Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Week 1 of the 2025 season is finally here.
Winter is over and an eventful off-season is behind us, as Canadian football will grace our televisions and entertain us at stadiums across the country in just a few days’ time.
Jamie Nye heads into the season as the back-to-back champion, having edged out Matthew Cauz and Kristina Costabile last year. Will Kristina or Matthew take the crown from Jamie this year? Or will Pat Steinberg or Vicki Hall will knock him off the pedestal instead?
We’ll find out who takes it all in November. Until then, here are the CFL.ca writers’ CFL Kickoff picks.
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OTTAWA AT SASKATCHEWAN
The first game of the 2025 season features two teams that had early playoff exits last season; the REDBLACKS were eliminated in the Eastern Semi-Final while the Roughriders fell in the Western Final. Each will want to improve on that in 2025. Trevor Harris is getting ready to lead his Riders, a team that focused on continuity this off-season, keeping the majority of their core intact. Dru Brown is the No. 1 guy in Ottawa once again, with some new faces in William Stanback and Eugene Lewis to play with in his offence. With the crowd at Mosaic behind them, all of the writers are siding with the home team to start the season 1-0.
WRITERS: 100% Saskatchewan
TORONTO AT MONTREAL
The Eastern Final rematch gets underway on Friday night with the defending champion Toronto Argonauts heading to Montreal to take on the Alouettes. The Argos title defence will look a little different this season but not entirely, as game changer Wynton McManis is still patrolling the middle. Davis Alexander takes the QB1 spot for the first time in his career this year as Montreal hopes to defeat team that eliminated them in the Eastern Final in 2024. The writers are also siding with the home team in the second game of the 2025 season.
WRITERS: 100% Montreal
HAMILTON AT CALGARY
Bo Levi Mitchell heads back to where it all began in Calgary with a new face to throw the football to in Kenny Lawler, who adds to the Tiger-Cats’ already explosive offence. Calgary, on the other hand, gets set to start the campaign with a new pivot at the controls: Vernon Adams Jr. Can Adams Jr. help turn things around for the Stamps, who missed the playoffs last year for the first time in two decades? In what is sure to be an aerial show with Mitchell and Adams Jr. slinging the rock, the writers are all siding with the visitors.
WRITERS: 100% Hamilton
EDMONTON AT BC
The final game of Week 1 could end up being the most exciting game of the week. That’s because this one features two explosive Canadian pivots, Tre Ford and Nathan Rourke, leading their respective squads after Snoop Dogg serenades the crowd at BC Place. There’s also two new bench bosses on the sidelines with Mark Kilam in Edmonton and Buck Pierce with the Lions. This is the only matchup of the week that the writers don’t agree on; two are going with the Lions while the other three think the Elks will get the job done on the road.
WRITERS: 60% Edmonton
