CFL Beat: Week 1

We’ve finally arrived at Week 1 of the regular season! Buckle up with a few Molsons and a bag of all-dressed chips and make yourself comfy for the late summer and fall of 2021, folks.

In league news this week:

• Montreal Alouettes co-owner Sid Spiegel passed away on July 28th; his son-in-law, Gary Stern, will continue on as the head of S & S Sportsco, the holding company that manages the team’s operations. A real shame that Spiegel was unable to even watch his team play a single game during his time as co-owner – but with Stern still closely managing the day-to-day operations, things should stay the same for now.
• A few surprise cuts – Edmonton left veteran pass rusher Shawn Lemon and linebackers Vontae Diggs off their final roster, as well as veteran receiver Kenny Stafford – a surprising turn of events for three high-profile names. Within hours of being cut, Diggs signed a new deal to join the Argos – and I expect Edmonton’s 2019 Most Outstanding Rookie to do just fine with his new time. Remember – part of the reason that teams are often forced to release good players has much to do with salary structure, as well as roster ratios – teams need to have a minimum of 21 Canadian players on their 46-man roster, as well as 7 Canadians (or designated National players) in 24 starting slots… due to these difficult roster ratios, many teams are forced to make difficult decisions. That said, there’s a history that’s started to arise of the Elks front office seemingly not getting along with veteran players – first with star OL Derek Dennis electing to opt out of the season after Edmonton refused to release him – and now with players like Stafford claiming they felt disrespected by coach Jaime Elizondo, something funny seems to be brewing in Alberta’s capital, in my honest opinion.
• Montreal released receiver Naaman Roosevelt as part of their final cuts – a two-time thousand-yard man with Saskatchewan, he clearly has talent, but his age (33) and American citizenship worked against him for the final roster breakdown. I would expect to see him get picked up at some point this season – he seems like a worthwhile depth addition for many teams.
• Former NFL first-rounder DE Shane Ray (#23 overall by Denver) made the Toronto Argos this year. Ray, who has a history of wrist issues that have needed multiple surgeries to correct, will play football for the first time since 2019, when he was a late cut by the Baltimore Ravens in training camp. In 49 NFL games, Ray has 94 tackles, 14 sacks, two forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles, two deflected passes and one defensive TD. Paired with perennial CFL All-Star Charleston Hughes, the Argos are poised to have a very good pass rush this year.
• Paxton Lynch made the Roughriders as the third quarterback, and he’ll see some spot duties behind Cody Fajardo and Isaac Harker – if he sees the field much.

And with this info out of the way, onto the games!

WEEK 1 PREVIEWS

Hamilton vs. Winnipeg, Thursday, August 5th, 8:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): The Bombers will raise their Grey Cup championship banner at home, with a packed, fully-vaccinated IG Field crowd to cheer them on – a welcome little sliver of normalcy in a year that continues to be tumultuous on the public health front. To add a little spice, they’re raising the banner against the very same team they defeated for their most recent championship. It appears as though Jeremiah Masoli has won the QB battle to be Hamilton’s Week 1 starter… With the core of the 2019 team that went 15-3 returning for another kick at the can, the Ti-Cats remain one of the best shots to win the championship this year, and snap the league’s longest title drought – 21 years and counting – in the process.

PICK: Hamilton

BC vs. Saskatchewan, Friday, August 6th, 9:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): It’s Game 1 of the Rick Campbell era – and while BC is probably going to face an uphill battle for a playoff spot this year, one can only hope that this season goes better than 2019, where the Lions started 0-4 and then 1-10 before finally going on a late season push to finish 5-13 under former head coach DeVone Claybrooks. The Leos will probably benefit from some more veteran coaching experience, and there’s a chance they could do well against a Riders team that remains good, but as some disgruntled Twitter users pointed out online to me last week, but has a few notable roster holes, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. If this game ends up being a more offensively-inclined matchup, then all the better to bring fans back to the Canadian game after such a long layoff. Lions QB Michael Reilly underwent an MRI on his throwing arm this week after experiencing some soreness during training camp, but the team is hopeful he’ll be able to start tomorrow. That said, according to TSN beat reporter Farhan Lalji, Reilly hasn’t thrown since Sunday, August 1st. If he can’t go, it looks like Canadian rookie Nathan Rourke, a 2020 Lions draft pick and two-time winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian player in NCAA football, will get his first career CFL start.

PICK: Saskatchewan

Toronto vs. Calgary, Saturday, August 7th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Still unclear who Toronto’s QB is going to be, but no matter who’s on the roster, the Argos will have an embarrassment of riches to work with at receiver. My instincts tell me that Nick Arbuckle has the inside track on the starting job, but with a nagging injury through training camp, McLeod Bethel-Thompson might potentially be the man up for Week 1. Arbuckle, Bethel-Thompson, and Antonio Pipkin will all be making the trip to Calgary – whoever’s throwing the ball will hopefully be able to spread things around on the field effectively. Calgary remains a tough out as they always do, especially at home – this remains fundamentally the same team that won a Grey Cup in 2018 and might have been able to repeat had Bo Levi Mitchell not gotten injured and thus missed the first-round bye by a single game… so Toronto will have their work cut out for them, as always. Argos’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, the Stamps’ former QB coach, remains intrinsically familiar with Calgary’s offensive scheme, and hopefully will be able to game-plan effectively for it.

PICK: Calgary

Ottawa vs. Edmonton, Saturday, August 7th, 10:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): With so much roster turnover in Ottawa (not to mention a new coaching staff), the expectations for the REDBLACKS are low, virtually universally among punditry. That said, with low expectations also comes the chance to surprise and impress. It’ll be interesting to see how this roster comes together, especially on the offensive side of the ball, considering longtime presences like receiver Brad Sinopoli are no longer around. For the Elks, who are trying to re-discover the cohesiveness and poise they had from their 2015 Grey Cup-winning season, a hot start is important to keep pace in a very tight West Division – with provincial rival Calgary perennially near the top of the standings, the Green and Gold cannot afford to give up many games along the way. With starting QB Trevor Harris healthy and ready to go for the start of the year, things should look pretty good on the offensive side of the ball, at a minimum, I suppose.

PICK: Edmonton

BYE: Montreal

WEEK 1 PICKS

Reminder that this is your last chance to join the Pick ‘Em Pool before the season begins… click the link below to sign up and join! Remember, for added convenience this year, you can also install PoolTracker’s web app to your phone or desktop – it’s free and available here.

https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=193216

Enjoy the games, everyone. Without any further ado, let’s get to it!