Finally! We're back! After a long offseason and a preseason that felt equally as long, we have hit week one. There are many welcome changes to the broadcast this year, including the panel being on site, Luke Willson hopping on the mic and a new scorebug, along with gorgeous new Friday Night Football visuals and some great music to go along with it. My only criticism lies with the AI videos. TSN, please pay real artists and stop using AI in the broadcasts. Anyways, mini rant over. Let's get into some power rankings after an exciting week one!
9: EDMONTON ELKS
Ouch. After a major offseason which saw them scoop up basically every free agent available, the Elks' start to the season was not one to remember. Tre Ford's first game at the controls of the offence had some fans calling for Fajardo to enter the game and throw some balls, as he only threw for 178 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Meanwhile, the free agency overhauled defense couldn't stand stout against a revitalized Nathan Rourke as they let 31 points and 448 yards of net offence by them en route to a 0-1 start.
8: TORONTO ARGONAUTS
The only reason why Toronto isn't number nine on this list is due to the fact that their starting quarterback, Chad Kelly, was unavailable in week one. As such, we don't know exactly what the 2025 Argos are meant to look like. Unfortunately, the product they did put forth wasn't amazing, as Grey Cup MVP Nick Arbuckle's offence managed just 10 points against Davis Alexander's flock on Friday Night Football. The big difference was Montreal's 163 rushing yards to Toronto's 34. Yikes.
7: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
Some early season woes plagued the Tiger-Cats as they lost their opener to the Calgary Stampeders. Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 304 yards, which is impressive when you take into account how many drops his receivers had. Kenny Lawler did not look like himself over the course of this game, save for his touchdown catch, and the Tabbies' defense was picked apart by a locked-in Vernon Adams Jr. All this combined with only 47 yards rushing on the night made for a tough opener in Calgary for the TiCats.
6: OTTAWA REDBLACKS
After a late-game comeback attempt fell short due to poor protection from the offensive line, the RedBlacks found themselves 0-1 after the dust cleared at Mosaic. They started the game great, scoring a touchdown and forcing a fumble from Sam Emilus. From that point forward, it was all Saskatchewan as they picked apart a relatively inexperienced secondary until the fourth quarter. Ottawa managed to get within five points of the Riders before Sasky's defense stepped up and Dru Brown threw the game away on a checkdown. Overall, not a bad start to the season, but they need to stay competitive the whole game instead of just at the start and the end.
5: WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
The Bombers haven't played a game yet in 2025, but I'm not completely sold on them. I think this will be the year where we actually have a regression from the Blue and Gold. Last year they started poorly but finished well. After a lot of their younger members left for different teams in free agency and with an aging group of core players, I don't see them making it back to the Grey Cup in 2025. We'll have to wait and see, though.
4: CALGARY STAMPEDERS
A party in Cowtown to kick off 2025 as the Stamps staved off the TiCats to win their first game of the season at McMahon stadium. Dedrick Mills had a huge game, rushing for 94 yards and three touchdowns, which was complimented nicely by Vernon Adams Jr throwing for 284 yards. The places where I have some concerns are with the interception totals and the defense. Vernon Adams threw no touchdowns and two interceptions, which could have been more had Stavros Katsantonis' second pick not been called back. Adams will need to clean that up heading into next week. Also, the Stamps have a relatively young defense which held up well against the Ticats' offensive attack, but did not record a sack or an interception, while Calgary let two sacks through. Not a bad start to the season, just some things to clean up.
3: SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
After a slow start, the Riders dominated most of their Thursday night season opener against Ottawa. Thomas Bertrand-Hudon filled in nicely for AJ Ouellette (who I don't believe will be out long term), rushing for 57 yards and one touchdown while also catching two passes for 17 yards and a touchdown. After Rolan Milligan Jr. went down (who I also don't believe will be out long term), Kerfalla Exume filled in nicely and it didn't look like the defense missed a beat. The defense also held Ottawa to only 30 yards on the ground. The Riders turned the ball over too many times, however, fumbling it twice and throwing an interception. Dru Brown lit up the defense as well, throwing for a whopping 413 yards and two touchdowns. But due to their resiliency and depth, they rank 3rd on this list. If those injuries keep racking up though, we may be singing a different song later in the year.
2: MONTREAL ALOUETTES
Many had questions about Davis Alexander heading into 2025, myself included. He had a decent game against the new look Toronto secondary, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Where Montreal was really lethal was in their running attack and their defense. As previously mentioned, the flock rushed for 163 yards against a completely new front four on the Argonaut side of the ball. This, combined with the Alouettes defense only allowing ten points, the lowest allowed of any game this week, proved insurmountable for the Double Blue. The Als also intercepted Nick Arbuckle twice over the course of their Friday Night Football affair on their way to a 28-10 victory. Alexander's passing numbers are something to watch, however. 205 yards may not always be enough to win games.
1: BC LIONS
Everyone knew that the Lions season lived and died with Nathan Rourke. He lived up to many fans expectations, throwing for 324 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. After a slow first half that saw the Leos only rack up three points, they proved to Edmonton fans that you can't just buy a good football team, dicing the free agent heavy Elks defense for 28 points in the 2nd half. Rourke also showed off his legs, running for 54 yards. James Butler, in his return to BC, ran for 68 yards and a touchdown, with his longest going for 20 yards. My only concerns for BC lie in short yardage and the slow start. Chace Brice may not be the guy for short yardage this year, being unable to get his team a first down on two separate attempts. Also, the Lions' slow start was a bit concerning. If Edmonton hadn't only scored seven after two quarters, might we have seen a different story in the Lions' den?
GAME OF THE WEEK: OTTAWA REDBLACKS AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
In an extremely entertaining affair to kick off 2025, the Ottawa RedBlacks and Saskatchewan Roughriders combined for 57 points during the evening and having the game come down to a nailbiter near the end. Both quarterbacks put on great displays of accuracy and talent, and both receiving corps put up very good numbers. I'm looking forward to many more games like this in the future.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DRU BROWN
This guy had a massive game in his team's loss in Regina, throwing for 413 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He completed 34 of 41 passes for a crazy 82.9% accuracy and a quarterback efficiency rating of 124.9 while averaging 10.1 yards per throw. He topped the next best passer this week, Bo Levi Mitchell, by 109 yards.
PLAY OF THE WEEK: WOODEN TAKES IT TO THE HOUSE
The first kickoff return touchdown of 2025 was a big one coming from Isaiah Wooden of the Tiger-Cats. After bumping into his own man at the start of the return, Wooden found a hole on the left side of the field and ran in 105 yards for the touchdown. The 25 year old returner made a big splash and hopefully proved to his coaching staff that he can be a big time player in this league.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR NEXT WEEK
How will a rested Bombers team look against a great looking BC Lions squad?
Can Ottawa's Dru Brown put up more great numbers against another great defense in Montreal?
Will Chad Kelly return against the new look and energetic Stampeders?
Can Bo Levi return to 2024 form against one of the best defenses in the CFL?
Find out next week!
By Bruce Chimirri-Olson
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