CFL Beat: Week 7

With two more days of in-person classes left to go for this term of grad school, I just have another 48 hours left until the threat of my eyeballs falling out of my head from writing reflection papers will temporarily subside. But boy howdy, I still have several major projects still outstanding. But perhaps maybe they’ll let me see my family again? I hear people in grad school typically don’t have those, so that seems weird to me. At any rate, at least the CFL Beat is something to keep me sane in these trying times.

In league news this week:

• The Ottawa REDBLACKS signed American DB Dionte Ruffin to a one-year contract; he last played eight games in Montreal last season, though he was released at the end of training camp this year.
• The BC Lions have a new special teams coordinator: after firing Cory McDiarmid at the end of June, the team hired former NFL lineman and longtime CFL coach Dennis McKnight to the role. McKnight was most recently in Hamilton as their special teams coordinator for part of 2024 and all of 2025; he has years of coaching experience on offence and on special teams in the CFL, XFL, and college ranks.

Onto the games!

WEEK 6 RECAPS

Ottawa 17 vs. Edmonton 40: The Elks absolutely manhandled the REDBLACKS at Commonwealth, racking up four interceptions on Ottawa QB Jake Maier, while Justin Rankin continued on his red-hot pace to 2026, scoring three rush TDs while QB Cody Fajardo threw for two more. The sad-sack REDBLACKS are now 0-5 on the year – a legitimately dreadful start that has fans more rankled than ever – while the Elks continue to chase that top spot in the West.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Toronto 21 vs. Winnipeg 30: The Bombers, missing Zach Collaros, gave Dru Brown his first start for the team since 2023 – the year before he left for Ottawa – and he instantly delivered for his new (old) team. Brown finished with 339 passing yards, a TD, and a pick, and also got a ton of help from his defence and special teams to boot. It was the first time this year where the Argos failed to score more than 30 points, and despite Toronto challenging in the fourth quarter, Bombers return man Trey Vaval electrified the home crowd with a monstrous 129-yard missed field goal TD return which proved to be the dagger.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Winnipeg

Calgary 30 vs. Montreal 37: It was a game full of action, with Montreal taking the first game of a home-and-home against the Stamps. The Alouettes D had a good first half, mostly keeping Vernon Adams, Jr. and the Calgary passing game in check, but the Stampeders got some life in the second half to make things close. Montreal racked up a pass TD from Davis Alexander, a rushing score from Dustin Crum, and a trick play passing TD from WR Tyler Snead to WR Tyson Philpot. Vernon Adams, Jr. did throw three TDs in the game, and was threatening to get a fourth in the dying seconds of the game, but the Als managed to swat down the pass on third down to stop the Stamps from tying it up, and walked away with the win.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Hamilton 7 vs. Saskatchewan 38: With Bo Levi Mitchell on the shelf with a broken ankle for the next while, Jake Dolegala got his first start for the Tiger-Cats after being signed to the practise roster in early June. Dolegala, whose greatest skill as a quarterback is that he’s 6’7” tall, performed exactly as you might expect in that situation. The Tabbies offence was inert, in part not only due to Dolegala’s failure to throw any touchdowns, but also due to the Riders’ D being completely stifling once again, including a 107-yard pick-six by DB Josh Woods just before the three-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Tough times ahead in the Hammer, I think.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

BYE: BC (1-3)

WEEK 7 PREVIEWS

BC (1-3) vs. Edmonton (4-1), Friday, July 17th,  9:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The Lions are coming rested off of a bye, but until the team‘s defence improves, they’re not doing much of anything in a West that features two clear front-runners in Edmonton and Saskatchewan. RB Justin Rankin is on a historic pace for racking up total yards from scrimmage this season, and if he continues to play like this, he could be the first player in CFL history to finish with over 1000 yards rushing and 1000 yards receiving on the season. Not only that, but Mike Pringle’s total yards from scrimmage of 2414, which he set in the 1998 CFL season) is firmly within reach as well. Until a team can figure out how to stop him… watch out.

PICK: Edmonton

Montreal (4-1) vs. Calgary (2-3), Saturday, July 18th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): It’s the second half of these teams’ home and home, and the Stamps did play well on the road after a slow start last week, but still not enough to be able to come back against one of the league’s best teams. Playing at home has certainly been more favourable to Calgary thus far – thinking back to their monster win over the Argos recently – but they need to get more consistent as the schedule wears on, especially with Winnipeg once again having a surprisingly strong start to the year and still sitting ahead of them in the standings.

PICK: Montreal

Toronto (2-3) vs. Hamilton (2-3), Saturday, July 18th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): I have no idea how Jake Dolegala still gets signed to CFL contracts. Last week’s game was an all time stinker. It’s the Brock Osweiler effect, I’m certain. Also makes no sense when you have a heralded backup on your roster already in Tre Ford. Is he going to be the Hamilton heir apparent at QB with Bo Levi Mitchell out? Again, I truly cannot say. But I do know that he’s shown a hell of a lot more in his pro career than Dolegala has; I don’t think his lack of a traditional pocket passer game is as much of a detriment as his coaches may seem to believe. The Argos have the exact opposite issue – great QB and offence; absolutely terrible defence. I therefore must give the advantage to Sex Pest Chad Kelly here, as it seems Toronto’s MO in their wins this year has been to simply just outscore the flaws they have in their roster.

PICK: Toronto

Winnipeg (3-2) vs. Ottawa (0-5), Sunday, July 19th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Zach Collaros’ status for Sunday is still up in the air… wouldn’t it be something if Dru Brown goes on to beat his old team in the same season where they essentially just dumped him? The REDBLACKS are a hopeless football team. The ship should’ve sailed on Jake Maier being a legit starting QB weeks ago… but alas, here we are. I am not convinced McLeod Bethel-Thompson would fare any better in this role if the team decides it’s finally time to turn to him… but regardless, pretty well anything is better than the status quo right now.

PICK: Winnipeg

BYE: Edmonton (1-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Kelly, TOR – 1804
2. Alexander, MTL – 1779
3. Harris, SSK – 1620

Passing TDs

1. Adams, Jr., CGY – 14
2. Kelly, TOR – 14
3. Harris, SSK – 12

Rushing Yards

1. Rankin, EDM – 513
2. Mills, CGY – 394
3. Oliveira, WPG– 375

Receiving Yards

1. Philpot, MTL – 719
2. Johnson, SSK – 479
3. Schaffer-Baker, SSK – 471

Defensive Tackles

1. Morgan, OTT – 38
2. Lee, CGY – 38
3. Thurman, SSK – 32

Sacks

1. Vaughters, SSK – 4
2. Ceresna, WPG – 4
3. Howsare, HAM – 4

Interceptions

1. Alexander, CGY – 3
2. Katsantonis, HAM – 3
3. Hutter, OTT – 2

Field Goals

1. Maltos Diaz, MTL – 15
2. Lauther, OTT – 14
3. Blanchard, EDM – 13

PICK POOL

Congrats to GTD on racking up the one and only perfect week last week – now let’s see you do it for a second straight time…

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.officepooljunkie.com/picks-pickem.php?Pool=NFA9D4OXO6C2U0A1

CFL FANTASY

In Week 6 matchups, Maestrottawa took down Sacre Blew by a score of 71-46; thanks, Justin Rankin! I was missing a few guys, to boot…

O Spamada took down BC Dick’s Dead Horse by a score of 112 to 62… Makai Polk and Tyson Philpot were big contributors to Spam’s success last week, with each outperforming their point projections.

Finally, RoughRougesGTD defeated Superfluous “U”s 107-67… the big 50 point victory came off of some of GTD’s guys vastly underperforming, and then Cody Fajardo and Dejon Brissett going off with big weeks for the victors…

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Enjoy the games, everyone.