts traded for Saskatchewan QB Zach Collaros, with a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 going back the other way. Collaros was a member of the 2012 and 2013 Toronto Argos teams, winning a Grey Cup as Ricky Ray’s backup in his first CFL season, taking over the starter’s job on a temporary basis in 2013 after Ray went down with an injury. Collaros signed with Hamilton in 2014 as a free agent and played at an MOP-calibre level before tearing his ACL partway through the 2015 season. Since that injury, he’s never quite been able to regain that level of play, but for the Argos, this seems like a safe bet to try and kickstart something for the team – especially since Cody Fajardo, another Argos backup, has clearly won over the starter’s job in Saskatchewan after Collaros was injured back in Week 1 this season.
• The Argos are also bringing back LB Bear Woods; he was signed to the practise roster this week, and it’s extremely likely that he’ll be back on the field for them sooner rather than later. Woods was a standout player in the middle of the field for both the Montreal Alouettes and the Argos as well, before the team underwent a notable restructuring during the offseason. No salary details were released, but it’s likely that he’s taken a pay cut in order to return to the team.
• Saskatchewan’s former backup QB David Watford signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week, who will need to sort out their own QB depth chart now that Jeremiah Masoli is out for the season with a torn ACL. Watford will back up Dane Evans once he’s had enough to master the playbook.
• In final QB news, the Alouettes released Canadian QB Brandon Bridge; with the release, it appears that Antonio Pipkin is close to returning to game action. Despite not currently occupying a roster slot, Bridge shows he has the ability to step in as a spot starter at a CFL level; it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll end up next.
• In injury news this week: Hamilton announced WR Brandon Banks won’t play this week, while Calgary also announced that WR Juwan Brescacin will be moved to the six-game injured list. The Stamps also issued notice that MOP quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell will finally start throwing during his rehab from a shoulder injury suffered during Week 3 against the BC Lions.

Onto the games!

WEEK 7 RECAPS

Calgary 17 vs. Ottawa 16: The good news for the REDBLACKS was that Jonathon Jennings improved somewhat upon last week’s miserable outing, with 125 yards passing and a touchdown – though with two interceptions to go with it. The bad news? With Ottawa leading with less than two minutes to go, the team conceded a safety, allowing the Stamps the opportunity to march down the field to try and win the game with a field goal. The worse news for the REDBLACKS? Calgary did just that. Rene Paredes hit his fifth field goal of the game to give the Stampeders a walkoff win and send the home crowds away from TD Place with a very bitter taste in their mouths. Another week, another showing of Ottawa somehow snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Toronto 0 vs. Edmonton 26: Trevor Harris didn’t throw a pass TD in this game, though he did run for one while Shaq Cooper added another; Shaun Whyte hit four field goals, and the Eskimos shut out the Argonauts. Another absolutely heinous showing by an entirely overmatched Toronto team – Argos QBs McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Dakota Prukop combined for three interceptions, while the Argos as a team managed just 207 total yards and 13 first downs on offence. Without an offence, Toronto has nothing, but considering they’re missing both an offence and a defence, they in fact have less than nothing.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Winnipeg 15 vs. Hamilton 23: The Tiger-Cats finally halted the Blue Bombers’ win streak at five games – but it came at a terrible cost. Tabbies QB Jeremiah Masoli tore his ACL as he scrambled to avoid Winnipeg’s pass rushers in the first quarter – worse off, the injury was a non-contact one. With Dane Evans replacing him under centre for the remainder of the game, the Ti-Cats had to ride a fantastic defensive effort in order to stop the offensive juggernaut comprised of Matt Nichols and his offensive line. Hamilton as a team racked up three picks, two fumble recoveries, and a sack, keeping Nichols in check very effectively throughout this game.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Hamilton

Saskatchewan 45 vs. BC 18: William Powell ran roughshod over BC, racking up 146 rushing yards and three major scores on 21 carries, allowing Saskatchewan to dominate their season series with the Lions. Kick returner Loucheiz Purifoy also scored an 87-yard return TD to help the Roughriders assert themselves over BC in this game. Mike Reilly struggled in this game, throwing for just 66 yards on 8-19 attempts, facing down a fierce Rider pass rush once again. The bright spot for BC was the work of new kick returner Ryan Lankford, signed just a couple weeks ago after being released from the REDBLACKS; he rattled off both an 89-yard kickoff return TD, as well as a 118-yard missed field goal return TD. At least the LioUns have their special teams going, I guess?

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

BYE: Montreal (3-2)

WEEK 8 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (5-1) vs. Toronto (0-6), Thursday, August 1st, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Literally nothing is going right for Toronto, and while Winnipeg didn’t play particularly well against Hamilton, causing them to lose their first game of the season, I just can’t see the Argos being the team responsible for their second loss of the season. A professional football game when your team scores zero points? That’s like seeing a unicorn. A sickly, dry-heaving unicorn that smells like death and can’t stop falling down. Winnipeg can absolutely rebound after last week’s game – and what better way to show you can rebound by thrashing the Argonauts?

PICK: Winnipeg

Hamilton (5-1) vs. Saskatchewan (3-3), Thursday, August 1st, 9:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): With no Jeremiah Masoli for the remainder of the season, the East Division is now wide open. It’s not exactly clear just yet what Hamilton’s plans will be at QB moving forward, but for now, it’s Dane Evans’ job for the taking. With the way that Cody Fajardo has played in relief of Collaros thus far this season, it’s hard to argue that the Riders would be even better with the CFL vet under centre – which is the primary reason for the Collaros deal to Toronto this week. Don’t expect any rash decisions just yet – Dane Evans will start this one so that the Ti-Cats can best assess what their plan will be moving forward this year.

PICK: Saskatchewan

Ottawa (2-4) vs. Montreal (3-2), Friday, August 2nd, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Ottawa shot themselves in the foot and played some bad football, and ultimately got burned for it. Montreal is coming off the bye week rested, ready, and prepared to beat the REDBLACKS for the second time this season, if possible. If Ottawa has Dominique Davis – at least, the GOOD version of him – back and available to play, it’ll hopefully give the offence a little bit of a jumpstart to try and hang with Montreal’s balanced attack – but their play a few weeks ago against the Als still shows me, at least, that they have a lot of room for improvement. The Als have without a doubt been the biggest surprise of the 2019 season, and so far it seems to me like they’ve really come together as a team in a way that fans haven’t seen since 2014. Exciting times in la belle province! 

PICK: Montreal

Edmonton (4-2) vs. Calgary (4-2), Saturday, August 3rd, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Another year, another Battle of Alberta. Bo Levi Mitchell is still on the shelf, but Nick Arbuckle has been holding down the fort very admirably in his absence. For the Eskimos, Trevor Harris was good last week, even despite not throwing any touchdowns – but with a very aggressive Calgary secondary, he’ll have to be very selective with his throws in order to keep the ball out of their hands. Field goals are good, but TDs are better. Hopefully both teams will be more effective at the latter after showing last week they were both very good at the former!

PICK: Calgary

BYE: BC (1-6)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Harris, EDM – 1931
2. Reilly, BC – 1668
3. Masoli, HAM – 1576

Passing TDs

1. Nichols, WPG – 13
2. Masoli, HAM – 9
3. Harris, EDM – 8

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, MTL – 504
2. Harris, WPG – 494
3. Powell, SSK – 469

Receiving Yards

1. Banks, HAM – 554
2. Burnham, BC – 504
3. Walker, TOR – 483

Sacks

1. Hughes, SSK – 8
2. Law, CGY – 5
3. Laing, TOR – 4

Interceptions

1. Robrerson, CGY – 5
2. Rose, WPG – 5
3. Reid, MTL – 3

Field Goals

1. Whyte, EDM – 21
2. Castillo, BC – 17
3. Ward, OTT – 16

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Enjoy the games, everyone.