What to know for the new CFL season
As the QB carousel turns, stable Winnipeg is the Grey Cup favourite
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A new season of Canadian football kicks off tonight with the B.C. Lions visiting the Calgary Stampeders, followed by three more games through the end of the weekend. Here are some basics to know as the journey to the 110th Grey Cup game gets started:
Winnipeg is favoured to recapture the Grey Cup.
Last year, the Blue Bombers seemed destined for the CFL's first championship threepeat since Warren Moon's Edmonton teams captured five in a row from 1978-82. Winnipeg opened the season with nine straight wins before ending up with a league-best 15-3 record and defeating B.C. in the West final. But they couldn't finish the job, losing the Grey Cup game 24-23 after the underdog Toronto Argonauts blocked a field goal in the final minute.
So, the Bombers have "unfinished business" as star linebacker Adam Bighill put it when he signed a two-year extension. Quarterback Zach Collaros also re-upped last fall after throwing a league-high 37 touchdown passes and winning his second consecutive CFL Most Outstanding Player award. He can become the first to take three in a row since Doug Flutie reeled off four straight in the early '90s.
Winnipeg is once again the betting favourite to hoist the Grey Cup, with the odds implying Toronto, B.C., Hamilton and Calgary also have a decent shot.
Toronto's repeat hopes may hinge on a new QB.
They say defence wins championships. And, indeed, the key to the Argos' success last year was a ball-hawking D that led the CFL with 48 takeaways during the regular season and intercepted two passes in the Grey Cup win over Winnipeg.
Canadian linebacker Henoc Muamba became the first defensive player in 15 years to win MVP of the title game after his late fourth-quarter pick preserved Toronto's slim lead. The Argos appeared to lose CFL interceptions leader Jamal Peters to the Atlanta Falcons, but they may be able to bring him back after he was cut by the NFL team earlier this week.
Of course, you also need to score points to win championships, and Toronto has a significant question mark at the offence's most important position as Chad Kelly takes over as the starting quarterback. The nephew of legendary Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly played a key part in the Grey Cup victory, coming on in relief of an injured McLeod Bethel-Thompson in the fourth quarter and running for a critical 20-yard gain to set up the go-ahead touchdown. After Bethel-Thompson left for the USFL, the 29-year-old Kelly was named his team's No. 1 QB for the first time since his college days at Ole Miss.
Hamilton made a big gamble.
After back-to-back Grey Cup defeats and a first-round playoff loss to Montreal, the Tiger-Cats' championship drought has reached a CFL-high (low?) 24 years. But, with the title game returning to Hamilton this November, the Ticats decided to go all in.
Seeking an upgrade at QB from the disappointing Dane Evans, Hamilton acquired the rights to big-name quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell in a trade with Calgary and later signed him to one of the biggest contracts in the league. Mitchell led the Stampeders to Grey Cup titles in 2014 and 2018, winning MVP of the championship game both times. He's also a two-time Most Outstanding Player award winner. But the Stamps deemed the now 33-year-old expendable after benching him in favour of the younger Jake Maier following two injury-plagued seasons.
The Ticats are betting a lot of money that the best version of Mitchell will resurface and lead them to a storybook ending on their home turf. But, if that guy is gone for good, the drought will reach a quarter century. Read more about Mitchell here.
There's also a big QB change in B.C.
Young Canadian Nathan Rourke took the league by storm last year, leading the Lions to an 8-1 start while becoming the frontrunner for the Most Outstanding Player award. But a foot injury sidelined him for the next two months and he was clearly not the same after returning just before the playoffs.
Unfortunately for CFL fans, the league's reigning Most Outstanding Canadian is now trying to make it in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rourke, 24, is expected to enter training camp this summer as the third-stringer behind rising star Trevor Lawrence and incumbent backup C.J. Beathard.
That leaves the Lions hoping for the talented but oft-injured Vernon Adams Jr., to finally stay healthy. If not, former Ticat Dane Evans is waiting in the wings.
B.C., Hamilton and Toronto are among the seven teams that will open the season with a different starting quarterback from a year ago. Read more about what's new this season here.