4 storylines to watch on CFL Kickoff

Kristina Costabile

CFL.ca

@kcostabile1

Who’s ready for some CFL football?

For those who have been counting down the days until June, the wait is finally over.

Week 1 is the first opportunity to see the 2025 iteration of eight of the nine CFL teams (we’ll have to wait to see Winnipeg in Week 2) and CFL fans should be excited about what’s to come.

Things start in Saskatchewan as the Ottawa REDBLACKS visit the Roughriders to start the new campaign on Thursday night. Friday night features an Eastern Final rematch while Saturday’s doubleheader starts in Calgary and finishes up in BC.

To get you set for the week, here’s one storyline to watch in every game in Week 1.

CFL KICKOFF IS HERE!

Ottawa at Saskatchewan | Thursday, June 5 | 9:00 p.m. ET

The first meaningful CFL game since last year’s 111th Grey Cup gets underway at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday night as the Riders welcome the REDBLACKS to town. There’s plenty of storylines to follow here so I’m cheating and including a few for you to keep your eye on instead of just one.

Corey Mace’s defence was excellent last season. They boasted a league-leading rushing defence that allowed 80.3 yards per game and his team finished with the best turnover ratio at +26. The Riders kept a lot of their key pieces intact this off-season, including on the defensive side of the ball, and they’ll hope to keep that defensive success going against Dru Brown and his offence.

Speaking of Ottawa’s offence, one of the best to catch the football, Eugene Lewis, signed as a free agent in the nation’s capital this off-season. He’ll be looking to build on his eight-game touchdown streak on Thursday night. If he scores this week, he’ll tie for the second-longest streak in CFL history (nine). The record for longest streak of games with a major score is 10.

Some CFL experts are saying that if Trevor Harris stays healthy and plays all 18 games, he could be this year’s MOP. Thursday night is his first opportunity to show that the media members are on the right track.

EASTERN FINAL REMATCH

Toronto at Montreal | Friday, June 6 | 7:30 p.m. ET

The Eastern Final was a heartbreaker for the Montreal Alouettes, who were looking to get to the Grey Cup for the second-straight year. But it was the Argonauts, despite losing their starting quarterback Chad Kelly to a broken leg in the game, that booked their ticket to Vancouver for the championship bout.

The Als didn’t have to wait long at all to get their revenge though, hosting the defending champions in their season opener.

All indications point to 111th Grey Cup MVP Nick Arbuckle getting the start this week after he took first team reps on Tuesday, according to TSN’s Matthew Scianitti. On the other side, Davis Alexander will get his first start as the bonafide QB1 for Montreal.

Toronto’s stellar 2024 defence looks quite different heading into this season. Their entire starting front four, a unit that helped to lead the league in sacks, are all gone and two of their stars in the back end, DaShaun Amos and Royce Metchie left in free agency. Despite the changes, game-breaker Wynton McManis still patrols the middle.

Montreal’s core stayed relatively the same this off-season and they’ll be hoping that continuity will help them start the campaign with a win.

Will history repeat itself with Toronto winning at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium like last November? Or can the Alouettes re-write the story and start their season 1-0?

GET READY FOR THE AERIAL SHOW

Hamilton at Calgary | Saturday, June 7 | 7:00 p.m. ET

Get ready for some fireworks. Two of the CFL’s top pivots go head-to-head in Saturday night’s showdown in Cow Town.

Bo Levi Mitchell is coming off one of the best seasons of his career after leading the CFL in passing yards (5,451) and passing touchdowns (32) and earning the East Division’s nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Heading into this game, Mitchell is at 99 career wins. If he is victorious on Saturday night, he’ll hit 100 victories and become the fastest player in CFL history to get to the century mark.

On the other side is Vernon Adams Jr., getting ready to start his first season with the Calgary Stampeders. Before an injury sidelined him and before he lost his starting spot to Nathan Rourke in 2024, Adams Jr. was in many MOP conversations. When he was behind centre, he reminded everyone why his nickname is Big Play VA, averaging 9.7 a throw last season, the best mark of any starting pivot.

Both quarterbacks have a ton of talented pass-catchers at their disposal: Kenny Lawler joins the 2024’s most explosive passing attack led by Tim White, Shemar Bridges, and Kiondré Smith while Adams Jr.’s old friend in Dominique Rhymes joins Reggie Begelton, Jalen Philpot and Tevin Jones in Calgary.

My popcorn is ready.

THE BATTLE OF THE CANADIAN PIVOTS

Edmonton at BC | Saturday, June 7 | 10:00 p.m. ET

The grande finale of Week 1 features an all-Canadian matchup at quarterback. Who wouldn’t want to tune into that?

Nathan Rourke and Tre Ford will lead their respective teams in the last game of Week 1. Rourke was handed the keys to the Lions offence last season when he returned from his stint in the NFL while Ford was also given the green light as the team’s franchise QB signing a three-year extension this off-season.

Ford shared time with Bethel-Thompson last season but finished his season on a high note, throwing for 325 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Week 21 against Toronto. He’ll be looking to keep that momentum going to start the year.

In nine games last year, Rourke completed 136 of 209 passes for 1,781 yards to go along with four touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also added five majors and 213 yards on the ground in his mid-season return to the Canadian game. With a full off-season and training camp under his belt this year, the 27-year-old will be eyeing getting back to his 2022 form when he was named the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian.

It’s also worth nothing that is the first time that two Canadian quarterbacks have faced each other in a game since 1968 and the first time that two Canadian pivots have gone head-to-head in Week 1 in CFL history.

Who gets the win on Saturday night? Find out after Snoop Dogg performs pre-game at BC Place.

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