1 week of the CFL regular season is in the books. Let’s look back at how our wide receiver rankings have changed and why.
These rankings can also help give you an edge in CFL fantasy football. Week 1 is over but It’s not too late to start a CFL head-to-head fantasy football league with your friends and draft your teams to compete against each for the rest of the CFL season. Our friends at 110yards.ca are able to accommodate a CFL fantasy football league starting mid-season.
1. Dominique Rhymes, BC Lions, Previous Ranking #WR6
Based on what we have seen so far I am now led to believe that Domonique Rhymes and Vernon Adams Jr. may be the strongest QB-WR duo. They have had great chemistry and Rhymes was the most targetted receiver in week 1 with 13 targets. In week 1 Rhymes had 8 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns.
2. Tim White, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Previous Ranking #WR2
Tim White was tied for the 2nd most targetted receiver in week 2 with 10. He had 4 catches for 71 yards and 1 touchdown. It seems like the chemistry with Hamilton’s new quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was a little off with his receivers but I could see Time White having a very big year playing alongside the most winningest quarterback in CFL history.
3. Eugene Lewis, Edmonton Elks, Previous Ranking #WR3
Eugene Lewis led the league in yards in week 1 with 148 yards on 5 catches and a touchdown. He had an incredible play in which he had the league’s biggest play of the CFL season so far with an exciting 99-yard touchdown. The passing game overall really struggled as Taylor “General” Cornelius completed just 52% of his passes.
4. Malik Henry, Calgary Stampeders, Previous Ranking #WR1
Malik Henry was targeted 8 times but finished the day with 3 catches for 28 yards. Jake Maier struggled to get going as he had the lowest amount of passing yards among starting quarterbacks in week 1. Last year Maier averaged 263 passing yards per game so if he can get back to his level of play then Malik Henry will return to a high level of production.
5. Dalton Schoen, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking #WR4
Schoen had a quiet night comparatively speaking to his 2022 season in which he led the league in yards. Schoen had 5 catches for 60 yards in Winnipeg’s win over Hamilton while teammate Nic Demski had over 100 yards. Schoen was the most targetted receiver in Winnipeg with 9 targets. The reason Schoen was not ranked #1 on this list initially is simply the fact that Winnipeg has so many good receivers to spread the ball around to that at times a superstar can have a quieter night with others having big games.
6. Kenny Lawler, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking #WR5
Lawler led the CFL in receiving yards n 2021 when he last played for Winnipeg. He is currently dealing with an immigration issue that is caused by complications from a DUI incident in 2021. It was announced on June 1 that this was a problem for him after he participated in the preseason and at that time was expected to take 3-4 weeks to resolve.
7. Austin Mack, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking Unranked
Austin Mack had a big game to start his CFL career. The rookie out of Ohio State had 120 yards on 4 receptions. Cody Fajardo’s first pass as an Alouette was a 61-yard completion to Austin Mack who was his favorite target in week 1 as he was targetted 6 times.
8. Kurleigh Gittens Jr., Toronto Argonauts, Previous Ranking #WR8
Toronto was on a bye in week 1. They open their season on Sunday as they host their rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Gittens was a CFL All-Star last year.
9. Jaelon Acklin, Ottawa Redblacks, Previous Ranking #WR7
Acklin was 1 of 4 Redblack receivers to be targeted 7 times in Ottawa’s loss to Montreal. Quarterback Nick Arbuckle filled in week 1 as Jeremiah Masoli is missing the first 2 games of the season as he ramps back up following a season-ending injury last year. Acklin had 2 receptions for 24 yards in week 1. He was targeted multiple times in the red zone including a play in which he was unable to make a difficult catch in the end zone as he hit the ground. It is hard to predict how Ottawa’s season will go but at this time it seems the 2022 East Division All-Star is still the likely top target in Ottawa despite a slower start in week 1.
10. Nic Demski, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking #WR10
Nic Demski had the 4th most yards in week 1 as he caught 6 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. He did have 1 fumble that resulted in a turnover. I expect his production to be higher while Kenny Lawler is out. I find it unlikely to believe that Lawler, Schoen, and Demski can all get massive production, but the Winnipeg offense feels unstoppable right now so who knows what the ceiling is.
11. Greg Ellingson, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking #WR9
Ellingson is currently on the 6 game-injured list. It’s a little bit tricky to estimate how big of a role he will have in the receiving room with so much change in Montreal this year. Ellingson is a receiver who has had injury troubles the last 2 seasons in addition to this year but has still had very good production when healthy.
12. Duke Williams, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Previous Ranking #WR10
Williams was the 2nd most targetted receiver for Hamilton in week 1 as he was targeted 7 times and had 3 catches for 56 yards. I still believe Hamilton’s QB Bo Levi Mitchell has a lot of gas left in the tank and am anticipating Hamilton to have some very big passing numbers at times this year.
13. Reggie Begelton, Calgary Stampeders, Previous Ranking #WR12
Reggie Begelton was the 2nd most targetted receiver for Calgary in week 1 as he had 6 catches for 42 yards against BC. BC is a good team and defending the pass as they were tied for first in pass yards allowed last season.
14. Tre Odoms-Dukes, Calgary Stampeders, Previous Ranking Unranked
Tre Odoms-Dukes was the most targeted receiver for Calgary in week 1 as he was targetted 10 times and pulled in 7 receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. He was with Calgary most of last year on the practice roster except for 4 games that he played in. The 2023 season is off to an excellent start for him as he will look to cement himself as one of the focus points of Calgary’s offense.
15. Lucky Whitehead, BC Lions, Previous Ranking #WR14
Fantasy football owners might be concerned by Lucky Whitehead’s quieter night in which he was targetted just 3 times and caught 2 passes for 16 yards. It is far too early to worry about the 2021 CFL All-Star’s productivity. He is a good receiver and his production will come.
16. Alexander Hollins, BC Lions, Previous Ranking Unranked
Hollins spent most of the season on BC’s practice squad until he got the start in their last 6 games. The product of Eastern Illinois made a big impact in week 1 as he caught all 6 of his targets for 85 yards.
17. Devaris Daniels, Toronto Argonauts, Previous Ranking #WR20
On the bye in week 1. Toronto’s season opens this Sunday against Hamilton.
18. Derel Walker, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Previous Ranking #WR11
For the third straight year, Saskatchewan won their season opener yet it created more questions than answers. Despite the fact Saskatchewan forced Edmonton to punt more than any other team Saskatchewan was only able to generate 179 yards of passing offense. Derel Walker was targeted 4 times in week 1 catching 3 of them for 28 yards and a touchdown. It remains to be seen who Trevor Harris’s favorite target will be. Walker was tied for third in targets for the Roughriders.
19. Justin Hardy, Ottawa Redblacks, Previous Ranking #WR15
Justin Hardy caught 4 of his 7 targets for 27 yards in week 1. It is hard to gauge what Ottawa’s pass offense will look like after 1 game in which the backup, Nick Arbuckle, struggled and was not really stepping into his throws which should be a correctable problem.
20. Nate Behar, Ottawa Redblacks, Previous Ranking #WR
Nate Behar caught 5 of his 7 targets for 45 yards.
21. Kian Schaffer-Baker, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Previous Ranking #WR18
Schaffer-Baker is currently on the 6-game injured list. He can be activated before 6 games but it’s not clear exactly how much time he will miss. He was Saskatchewan’s top receiver last year.
22. Dillon Mitchell, Edmonton Elks, Previous Ranking #WR16
Mitchell caught 1 of his 3 targets for -5 yards in week 1. The passing game for Edmonton simply needs to be better.
23. Steven Dunbar Jr., Edmonton Elks, Previous Ranking #WR17
Steven Dunbar Jr. caught 1 of his 4 targets for 7 yards. It was a tough day for Edmonton’s QB who threw just over 50% in week 1.
24. Rasheed Bailey, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking #WR25
I am not sure how many targets Rasheed Bailey will continue to get once Kenny Lawler returns but his 8 targets are a good sign in the meantime. He had 4 receptions in week 1 for 26 yards and a touchdown.
25. Kiondre Smith, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Previous Ranking Unranked
Kiondre Smith pulled in 4 of his 5 targets for 39 yards. He had the third most targets for Hamilton in week 1 and was tied for 1st in receptions while being third in yards for the team.
26. Jake Wieneke, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Previous Ranking #WR26
Jake Wieneke played with Trevor Harris last year in Montreal so it is no surprise that he was the second most targetted receiver in week 1. He was targetted 8 times and finished the day with 3 catches for 46 yards.
27. Quan Bray, Ottawa Redblacks, Previous Ranking Unranked
Quan Bray was one of 4 receivers targetted 7 times by Nick Arbuckle in Ottawa’s loss to Montreal. He contributed 3 receptions for the team-lead 58 receiving yards.
28. Tyson Philpot, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking #WR
Currently on the six-game injured list. Showed great development over his rookie season last year including a 127-yard game in the playoff loss to Toronto.
29. Cole Spieker, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking #WR24
Cole Spieker did not have a target in Montreal’s victory over Ottawa. Montreal’s new quarterback Cody Fajardo had the fewest pass attempts in week 1. Cole Spieker was very productive last year in the games he played in so I will not be surprised to see him have some big games in the near future.
30. Keon Hatcher, BC Lions, Previous Ranking #WR
The Lions placed Keon Hatcher on the 6-game injured list ahead of week 1 due to a foot injury although it is unclear how much time he will miss. This does not necessarily mean he will miss at least 6 games but if he is activated before 6 games his salary will apply to the salary cap retroactively. Alexander Hollins is emerging as a top receiver in BC in Hatcher’s absence.
31. Markeith Ambles, Toronto Argonauts, Previous Ranking #WR23
Was on a bye week in week 1. Toronto plays Hamilton Sunday.
32. Bralon Addison, Ottawa Redblacks, Previous Ranking #WR27
Bralon Addison is currently on the 6-game injured list as he recovers from an injury sustained last year. It will be interesting to see how the 2019 CFL All-Star will fit in with his new team when he is healthy. He had the 17th-highest fantasy points per game played among receivers last year although he did only play in 8 games.
33. Drew Wolitarsky, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking Unranked
Winnipeg has been impressive with how many receivers have had productive days. Despite there being so much talent in the receiving room it seems that there is enough of a passing game for everyone to get a good piece of the pie. Wolitarsky caught all 3 of his targets for 57 yards and a touchdown in week 1.
34. Shawn Bane, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Previous Ranking Unranked
Last year Shawn Bane played in 9 games for Calgary with 7 starts and spent most of the season on the practice roster. Bane had the most targets for Saskatchewan in week 1 as he caught 6 of his 10 targets for 36 yards.
35. Samuel Emilus, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Previous Ranking #WR
Samuel Emilus caught 3 of 4 targets for 51 yards. He also had the longest play of the day for Saskatchewan with a 38-yard reception. I partially have these 4 Roughrider receivers grouped together as I’m not sure
36. Carlton Agudosi, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Previous Ranking #WR
Agudosi had 1 catches for 40 yards in Winnipeg’s win over Hamilton. Last year he appeared in 2 games and had 2 touchdowns. While Lawler is out he could surprise people with a big game.
37. Kaion Julien-Grant, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking #WR
Kaion Julien-Grant caught 2 of his 3 receptions for 62 yards in week 1. It is a little unclear who the starters will likely be for Montreal when Tyson Philpot and Greg Ellingson come back from injured reserve. For right now Julien-Grant has an opportunity to have some big games.
38. Hergy Mayala, Montreal Alouettes, Previous Ranking #WR
Hergy Mayala caught 3 of his 4 targets for 30 yards in week 1. While Greg Ellingson and Tyson Philpot are injured Mayala has an opportunity to have some bigger games and solidify his status as a starter.
39. Luther Hakunavhunhu, Calgary Stampeders, Previous Ranking #WR28
Luther Hakunavunhu caught 1 of his 2 targets for 11 yards in week 1. He is a game-time decision for Thursday against Ottawa due to a knee injury.
40. Kyran Moore, Edmonton Elks, Previous Ranking #WR30
Kyran Moore caught his only target for 1 yard in week 1. Edmonton’s passing game really struggled in week 1. If Taylor Cornelius can get back on track and build on his 230 passing yards per game he had last year then things could start to improve. Right now it looks bleak but it has only been 1 game.
You might also like:
CFL Fantasy Discount Deals, High-Value Players: Week 2 CFL Fantasy at Game Zone
Week 1 Runningback Rankings
Week 1 Quarterback Rankings
CFL Fantasy Football Rankings article in which I summarize every player I ranked. I will also be posting updated positional rankings in the near future and will post an updated draft cheatsheet for those starting their leagues late.
Preseason All-Star Team article.
Mike Mitchell’s Post-Week One Power Rankings
Follow me on Twitter @JonathanClink
