Ryan Dinwiddie's Ottawa tenure begins Saturday night at TD Place — and the Redblacks have the home edge, the betting line, and a hungry roster ready to prove something.
Game Details
Matchup: Edmonton Elks (0-0) at Ottawa Redblacks (0-0)
When: Saturday, June 6 at 7:00 PM ET
Where: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, ON
TV: TSN
STREAM: CFL +
Odds
Spread: Pick 'Em (Edmonton Elks -0)
Moneyline: Ottawa Redblacks -165, Edmonton Elks +140
Over/Under: 52
Overview
Week 1 in Ottawa doubles as a head coaching debut. Ryan Dinwiddie takes over the Redblacks program and opens at home — which is exactly how you draw it up. Ottawa enters as the moneyline favorite at -165, and the oddsmakers call it a true pick 'em on the spread, which tells you both teams are reasonably matched on paper. The home crowd at TD Place, though, is a real factor in a game this tight. Dinwiddie comes in with fresh eyes and — based on a strong preseason showing — a roster that looks more dangerous than recent Ottawa editions.
The Redblacks had a statement preseason. They went to Montreal and won 27-12 in Week 2, with quarterback Jake Maier throwing two touchdown passes to Keelan White. Then they hosted the Alouettes the following week and won again, 27-3, holding Montreal to a single field goal. Back-to-back preseason wins over the same Eastern Division opponent — that's a confident team heading into the regular season. Ottawa's defense looked sharp in those outings, and the offense built rhythm quickly. The concern heading into tonight is the injury report, which is longer than you'd like at the start of a season.
Edmonton arrives with its own storyline. The Elks were impressive early in the preseason — blowing out BC 34-16 with three passing touchdowns and 343 yards through the air — before dropping a close one to Calgary 21-18 in the final preseason week. Cody Fajardo is the man behind center for Edmonton, a veteran presence who can move the chains and extend plays. The Elks also take the field with some notable injury absences of their own, though Ottawa's list is longer heading into kickoff. The edge goes to Ottawa at home, but Edmonton is dangerous enough to steal this one if Fajardo gets into a rhythm early.
Key Players
Dru Brown (Ottawa, QB) — The projected starter for the Redblacks' regular-season opener, Brown gets to run Dinwiddie's offence for the first time in a game that counts.
Eugene Lewis (Ottawa, WR) — One of the most reliable receivers in the CFL, Lewis is the top target Ottawa will lean on with Nick Mardner lost to a six-game injury.
Daniel Adeboboye (Ottawa, RB) — Steps into a bigger role with Greg Bell sidelined on a single-game injury designation, making him the featured back tonight.
Cody Fajardo (Edmonton, QB) — The veteran signal-caller is the engine of this Elks offence; how he handles Ottawa's front seven will go a long way in deciding this game.
Kaion Julien-Grant (Edmonton, WR) — The top receiver on Edmonton's projected depth chart, Julien-Grant will test Ottawa's banged-up secondary early and often.
Keys to the Game
Ottawa must run the ball effectively with Adeboboye stepping into the feature role — establishing the ground game early will open up passing lanes for Dru Brown and take pressure off an offence finding its footing.
The Redblacks' secondary is shorthanded with Amari Henderson and King Ambers both out, so the remaining defensive backs — particularly Alonzo Addae, who is available despite a hamstring issue — need to stay disciplined against Fajardo's quick passing game and limit big plays to Julien-Grant.
Ottawa has to protect home field — a Week 1 loss at TD Place would put Dinwiddie's debut on the wrong foot and drop the Redblacks to 0-1 while the rest of the East gets rolling.
Injury Report
Player | Team | Position | Injury | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
King Ambers | Ottawa | DB | Ankle | Out |
Amari Henderson | Ottawa | DB | Knee | Out |
Alonzo Addae | Ottawa | DB | Hamstring | Available |
Daniel Okpoko | Ottawa | DL | Foot | Out |
Charlie Parks | Ottawa | DL | Foot | Out |
Emeric Boutin | Ottawa | FB | Adductor | Out |
Nick Mardner | Ottawa | WR | Achilles | Out |
James Peter | Ottawa | LB | Knee | Out |
Shakur Brown | Ottawa | DB | Ribs | Available |
Sam Schnee | Ottawa | WR | Ankle | Questionable |
Greg Bell | Ottawa | RB | — | Single Game Injury |
Depth Chart
Projected starters for both teams, per CFL.ca preseason depth charts. Ottawa's chart reflects several injury-forced adjustments heading into tonight:
Position | Ottawa Redblacks | Edmonton Elks |
|---|---|---|
QB | Dru Brown | Cody Fajardo |
RB | Daniel Adeboboye | Justin Rankin |
FB | Anthony Gosselin | Jacob Plamondon |
WR | Justin Hardy / Eugene Lewis / Keelan White / Ayden Eberhardt / Kalil Pimpleton | Kaion Julien-Grant / Austin Mack / Brendan O'Leary-Orange |
LT | Martez Ivey | Brendan Bordner |
LG | Drew Desjarlais | Carter O'Donnell |
C | Peter Godber | David Beard |
RG | Dariusz Bladek | Coulter Woodmansey |
RT | Dino Boyd | Jordan Murray |
DE | Bryce Carter / Habakkuk Baldonado | Malik Carney / Noah Taylor |
DT | Luiji Vilain / Michael Wakefield | Noah Curtis / Jared Brinkman |
LB | A.J. Allen / Nyles Morgan / C.J. Reavis | Joel Dublanko / Nick Anderson / Kenneth Logan Jr. |
CB | Demerio Houston / Eric Cumberbatch | J.J. Ross / Tyrell Ford |
HB | Bennett Williams | Kobe Williams / Kordell Jackson |
S | Alonzo Addae (Available) | Chelen Garnes |
K | Brett Lauther | Vincent Blanchard |
P | Noah Gettman / James Burnip | Jake Julien |
Returner | Kalil Pimpleton | Javon Leake |
Score Prediction
Ottawa Redblacks 28 - Edmonton Elks 24. The market has this as a coin flip on the spread, and it probably will be close — but Ottawa's home-field advantage, the momentum from two clean preseason wins, and Edmonton's secondary absences tip this slightly to the Redblacks. Ottawa loses Bell and Henderson, which hurts, but Dinwiddie's debut at TD Place gives this team something extra to play for. The Redblacks cover at home in a Week 1 opener that goes down to the fourth quarter.
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