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 summer and fall of 2024, folks.

In league news this week:

• With a civil case against team and player looming overhead, Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts elected to settle out of court with the former team employee, a female strength and conditioning coach who filed sexual harassment charges against the team’s star quarterback. While the truth is likely never to come out now as a result, I feel like we can make some fairly strong inferences about Kelly’s (lack of) character reform over the past few seasons. He’s still slated to miss the first nine games of the season as per league policy against gender discrimination and violence.
• The CFL announced the Jonas Brothers will play the halftime show of this year’s Grey Cup game in Vancouver, BC. Lady Maestro is already looking up ticket prices and flights as we speak.
• After being cut earlier in training camp by the BC Lions, former Bombers QB Dakota Prukop was signed by the Edmonton Elks to be their #3 – and most certainly their short yardage specialist. He’s previously been extremely effective in that role during his time in Winnipeg – this was a good move by the Elks. Similarly, former Lions DB Marcus Sayles, a two-time All-Star, was a late cut over the weekend, but was promptly picked up by Saskatchewan.
• Final cuts dropped over the weekend, and there’s always a few prominent names that raise some eyebrows whenever these lists get released. A quick sample of guys who are likely to find a new home includes the following:
  • WR Brayden Lenius, SSK
  • QB Mason Fine, SSK
  • WR Tevin Jones, MTL
  • DL Aaron Lynch, MTL
  • DB Brad Muhammad, CGY
  • DB Titus Wall, CGY
  • DE Mason Bennett, HAM
  • WR Omar Bayless, HAM
  • LB Tony Jones, EDM
  • K Dean Faithfull, EDM
• The Riders rolled out their new alternate jersey late last week; it’s a black coloUr scheme with some obsidian green inlays on the numbers and graphics. As the CFL has had some major misses on their alternate jerseys over the years, it’s fortune they actually seem to have gotten this one right for once.
• The REDBLACKS rolled out their new home uniforms on Tuesday; the new black duds are very sharp-looking, with classic white and red shoulder stripes (and matching helmet stripes) that harken back to the halcyon days of the Rough Riders in the ’60s and ’70s. I like the throwback look very much indeed.

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

WEEK 1 PREVIEWS

Montreal vs. Winnipeg, Thursday, June 6th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): It’s a Grey Cup rematch to kick off the season. The Alouettes enjoyed an incredibly successful playoff run to upset the Bombers last year; there’s no doubt that they’ll be good again – and may have a chance to challenge for an East Division title considering that Toronto is missing star QB Chad Kelly for half the year – but at least during this first tilt of 2024, they’re walking into one of the hardest stadiums to win on the road in the entire CFL. Having made it to four straight Grey Cup finals, Winnipeg still carries a target on their backs, and while the offence returns looking pretty much identical from last season, we’ll see what happens on the defensive side of the ball. Jackson Jeffcoat retired in the offseason and star linebacker Adam Bighill is on the six-game injured list – two notable absences from a strong unit last year. Winnipeg will be good again, but it wouldn’t shock me to see the gap close between them and BC this season, and the Lions potentially knock them off the top spot in the West Division this year. Look forward to this being a great opening-night tilt.

PICK: Winnipeg

Hamilton vs. Calgary, Friday, June 7th, 9:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): It’s our first look at the Tabbies under Scott Milanovich’s hand as head coach. While Milanovich joined the team partway through last year and eventually took Tommy Condell’s job as OC, his extensive CFL experience, including as a Grey Cup-winning head coach in Toronto, it’ll be the first chance to see how the whole roster responds to his systems and coaching. The good news for Hamilton is that last year, despite significant injuries to the offence, including to Bo Levi Mitchell at QB, yards and points both improved after Milanovich took over the coordinator role; hopefully that trend continues. That said, Bo Levi Mitchell’s health and reliability still remains a significant concern for the team – considering he hasn’t played a full season in six years, and was limited to just seven games last year, I think fans and management have the right to be worried about his ability to lead the team on the field. In Calgary, after a rare down year last season, the team is anxious to get things back on track – the team’s biggest problem in 2023 was that QB Jake Maier didn’t have anyone to catch his passes. As such, the season-ending injury of 2022 top receiver Malik Henry in training camp is another huge blow. Getting Jalen Philpot back is a start but I could see the Stamps working the trade market for a receiver if the pass game continues to be stagnant to start 2024. We’ll also get to see RB Dedrick Mills as the full-time lead rusher for Calgary – he has looked really good in all his touches over the previous two seasons, and it was really just the nature of a deep RB room featuring Ka’Deem Carey, who’s departed for Toronto, and Peyton Logan, who’s backing up Mills, that we haven’t seen more of him this last little while.

PICK: Calgary

Saskatchewan vs. Edmonton, Saturday, June 8th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): It’s the first look of McLeod Bethel-Thompson in green & gold as he takes the field for the Elks after a one-year hiatus from the CFL. The Elks had a bad year last year at 4-14, but the team vastly improved from the beginning of the season to the end, which corresponded to QB Taylor Cornelius getting benched. As a quarterback, MBT is everything that last year’s second-half starter, Tre Ford, is not; a tall, immobile, pocket passer, with a cannon for an arm and a surprisingly delicate touch on a deep ball. Long-term, the plan is to bring Ford back as a starting QB, but he needs continued mentorship; MBT is a short-term solution that the Elks hope will pay dividends in a hopeful return to the playoffs, and long-term as a mentor to Tre Ford. For the Riders, they’re turning the page from the Craig Dickenson era as head coach, and Corey Mace has radically re-shaped the coaching staff. Last year, a series of injuries, including QB Trevor Harris breaking his leg, torpedoed the team down the stretch, but it was overall the lack of team discipline that proved to be the Roughriders’ undoing. I am eager to see how this team tightens up from a discipline perspective – Mace excelled at keeping the Argos’ D a tight unit both tactically and behaviourally. With Trevor Harris healthy again, I think the Riders have a chance to make a notable rebound – but he’s 38, and time is ticking on his CFL career. This may be the last chance he gets to be starter if he ends up getting injured again.

PICK: Saskatchewan

BC vs. Toronto, Saturday, June 9th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): I am intrigued to see what’s going to happen with both of these teams in their season opener. Last year, against the Argos, QB Vernon Adams, Jr. played perhaps the worst game of his entire football career, throwing six interceptions. The pressure’s on for the team to make the next leap from two straight 12-6 seasons and finally overcome Winnipeg in the playoffs – and perhaps even compete for a Grey Cup on home turf this year. For Toronto, they enter 2024 under a cloud of controversy due to the ongoing situation with last year’s Most Outstanding Player, QB Chad Kelly. Currently facing a lawsuit for sexual harassment, Kelly’s serving a nine-game suspension for his conduct, with the strong possibility for supplemental discipline to be handed down depending on the outcome of these court proceedings. As such, Cameron Dukes has assumed the starter’s role in the interim, and it will be interesting to see how he responds given the opportunity. Toronto’s in a real pickle regardless – they just gave huge money (by CFL standards) to Kelly on a recent contract extension, including a whole bunch of guaranteed money as part of the three-year deal. I am not an expert on CFL contracts but would be curious to know if there’s any sort of personal conduct clause that would allow the team to not have to pay that money if it was clearly established to be thoroughly inappropriate personal conduct. All the same, the key for the Argos this year will be to focus as much energy as possible on the actions on the field, and not to get distracted by the drama unfolding off of it. It’s important to remember – Toronto went 16-2 last year – a historic regular season feat – and surprisingly lost to the Alouettes in the East final. With or without Chad Kelly throwing the ball, this is a team that is definitely a Grey Cup contender once again.

PICK: Toronto

BYE: Ottawa

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=231808

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