The CFL season continues to heat up with four big matchups on tap in Week 8.
Vernon Adams Jr. is having quite the season, as are Trevor Harris and the explosive Roughriders offence.
Hamilton’s ballhawking defence is flexing its muscles and what’s going on with the quarterbacks in the 111th Grey Cup rematch?
Let’s dive into one storyline to keep an eye on in every game this week.
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BIG PLAY VA
Montreal at Calgary | Thursday, July 24 | 9:00 p.m. ET | TSN/RDS/CBSSN/CFL+
I wanted to talk about the top defences on both sides of this matchup here, but I think Vernon Adams Jr. more than deserves his time in the spotlight.
VA’s first season with the Calgary Stampeders has been a bounce-back in two ways. It’s been a bounce-back for the team itself, going from the bottom of the West to the top in just one off-season. But it’s also been a bounce-back personally for Adams Jr. after losing his job with the BC Lions last season and eventually getting traded away.
But that’s in the past now and Adams Jr. is playing some of the best football of his career, helping guide the Stamps to a 5-1 record. He’s second behind Bo Levi Mitchell in passing yards (1,720) and is averaging 10.6 yards a pass, tied for the top of the league with Trevor Harris.
He now looks ahead to facing a tough Montreal defence, as mentioned before. The Als are second to the Stampeders in total points allowed with just 22.8 per game and have held teams to just 321.2 net offence per game, the least amount in the CFL through seven weeks.
The Stamps have thrown 14 passes of over 30 yards so far this season, tied for the most with Saskatchewan, but the Als have limited their opposition to just eight of those explosive throws. Can VA continue to make big plays and keep his team atop of the West? Find out on Thursday.
BIG PLAY HARRIS?
Edmonton at Saskatchewan | Friday, July 25 | 9:00 p.m. ET | TSN/CFL+
Having Trevor Harris and big plays in the same sentence isn’t something we’ve said a lot throughout the quarterback’s career. Harris has enjoyed the short, efficient passes, and has found much success with it, might I add.
But this year has been a slightly different story.
As mentioned above, Harris is tied with Adams Jr. in average depth of pass and his team is tied with the Stamps for most throws of over 30 yards (14). Stellar offensive line play to give him time in the pocket and receivers that can haul in those explosive plays have turned Harris into a big play machine, with four of those 30+ yard passes coming last week against BC.
Harris is also completing an incredible 76.0 per cent of his passes, best among starting QBs, and has earned a 118.0 efficiency rating.
The Riders host an Elks team that is giving up a league-high 330.0 yards per game and touchdowns (13) through the air and Harris will be looking to take advantage of that on Friday Night Football.
QUARTERBACK UPDATES
Winnipeg at Toronto | Saturday, July 26 | 7:00 p.m. ET | TSN/CTV/CBSSN/CFL+
All eyes were on the quarterbacks heading into this matchup earlier this week with Bombers pivot Zach Collaros leaving last week’s game against Calgary and many wondering if Chad Kelly would make his long awaited return to the Argonauts starting lineup this week.
Winnipeg fans can breathe a sigh of relief after Collaros was practicing fully this week. This likely indicates he should be good to go for this weekend’s contest at BMO Field.
Argo fans will likely have to wait a bit longer to see Kelly back in action. A report from TSN’s Matthew Scianitti stated that Nick Arbuckle was taking first team reps and Kelly was absent from practice on Wednesday. TSN’s Farhan Lalji also reported that Arbuckle should start this weekend for the Argos and that Kelly may dress next week.
Arbuckle has thrown for 1,691 yards to go along with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in six games this season and will be looking to help his team improve on a 1-5 record on the season this weekend against the 3-2 Bombers.
INTERCEPTIONS GALORE
Hamilton at BC | Sunday, July 27 | 7:00 p.m. ET | TSN/CFL+
You can now call the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defence ballhawks.
Taking the ball away must have been a point of emphasis for the Ticats this off-season as they’re already well on their way to passing their total from last year. The Tabbies lead the CFL with 11 interceptions through seven weeks of play. They had 14 at the end of the regular season in 2024.
Jamal Peters leads his team and is tied for the league-lead with three picks, while Stavros Katsantonis, Jonathan Moxey and Destin Talbert all have a pair. Rookie Devin Veresuk and first year Tiger-Cat DaShaun Amos also have one apiece.
Can Hamilton continue to take the ball out of quarterbacks’ hands? They’ll look to do just that when they face the Nathan Rourke-led offence in the final game of Week 8.