CFL QB Power Rankings: Injuries to Bo Levi Mitchell and Zach Collaros significantly reshape dynamic of the league
It’s never great to see two of the best quarterbacks in the league go down due to injury, and
Sunday night’s game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats looked more like a Friday night Big Ten clash between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Purdue Boilermakers. Instead of the high scoring afair we were expecting, we got a 14-13 game with brutal offensive play.
The biggest reason was the injuries to both quarterbacks. Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell appeared to dislocate his ankle, and Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros injured his neck, something that has bothered him multiple times before.
It’s changed everything in the CFL moving forward, as the Blue Bombers might be moving on from Collaros in favor of either Dru Brown or Taylor Elgersma. For the Tiger-Cats, losing Mitchell for an extended period of time could crater their Grey Cup hopes.
With Mitchell and Collaros unknown with their returns, what does the quarterback landscape look like? I power-ranked all nine starting quarterbacks.
9. Hamilton Tiger-Cats: Jake Dolegala
Head coach Scott Milanovich named Jake Dolegala the starting quarterback for their Week 6 matchup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday night. Starting him over Tre Ford, whom the Tiger-Cats signed this offseason to be the backup quarterback.
It’s an interesting decision by Milanovich, but one that makes a little bit of sense when you watch back Ford’s performance. He was all over the place with the football in terms of placement, but he did throw a beautiful deep ball to Kenny Lawler that unfortunately went incomplete.
Will this end up working? Only time will tell, but weathering the storm until they can hopefully get Mitchell back will be key.
8. Ottawa Redblacks: Jake Maier
It was a tough decision for the head coach Ryan Dinwiddie to name a starting quarterback, and it’s not going great so far. Maier has started four games, and the Redblacks are 0-4. He’s eighth in pass yards, eighth in passer efficiency, and ninth in completion percentage among starting quarterbacks. The hope was Maier could be the franchise quarterback in his second stint after a disastrous run in Calgary. That hasn’t come to fruition yet.
Being 0-4 is brutal, and Maier is plenty to blame for the start. He isn’t attacking down the field, and Dinwiddie is having to call shorter concepts to accommodate him. It’s not going the way Dinwiddie planned, and it’s even worse knowing that they traded Dru Brown to the Blue Bombers.
7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Dru Brown
This is the most interesting quarterback situation of the group. Collaros is questionable for Friday night’s game against the Toronto Argonauts with a lingering neck injury, meaning the quarterback is likely either Brown or Elgersma. After trading first and second-round CFL Draft picks to get Brown two weeks ago, and it may pay off.
Normally, it would take you a little bit to get comfortable with the offense. Luckily for the Blue Bombers, Brown was in Winnipeg for years and worked with offensive coordinator Tommy Condell the last two years in Ottawa. Brown has the arm talent and experience to thrive with the Blue Bombers, who desperately need some explosiveness in the passing game with Tommy Nield, Tim While, and Nic Demski.
6. Edmonton Elks: Cody Fajardo
There isn’t anything exciting about Cody Fajardo, but he’s exactly what the Edmonton Elks and head coach Mark Killam need. Fajardo is a really good distributor of the football who provides stability for the offense that’s powered by Justin Rankin.
Fajardo is the kind of guy like Kirk Cousins was for the Vikings over his six years with the franchise: there isn’t anything exciting about his game. He’s careful with the football, a smart processor, and doesn’t take sacks. When you have Justin Rankin at running back, it certainly makes his job a bit easier.
5. Toronto Argonauts: Chad Kelly
We know that Kelly’s presence in the CFL doesn’t sit well with many due to his off-the-field issues. Those will always linger, and it’s a fair discussion point. However, from a football standpoint, Kelly is the reason why the Argonauts have had any kind of sustained success.
He’s been all over the place with eight interceptions, but Kelly has also been very explosive through the air, leading the league in passing yards (1,484) and touchdowns (12). He is fearless in attacking vertically with a talented group of wide receivers, and the Argonauts sit at 2-2 to start their daunting seven game road trip to ster the season, including a massive win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. If Kelly can take care of the ball a little better, Kelly could win another Most Outstanding Player award.
4. BC Lions: Nathan Rourke
The difficult part of ranking Nathan Rourke is how poorly the BC Lions have played to start this season. They started 0-3, and a big part of that was dealing with massive injuries to their wide receiver room. They entered their Week 2 game against the Tiger-Cats with four of their top five wide receivers out, including Keon Hatcher, and they lost another player in that game.
Rourke has still played solid football coming off his Most Outstanding Player season last year, but the defense is the biggest reason for their lack of success. The Lions are fifth in points scored with 123, and tied for sixth allowing 137, including a whopping 16 offensive touchdowns. That will be the key to whether or not the Lions make the Grey Cup again, along with Rourke taking another step forward.
3. Calgary Stampeders: Vernon Adams Jr.
Vernon Adams Jr. is now in his second season with the Calgary Stampeders, and they are finally starting to see the fruits of their labor.
Adams bounced around the league for years, never really feeling secure in his position. That’s changed, and we are seeing his play spike in a big way. Adams became the first Stampeders quarterback ever to be responsible for seven touchdowns in a single game.
Adams is one of two starting quarterbacks to not throw an interception this season, and he’s done so on 109 attempts. He’s still got the playmaker gene that’s elevated him, and done a really good job avoiding sacks in the pocket, and the Stampeders have been ramping up thoughout.
2. Montreal Alouettes: Davis Alexander
It may be surprising to see Alexander second on this list, as he’s likely the No. 1 option to be the Most Outstanding Player. Alexander is leading the No. 3 overall scoring offense and the No. 2 net offense. He’s also not afraid to attack vertically down the field, and does so at an impressive level, not having thrown a single interception on 154 attempts.
The key for Alexander is whether he can stay healthy. He hasn’t been able to keep his hamstring in good shape the entire time, and it cost the Montreal Alouettes the Grey Cup. The way he has the offense cooking with Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead leaves a lot of meat on the bone.
1. Saskatchewan Roughriders: Trevor Harris
Trevor Harris is the oldest quarterback in the CFL at age 40, and it hasn’t slowed him down one bit. He’s completing an excellent 71.9% of his passes for 1,418 yards, 1o touchdowns, and two interceptions. Those are tremendous numbers, and it’s even more impressive when you see what kind of throws he’s making.
Whether it be Kian Schaffer-Baker, Samuel Emilus, or KeeSean Johnson, Harris is attacking all three levels of the field, and maneuvering the pocket in a savvy way. He’s also elevated the offense without star running back A.J. Ouellette, as he’s missed time with injury. Harris is great at attacking space downfield, and his veteran presence could lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to another Grey Cup.
