Thursday, July 7, 2016

2016 CFL Week 2 Power Rankings

1. Ottawa REDBLACKS
I thought that the REDBLACKS made the best free agent signing in quarterback Trevor Harris. I thought that he was probably better than Henry Burris already, but with Burris' injury that is moot, Harris is the starter. Harris has put up some ridiculous stats, including some gaudy numbers from receiver Chris Williams plus a good showing from Canadian receiver Brad Sinopoli.

2. BC Lions
You can't argue with undefeated. The Lions winning on the road against a decent Hamilton team is impressive early on in 2016. I guess Wally Buono still has it with regards to coaching. I honestly didn't see that coming.

3. Caglary Stampeders
The Stamps lost their first game but bounced back in week 2. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was good, but most impressive was the Stampeder running game led by Canadian Jerome Messam who looked unstoppable at times.

4. Edmonton Eskimos
I don't think that Jason Maas is as good a coach as their former coach Chris Jones. However they still have quarterback Mike Reilly, who while healthy is one of the better pivots in the league.

5. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Whenever Zach Collaros returns from injury, the Cats will move up these charts, however that could be Labour Day. Right now the Cats would probably just be happy to go 500 without Collaros. Jeremiah Masoli looked good in the first game against the Argos and then medicore against the Lions at home last week. Masoli is in no danger of beating out Collaros for the Ticats starting job, but he is OK as a backup. Plus the Ticats also have Jeff Matthews. An issue for the Cats in 2016 is their secondary, especially the corners. The Cats released vet Geoff Tisdale, but don't expect that to have magical effects. The Cats need Maher to have a better game kicking than last week. The Cats had a lot of field goals last year from the now departed Justin Medlock.

6. Toronto Argonauts
Ricky Ray is a good quarterback by the standard of every down played in the CFL (which would include all the downs played by backup quarterbacks in the league this year due to injury). That doesn't seem to be enough for the Argos to occupy the top of these rankings. Picking up linebacker Shawn Lemon this week should help the Toronto defence.

7. Montreal Alouettes
Having Duron Carter being suspended obviously doesn't help the Alouettes, however at least he scored an impressive TD on the play. Kevin Glenn seems at this juncture to be a better option than the other Alouette quarterbacks, so the team isn't terrible. Jim Popp has been a great GM (although having quarterback Anthony Calvillo to rely on for years didn't hurt), and a medicore at best CFL coach.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Looks like another losing season for the Bombers. I liked the signings of Harris, Dressler and Medlock, but they haven't panned out yet. Not really a lot to say until they start making an impact.

9. Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Riders lost their home opener to Toronto even with a healthy Darian Durant. Not expecting much this year, although they will probably be better in the second half.

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