The Grey Cup on display prior to the 108 CFL Grey Cup between Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario on December 12, 2021. Photo by Thomas Skrlj
The CFL 2022 season is upon us, and we have predictions from CFL News Hub writers and staff. 2022 is our second season covering the CFL. We are ready to cover the league all season long. We are adding new staff and bringing something new for CFL fans. Leave your predictions in the comments.
Despite all the valid arguments about how frequently CFL teams change year to year. And despite all their losses in free agency. It still feels like the back-to-back Grey Cup-winning Blue Bombers will remain firmly entrenched at the top of the CFL mountain.
Saskatchewan is trying to slay the dragon that is Winnipeg. Calgary, the league’s most consistent franchise, is always in the playoff hunt. BC and Edmonton seem like they are not ready yet to challenge for supremacy in the West.
The East has three legitimate championship contenders in Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal. All three teams have elite talent on their roster. The parity between them and an improved Ottawa could keep an Eastern team from running away from the pack and winning 14 games.
It’s tempting not to take the boring route and predict that Winnipeg will win it all for the third straight season. And Riders fans would love nothing more than to see their team win the Grey Cup in their home stadium. But I am having a hard time envisioning that scenario. Watching Winnipeg win it all in their stadium will be a bitter bill for the Saskatchewan faithful to swallow.
No one is better coached than Mike O’Shea’s Bombers. Winnipeg has built a dynasty playing fundamentally sound football on offence, defence, and special teams. It might not be a sexy choice, but the Blue Bombers are a proven winner. They will hoist the trophy yet again.
Reid Johnson (The Markcast)
Grey Cup Champion: Hamilton Ticats
Grey Cup Runner Up: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Most Outstanding Player: Nathan Rourke
Surprise Team: BC Lions
Just like the Tampa Bay Lightning (as of writing this) are struggling to make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a 3rd season in a row, I expect the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to face a similar tough road in their attempt to “three-peat” with 3 consecutive Grey Cup appearances. All of the CFL teams (except Calgary and the supposed “struggling” Bo Levi Mitchell) have gotten stronger in the off-season, even the bemoaned/celebrated Edmonton Elks (who is their quarterback?) and I expect the talent level across the board to be a return to form after the wet-fart that was the end of the 2021 CFL regular season. Don’t sleep on the BC Lions (as many are with their pre-season power rankings), America’s CFL team has their full support behind starting Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke, who I expect to grow in leaps and bounds this season. Even if BC doesn’t make a deep playoff run, I can’t see them doing any WORSE than they did last year with Michael Reilly at the helm.
Make sure to check out our CFL 2022 week 1 pre-game kickoff show starting at 730p EST on Thursday June 9 before the Montreal Alouettes take on the Calgary Stampeders in the first official game of the 2022 CFL regular season!
Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The duo of GM Kyle Walters and Head Coach Mike O’Shea had been building this team since 2014 in which they slowly got better every year. More importantly, the Blue Bombers kept on finding talent through the draft long term, along with obtaining talent via free agency and undrafted free agents. During that slow rebuild a couple of years prior to 2014, they were finally able to get over the hump in defeating the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders on 2 occasions in 2019 and 2021 winning back-to-back Grey Cups.
Zach Collaros is without a doubt the most consistent quarterback in the last 2 seasons in which his total overall game has produced some smart game clock management skills, along with making very few key mistakes in turning over the ball. Even when he does turn over the ball if it was at a key moment, his mindset is always strong and produces well when the game is on the line by engineering a lot of offense.
He can dissect a defense and wear them down with long drives. He will still have a lot of weapons in utilizing RBs Johnny Augustine and Brady Oliveria, along with WRs and SBs Rasheed Bailey, Nic Demski, Greg Ellingson, and Drew Wolitarsky. There Offensive Line is still a stud with the best RT in the game in Stanley Bryant.
Furthermore, they have the best book ends in the game with both DL Jackson Jeffcoat and Willie Jefferson. The Secondary is anchored by Winston Rose and Brandon Alexander who are 2 of the smartest players in the CFL in making big plays. Their defense will be very stingy again. It will not surprise me that they end the regular season as the least points allowed.
Grey Cup Runner Up:
Toronto Argonauts. McLeod Bethell – Thompson will restore his success as he did back in 2019. He will have an improved team in 2022. The 3 big signings of RB Andrew Harris, WR Brandon Banks, and DE Ja’Gared Davis are going to be big impact players for the Boatmen this season. The Toronto Argonauts are more of an overall improved team than they were last year. One of the big things that were addressed was a lack of pass rushes on pressuring any quarterbacks on a regular basis. DE Shane Ray is now healthy. He will be a cornerstone figure along with Ja’Gared Davis in applying more pressure this year.
Ever since the Toronto Argonauts lost the Grey Cup in 1987 vs Edmonton. The Double Blue have gone to the Grey Cup in all the games they were in winning in 1991, 1997,1998, 2004, 2012, and 2017. Does this streak come to an end?
Most Outstanding Player:
Zack Collaros. I feel that he will lead the league in a lot of passing statistics. He can reach the 4,000 plus mark in passing this year, along with 35 plus TD passes. His interception total during a season has been single digits with the exception of 2018 when he threw 13 interceptions. I believe his accuracy is still there it would surprise me if he keeps that trend.
Surprise Team:
BC Lions. I’m going on a limb here. They might not have the most talented team on record. However, Nathan Rourke is showing so many signs of looking like a veteran out there. He has all the tools to be a solid next-generation quarterback in the CFL. He still has key players on the offense in SBs Bryan Burnham, Dominique Rhymes, and Jevon Cotty. The game breaker on the offense will be the electrifying Lucky Whitehead.
Mark Perry is the founder and editor of CFL News Hub. A dedicated and experienced football analyst, he has been providing comprehensive coverage of the sport since 2018.
The CFL needs to do more to fill the seats. How about signing Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick. Things would really get interesting.
David Tress
June 9, 2022 at 12:48 pm
The CFL needs to do more to fill the seats. How about signing Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick. Things would really get interesting.
John
June 9, 2022 at 7:24 pm
I think the Elks will be this year’s surprise team. I can’t say if it will be a good or bad surprise.
David Elphinstone
October 3, 2022 at 6:21 pm
I think all of you forgot Calgary. They will take over 2nd by the end of season. Not saying they will win the cup but they will be noticed