Stampeders -2 (BetRivers -105) risking 0.57u to win 0.5u
Opening night for the Stampeders and naturally they land the team that took them out of the playoffs in the 2022 season, but things might look a little different this time around. No Rourke, via NFL. No Butler, signed by Hamilton in the off-season. So how will this offense operate without them? I think they will struggle initially while Adams gets accustomed to being ‘the guy’ and lack of firepower. Not to mention they will have a target on their backs most weeks as Rourke shredded these defenses in 2022, almost embarrassing some of them at points. So needless to say revenge will be on these players and coaches minds. Which segues into why I like Calgary tonight. The revenge factor will be huge, its opening night at home and to be honest this team had a very good year last year. Losing only 6 games in the regular season, with 3 of them to the standout Winnipeg squad and 2 to these Lions. Expect a heavy dose tonight from 2022 RB leader Ka’Deem Carey, taking some of the pressure off of Jake Maier. BC does not really have a strong defense, so I think this is a great defense to face in his debut, as this is HIS team now. Let’s put half a unit on the Stamps to kick off the 2023 campaign!
Blue Bombers ML -200 (BetMGM) risking 1u to win 0.5u
Another intriguing match-up with tons of headlines. For starters Winnipeg is hands down the best team in this league and will look to prove that in 2023 after getting upset in the Grey Cup by 1 point in 2022. Their big off-season acquisition Kenny Lawler will be suspended tonight, caused by issues with Canadian immigration stemming from a guilty plea for impaired driving. With all that said Zach Collaros looks to pick up where he left off last season, with 37 touchdowns and 4183 passing yards. Now for the Ticats, they went and signed two time Grey Cup champion QB Bo-Levi Mitchell. He leaves Calgary with a 90-25 record as a starter and hoping to have the same success Ricky Ray had when he made a big change in the later half of his career with the Argos. Joining him is James Butler, another off-season acquisition by Hamilton. He’s an explosive RB who had over 1000 yards on the ground last season as well as 53 receptions out of the backfield for 4 TD’s. Do I think these guys are going to have immediate success, absolutely not. I think it’s going to take time and some major growing pains along the way, but they do have the potential to be a force come later this season. I am all over the Blue Bombers here, I really don’t want to lay 5 points in Week 1 of any football season, the CFL is no different. So let’s put half a unit on Winnipeg on the ML here at -200.
PASS
Moving on to Saturday, I think this game has way too many question marks to actually put a wager on it. Arbuckle gets the start for Ottawa due to Masoli still not being ready because of last year’s injury, the Redblacks continue to have problems at QB. Is Arbuckle the answer going forward? I’m not so sure, he could be, but Masoli is their guy if healthy. Ottawa has ironically fared very well over the years vs Montreal, which pushed me to stay away from this game. I also don’t like it’s Cody Fajardo’s debut at QB for the Alouettes. There is way too much hype on this guy for me coming into this season. Let’s enjoy this one and hope to get some good information going forward. Pass.
Elks -2 (BetRivers -110) risking 1.1u to win 1u
Let’s end Week 1 with arguably the two worst teams in the league, and also my top pick of Week 1. The Edmonton Elks have their home debut and quite possibly will treat this as their own ‘Grey Cup!’ You have to go back to 2019 to find their last home win, we are in 2023 now, what? Yes, 17 straight home losses for the Elks, but boy do they look juicy to get that first W on opening weekend. They get to face the Roughriders of Saskatchewan who really are not much better. The Riders lost 7 straight to the end 2022, and 9 of 11. They went and got QB Trevor Harris in the off-season, the former Alouette, and he will be in the controls for the Riders this season. They have tons of question marks on both sides of the ball, and didn’t appear to get any better this season. Now for the Elks who were massacred in many games in 2023, are in year 2 of their rebuild, and have a defensive minded coach looking to right the ship this year. Fortunately for them, they ranked dead last in almost every statistical category last season, so there is nowhere to go except up. On the offensive side, they bring in slot receiver Eugene Lewis, who becomes the highest paid non-QB in the CFL. He has been known for his ability to go get balls, and make bad passes look good. This is great news for dual threat QB Taylor Cornelius, who has the ability to beat teams with his arm and his feet. He had two very good games vs Saskatchewan last year, throwing for a combined 446 yards, running for 179 yards and scoring 3 total touchdowns. I think the Elks rise up and get their first home win in a long time on Sunday night, making it my best bet of the weekend. I will lay the 2 points with Edmonton for 1 unit.
