Another year, another set of team previews! As per usual, this week features the four East Division teams, while next week features the five teams of the West Division. If you’d like to study up before making your picks in this year’s [DFO] CFL Pick ‘Em Pool, I highly recommending reading onwards! If you have yet to join, please click the link below in order to register. As well, info on how to download PoolTracker’s web app to your phone or desktop can be found here. I look forward to having you in the competition!

https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=221760

In league news this week:

• The league is working with some new training camp regulations involving “Guardian” caps being mandatory for all linemen, running backs and linebackers during training camp – these are those soft-shell helmet covers you’ve probably seen at other levels of football.
• Teams will also be using collapsible medical tents on the sidelines this season, allowing for more privacy to treat players with improved privacy closer to game action.
• The league is rolling out CFL+, a new streaming platform designed specifically for American consumers of the Canadian game. Created in conjunction with the league’s new TV deal with CBS Sports, this platform will stream all games that are not being broadcast on CBS – completely free of charge. But for anyone else, myself included, we’re going to need a VPN.

And now, onto the main event.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

Founded: 1950 (the Hamilton Tigers, est. 1869, and Hamilton Wildcats, est. 1941, merged to create the current franchise)

Home Stadium: Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, ON (24,000)

Grey Cups: 8 (1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999)

2022 Record: 8-10, third in East Division; lost in East final to Toronto

GM: Drew Allemang

Head Coach: Orlondo Steinauer

Starting QB: Bo Levi Mitchell

Famous Alumni:

• Angelo Mosca, DT (won 5 Grey Cups, was a pro wrestler in the WWF known as both King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules; famously got in a fight with BC Lions QB Joe Kapp over a hit in the 1963 Grey Cup, where he hit him several times with his cane… check out the video here!)
• Matt Dunigan, QB (2-time Grey Cup champion and current studio analyst for Canadian sports network TSN)
• Bernie Faloney, QB (3-time Grey Cup champion who chose the CFL over the San Francisco 49ers in 1954 because the Canadian dollar was worth more… kind of a shocker!)
• Darren Flutie, WR (yes, he’s Doug’s brother – but he’s also a two-time Grey Cup champ, 3x All-Star, and CFL Hall of Famer!)

Fun Facts: Tim Hortons, the quintessential Canadian coffee joint, is headquartered in Hamilton, and thus the stadium takes the naming rights from them; for whatever reason, there seems to be a major wind tunnel effect, and the new stadium, which replaced the ancient Ivor Wynne Stadium, is hellish for kickers. The Ti-Cats were also owned by insane Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard in the 1980s, who claimed at one point he was losing “a million dollars a year” on the team despite their on-field success. The Ti-Cats are the only CFL team to ever beat an NFL team, when they topped the Buffalo Bills on August 8, 1961. Every year, the Ti-Cats and archrival Argos play the Labour Day Classic at Hamilton’s home stadium, with a 36-13-1 advantage all-time in the series.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: With the Ti-Cats hosting this year’s Grey Cup at Tim Hortons Field in November, they desperately want a chance to break the league’s longest championship drought (no title since ’99), and to become the first team to win at home since the 2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders. This has meant making bold moves in the offseason. QB Dane Evans is gone after many years with the organization – probably for the best, as his 2022 season was really quite poor – and in his stead, the team traded for the rights to longtime Stampeders QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who agreed to sign a new contract with the Tabbies. Mitchell is a two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player and a lock to make the Hall of Fame once his playing career wraps up, but at age 33, he’s not the player he once was. Having lost his starting job in Calgary to Jake Maier, Mitchell wanted a chance to be a #1 guy again, and the Ti-Cats seem to be willing to take risks on a veteran coming off of several shoulder injuries. Can he be MOP level again? I doubt it. But arguably, he just needs to be better than Dane Evans was last year, and that’s not a high bar to clear. If he can do that, then the Ti-Cats have a chance to win the East again this year. This roster is going to look quite different, but perhaps that’s the kind of work this team needs to do to get back to challenging for division titles once more.

Key Additions: QB Bo Levi Mitchell (trade); RB James Butler (FA); WR Duke Williams (FA); OL Joel Figueroa (FA); DL Kwaku Boateng, Casey Sayles, Ja’Gared Davis (FA); LB Jameer Thurman, Chris Edwards (FA)

Key Subtractions: WR Bralon Addison (released), Steven Dunbar (FA); LB Jovan Santos-Knox (FA); DB Cariel Brooks, Ciante Evans, Jumal Rolle (FA); DL Julian Howsare (FA); OL Colin Kelly (FA to XFL)

2023 Record Prediction: 10-8

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

Founded: 1996 (Original franchise 1946-1987)

Home Stadium: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, McGill University, Montreal, QC (25,012)

Grey Cups: 4 (1995 as the Baltimore Stallions, 2002, 2009, 2010) (Original franchise won 4 – 1949, 1970, 1974, 1977)

2022 Record: 9-9, second in East Division; lost in East semifinals to Hamilton

GM: Danny Maciocia

Head Coach: Jason Maas

Starting QB: Cody Fajardo

Famous Alumni: 

• Anthony Calvillo, QB (all-time CFL passing yards leader – 79,816)
• Mike Pringle, RB (all-time CFL rushing yards leader – 16,425 on 2960 carries, averaging 5.6 YPC)
• Marv Levy (former CFL and NFL HC for KC and Buffalo, who won two Grey Cups in 1974 and ’77 for the Alouettes)
• Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, WR

Fun Facts: Percival Molson Stadium is the only one in the CFL that doesn’t contain perfectly square endzones due to a running track surrounding the field. Nobody seems to care, funny enough. The Als’ 2009 Grey Cup win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders ( which saw them win on a last-second field goal, their second attempt after Saskatchewan had successfully blocked the first one, but were penalized for too many men) is considered one of the greatest CFL championship games in the history of the league. The current franchise relocated from Baltimore in 1996, after the Stallions captured the 1995 Grey Cup, the only American team to ever do so.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: The Alouettes took a step back this going into this year, according to many pundits (including myself), with a tumultuous off-season largely to blame. The team was temporarily taken over by the league when the estate of deceased majority owner Sid Spiegel decided to relieve themselves of the responsibility of funding the team. and was quickly sold to Quebec billionaire Pierre Karl Peladeau. However, before the takeover and sale to Peladeau, the team elected not to renew the contract of team president Mario Cecchini, leaving an organization adrift heading into free agency. While Peladeau eventually hired Mark Weightman into the role of team president (and with his experience as president from 2013-16), that didn’t happen until late March, and by that point, the team has missed the boat on almost the entirety of the best free agents available. Last year’s starting QB Trevor Harris is gone, replaced by struggling former Saskatchewan starter Cody Fajardo; on the coaching side, Jason Maas will take over as head coach following Khari Jones’ mid-season firing last year. Maas seriously underwhelmed as a head coach in Edmonton and as OC in Saskatchewan, where he worked closely with Fajardo. Even with most of the rest of the team back, I don’t have high hopes. Fajardo will have a better line than he did with the Riders, but Maas’ Achilles heel as a coach has always been his lack of discipline. For a team to fire Khari Jones as a coach – citing player discipline as an issue – and then turn around and a guy who’s even worse at that aspect of coaching – it just reeks of not having a plan. Hopefully RB William Stanback will be back to his old self, having been limited to just five games last year due a broken ankle suffered in Week 1. With so many question marks in the passing game, running the ball might have to be their identity. Losing your QB and your top two receivers is going to hurt a lot.

Key Additions: QB Cody Fajardo, Caleb Evans (FA); WR Greg Ellingson, Jake Harty (FA); DB Ciante Evans (FA), RB James Tuck (FA)

Key Subtractions: QB Trevor Harris, Dominique Davis (FA); WR Eugene Lewis, Jake Wieneke (FA); DL Michael Wakefield (FA); LB Adarius Pickett, Micah Awe (FA); DB Mike Jones (FA)

2023 Record Prediction: 6-12

OTTAWA REDBLACKS

Founded: 2013 (Original Rough Riders franchise lasted 1876-1996; Renegades 2002-2005)

Home Stadium: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, ON (24,500)

Grey Cups: 1 (2016) (9 as the Rough Riders – 1925, 1926, 1940, 1951, 1960, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1976)

2022 Record: 4-14, fourth in East Division; missed playoffs

GM: Shawn Burke

Head Coach: Bob Dyce

Starting QB: Jeremiah Masoli

Famous Alumni: 

• Russ Jackson, QB ( 3-time Most Outstanding Player, 4-time Most Outstanding Canadian, 6-time All-Star, one of the greatest QBs in the history of the game)
• Tony Gabriel, TE (scored the game-winning touchdown in the 1976 Grey Cup)
• Rohan Marley, LB (the bastard son of Bob Marley, was also married to singer Lauryn Hill)
• Dexter Manley, LB (he of the lifetime NFL ban for cocaine problems)
• Henry Burris, QB (former NFL QB for Chicago and CFL Hall of Famer; 3x Grey Cup champion, including for Ottawa in 2016)

Fun Facts: if you say the name “Glieberman” in an Ottawa sports bar, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get punched by some pudgy, middle-aged white guy. The financial mismanagement of this father & son team killed not only the historic Rough Riders in ’96, but the 2000s expansion Renegades as well. They are fucking idiots. (I am still hurt by the loss of the Rough Riders.) Fans in the stands also constantly talk shit about each other – “North Side Sucks!” and “South Side Sucks!” have been staples for decades at home games. Also, the team insists on spelling REDBLACKS in all capitals, and I still have no idea why. But I respect the commitment to the bit.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: The REDBLACKS went into last season having revamped pretty much their entire roster from the ground up, and after some extremely poor seasons in 2019 and 2021, the new squad had high hopes to contend for a division title; alas, literally every single that could possibly go wrong went wrong for Ottawa. First, they started the year 0-5 all on the receiving end of some insanely poor luck on the field despite strong performances. Next, starting QB Jeremiah Masoli was lost for the year courtesy of one of the single dirtiest plays in CFL history from former Saskatchewan pass-rusher Garrett Marino, who received a four-game suspension for a late hit at the knees plus some racial slurs. The season spiralled from there, with the team seemingly demoralized from losing their best player. Some piss-poor offensive playcalling didn’t help matters much down the stretch either, with head coach/OC Paul LaPolice fired with four games to go in the year. His replacement, Bob Dyce, last year’s special teams coordinator, gained the top job even after finishing 1-3 in the final stretch, but unlike LaPolice, who also called plays, he’ll hand that responsibility off to his new OC, Khari Jones, himself let go from Montreal’s head coach position last year. With new coaching staff, the hope is that the players are finally going to be able to live up to all the hype they had going into 2022. Hopefully Masoli is all healed up nicely by the start of the season as well – as we saw last year, the team lives and dies by quarterback play – as does pretty much every CFL team these days.

Key Additions: WR Shaq Evans, DeMichael Harris, Bralon Addison (FA); RB Ante Milanovic-Litre (FA); LB Jovan Santos-Knox (FA); DB Cariel Brooks (FA); DL Michael Wakefield (FA); OL Drew Desjarlais (FA)

Key Subtractions: DB Patrick Levels (released), Antoine Pruneau (retired); QB Caleb Evans (FA); LB Avery Williams (released), Shaheed Salmon (FA to USFL); WR Darvin Adams, Ryan Davis (FA); DL Davon Coleman (released)

2023 Record Prediction: 8-10

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

Founded: 1873

Home Stadium: BMO Field, Toronto, ON (25,000 for Canadian football crowds)

Grey Cups: 18 (1914, 1921, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1983, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2012, 2017, 2022)

2022 Record: 11-7, 1st in East Division; won Grey Cup vs. Winnipeg

GM: Michael “Pinball” Clemons

Head Coach: Ryan Dinwiddie

Starting QB: Chad Kelly

Famous Alumni:

• Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, RB (largest contract in CFL history and MOP of the 1991 Grey Cup, one of the most exciting ever)
• Ricky Williams, RB (scampered north when the NFL suspended him for weed in 2006. Gave no fucks about it.)
• Michael “Pinball” Clemons, RB (won 4 Grey Cups with the Argos and holds the CFL record for most all-purpose yards with 25,396; current GM of the team)
• Damon Allen, QB (retired at age 44 in 2008, holds the record for combined passing and rushing yards in the CFL, with 84,301 total yards)
• Doug Flutie, QB (6-time CFL MOP and QB for the NFL Bears, Patriots, Bills and Chargers)

Fun Facts: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall owned the Argos in the early ’90s; they also offered a CFL-record contract to Rocket Ismail ($18.2 million over four years – an absolutely unheard-of amount which has not come close to being equalled – QBs, which make the most money on average of all players in the league today, typically have contracts between $400-700,000 at the most.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: The Argos are the CFL’s weirdest team. A perennial poor draw in the nation’s largest city that is so emotionally invested in every other sport besides Canadian football, they continue to not draw well, which is partly due to their owner, the sports megacorp Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (who own the NHL Maple Leafs, NBA Raptors and MLS Toronto FC, plus a number of other minor franchises) refusing to spend more than the absolute bare minimum at promoting the team. At least they have a budget to spend, spend, spend on players despite losing money hand over fist, largely due to the megaprofits drawn by MLSE’s other enterprises. And with that spending has come success, despite continued attendance woes, including a surprise Grey Cup championship over the heavily favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers. With two Grey Cups in the last five CFL seasons, the organization has quietly been one of the better on-field products in recent memory. All that is surprising, sure, but results matter. Things will likely change this year, however. Last year’s starting QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson moved on to the XFL, relishing a chance to play closer to home for the first time in a while. The Argos didn’t end up being big players in the quarterback market in free agency, and CFL sophomore Chad Kelly, who ended up contributing a key couple plays last year that ended up in stealing a victory in the Grey Cup, will be the new #1 guy this year. That said, he still didn’t play much at all last year… but the team clearly sees something in him. To come to Canada after washing out of the NFL is not an easy transition, but we’ll see what he has to show in his first chance to be a true starting quarterback for the first time since his college days at Ole Miss. Meanwhile, future Hall of Fame RB Andrew Harris is back for what is probably going to be his last year in the CFL. Love him or hate him, he’s been the heartbeat of almost every team he’s been a part of through his whole CFL career.

Key Additions: DL Folarin Orimolade (FA); LB Adarius Pickett (FA); OL Darius Ciraco (FA)

Key Subtractions: QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson (FA to USFL); WR Brandon Banks (released), Juwan Brescacin (FA), DL Ja’Gared Davis (FA); LB Chris Edwards, Shane Ray (FA);

2023 Record Prediction: 9-9

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading up to this point – see you back here next week at the exact same time.