Well the dust seems to have settled on free agency. Time to make predictions. And no I don't want to hear about how its too early.
East
- Toronto
- Hamilton
- Ottawa
- Montreal
West
- Winnipeg
- Edmonton
- Sask
- Calgary
- BC
Sold on Edmonton, eh. I personally like BC in the 2 spot, but that’s just me. I see legit reasons for pretty much any team winning their division. That what I live about CFL Free Agency. Now we wait to see which GM’s got the mix right.
Here are my post Free agency predictions
East
Hamilton
Ottawa
Toronto
Montreal
West
Winnipeg
BC
Calgary
Edmonton
Saskatchewan
Nothing against the teams at the bottom, I just don’t think the additions either made will have significant impact. Feel free to bring this back up in the middle of August when I am proven completely wrong 
2 Likes
To me Winnipeg actually improved in the offseason by swapping out Lawler for Ellingson so they have to be the favorites.
Edmonton is going to have a scary good defense and a serviceable offense.
Sask has improved their o and d lines through free agency and have brought in some fairly good offensive players. Key will be if a 37 year old Trevor Harris stays healthy.
Not totally sold on BC with VA at QB.
I am not sold on Jake Maier either though I guess never count out Calgary.
In the east, it'll be Ham and Toronto in a slug fest. Hamilton has went all in in a GC year so lets see how that pans out
Montreal is a dumpster fire with Ottawa being slightly better. Wouldnt be surprised to see a crossover
2 Likes
For me Winnipeg Slightly improved with Lawler. If he stays health big improvement
Dane Evans did beat coming off the bench as a back up and I can see VA coming back to 2019 form with that offence.
Calgary is Calgary. Until Huff and Dickinson are gone that won’t change.
Edmonton did improve and it will be fun to see in they take that next step. I don’t think Harris is the answer. If the Oline struggles this year, it’s gonna get ugly IMO
East is Hamiltons to lose. Argo weren’t World beaters last year, not completely sold on Kelly (said the same about Rourke last year so take that as you will). Ottawa played competitively down the stretch and will be getting Masoli back
Montreal just put Maas and Fajardo back together. 
2 Likes
East
Ottawa
Hamilton
Toronto
Montreal
West
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Calgary
Sask
BC
In the East, I see Masoli having a redemption year, and the bar is really low. If the schedule was balanced, I could see the East winner being in 5th or 6th overall, which I think is the real reason the league went so division heavy on the schedule: to hide the lack of parity. I could see Ottawa being the best of a bad lot.
I picked Hamilton 2nd because BLM will have a chip on his shoulder, and will have a good first half of the season before his age and injury catches him, and that will be enough to carry them.
Toronto will be nipping at the TiCats' heels at the end, but Dinwiddie will make some sort of coaching mistake that will cost them in the end.
Montreal will not do well in a year where they have both Maciocca and Maas.
Out West, Winnipeg's OLine will make the offense's already formidable skill players look even better. The league will once again be divided into the Bombers and the rest.
I'm high on Edmonton because of Chris Jones' record. He always has a throwaway year to build, then the results have historically come hard. He's got a young gun at QB whom other teams are still getting film on, so he'll have some time to grow into the job.
I picked Calgary next because they're simply better than the Riders and Lions.
I picked the Riders 4th on sentiment and hope. ODay has made some (overdue) moves, and the team lost an anchor at OC, but the Riders have declined every single year since the current brain trust inherited a successful team from Evil Jones. Dickenson will once again fail to instill discipline and he will lose the room just after Labour Day.
I would have picked the Lions for 2nd, maybe even 1st, if Rourke hadn't chased his dreams, but I don’t think the Lions team is good enough to make up for the downgrade at QB.
In truth, I believe BC will be 4th and the Riders 5th, but I can't bring myself to put that as my prediction.
2 Likes
Wow two of three with Edmonton 2nd in the west....
East...
Ottawa
Hamilton
Toronto
Montreal
Ottawa steadily resigned players from the day the season ended. I think by the time we got to free agency they filled some holes and are pretty solid.
Hamilton will have a balanced attack on offence this season. Question is their "chunk" plays on offence having lost so many receivers.
Quarterbacking will be the decider for Toronto. Still strong on both sides of the ball, will they be able to replace MBT?
Montreal - Could be better than last place. They came up with a lot of talent last year and were an excellent young team, can they continue to find young talent?
West....
Winnipeg
Edmonton
BC
Sask
Calgary
Winnipeg has shown what continued success looks like. They are getting long in the tooth though and I look for them to start a rebuild in the next year or two.
Edmonton - added some outstanding targets for the dual threat QB and the number 3 running game last season. Added coaching will make the defence and special teams much better.
BC will be good. Not as good as last season but very competitive. Quarterbacking is a bit of a question but they have plenty of talent signed.
Saskatchewan - really didn't loose as much talent as expected. Will need to be sharp on offence and protect the QB well. Doubt there will be a crossover this season and they will be in tough to make the playoffs.
Calgary - With Huf at the helm they always seemed to be able to plug the holes on both sides of the ball. Remains to be seen if Dickensen will be able to do the same.
Solid run game but it works off the pass game. BC showed how to shut down Maier in the west semi last season and without all the help on the bench and will the accountability and discipline BLM always brought to the offence continue?
3 Likes
Yup EE up there in second place.
BC will be hurting st the QB spot and it will show.
Riders, well they are in turmoil in the front office AND coaching staff. That will show in in the loss Column again this coming season.
Never count out Cow Town, they always put a contender on the field.
The west as usual means you just gotta get one two or three in the postseason to have a good chance of getting to the Grey Cup
Hamilton - Grey Cup year at home
Ottawa - changes may work very well
Toronto - won it already and may take a slide back
Montreal - off season turmoil
Winnipeg - lot's of depth
Calgary - they just rework so well
Edmonton - more a wish than a prediction still QB questions and they looked horrible last year
Sask - depends on Harris and the OC
BC - this could change big time if Evans bounces back and they will move up to third at least or even second
1 Like
EAST
Hamilton..........11 - 7
Ottawa..............10 - 8
Montreal............8 - 10
Toronto..............7 - 11
WEST
Winnipeg.........12 - 6
Edmonton.......10 - 8
BC..................... 9 - 9
Calgary..............8 - 10
Saskatchewan..6 - 12
1 Like
Just wondering if Dave is going to do as good a job as Huf has. TBH I thought they seriously leaked talent during Free Agency and didn't replace it.
Half of their fearsome D line left, they lost some receiving talent and I'm really not sure Maier is the answer at QB. They put up a good start by in part playing lots of early season games against the Elks, they had trouble beating Hamilton, were uneven against BC.
I just have the feeling in letting Bo go they lost some leadership that they may not be able to replace.
Calgary has very good scouting which is why they've been one of the most successful franchises in the past 20 years or so
1 Like
No argument there. The change in GM is where there is a question in my mind. You gotta have the right stuff in the dressing room as well as on the field.
Teams always take on the character of their coach t some degree, and Dickenson has shown too much of alack of discipline himself not to have that leach into the team. Same thing as I saw in BC years ago with Vic Rapp. Great teams but that lack of discipline and inability to control their temper cost them time and again.
1 Like
Its always difficult to know where to rank the stamps coming in to a season. Every year they lose core guys. Every year they seem to put out a decent team
1 Like
Bombers have a good chance of starting the season 0 - 2 imo. Not seeing the depth others are mentioning.
Riders have a good veteran team with a few questions left in the secondary that also includes the WIL cover linebacker. Will be in every game and could win it all.
BC is playoff bound. Between the two QBs, they will get it done. Good supporting cast.
Agree Jake Maier still needs to prove his mettle but know he has good help. Run game sets up the pass game that sets up the run game. Could be fourth or could win the west. Would make a good story to lose to Hamilton in the Grey Cup.
Story last week about how Taylor Cornelius will be the most improved player in the league. That could be scary. Also looking forward to more players we don't know yet. My feeling is a new playoff streak is about to start for the Elks. Storm clouds brewing in northern Alberta.
So BC and Edmonton are in and the other three are on the bubble. Division winner comes from the bubble group and could be any of the three. I like Calgary.
All Hamilton needs is a bounce to not go against them. Grey Cup favorites imo.
For as much as people complain about air horns in Montreal I put them ahead of the chain saw crew in Ottawa. The plaid is also a bad joke gone on too long but good luck to them. Top three QB depth in the league bodes well and the divisional weighted schedule will help them to a semi final berth is my guess.
Montreal is late to the party this season but don't count them out. One thing about Montreal is second and third are not good enough for the high standards of excellence that will be expected. Overcrowded in the backfield and still sorting personnel right now. We'll see how they like Cody Fajardo. Franchise is in good hands.
Chad Kelly will win some games for the Argos. Defense might win one or two. 9 - 9 might get them in. An Eastern final with Hamilton could be a wild affair in a number of different ways.
Riders have a good veteran team with a few questions left in the secondary that also includes the WIL cover linebacker. Will be in every game and could win it
Micah Teitz should be back. Question will be can he cover the field now with the hash marks brought in. Basically you need two SAM type linebackers now.
The secondary is fine.. one more year playing together and hopefully finding an upgrade for Amari Henderson will lock it down. Problem was we had basically no pass rush with Leonard, Lanier, and Robertson all being out for significant stretches of games.
Seems there is no interest in Shaq Richardson or maybe something else. Was highly touted at one time. Deon Lacey is another.
With the exception that the top ranked middle linebacker and number one run stopper in the league left......
Sorry... that was from Carlos' reply.
Larry Dean will slide back to his natural middle linebacker position and they have Micah Teitz, who missed all of last year, and WIL.
1 Like
I wasnt a huge Deon Lacey fan when he was here the first go around.
The reason I mentioned the secondary was because of Lokombo and Onyeka who did not play as much as expected last year. What happens this year? Who plays safety?
All is well as far as Marshall, Milligan, Clark go imo. Won't deny I was Louchiez Purifoy fan and think he will help Edmonton.