WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – TOP 10 CFL STORYLINES 2023
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
With CFL teams opening rookie camps this week and main training camp kicking off on Sunday across the land, here are my Top 10 CFL storylines entering the 2023 season. Feel free to agree or disagree!
#10 – Chad Kelly led Toronto to a 2023 Grey Cup victory at Mosaic Stadium. Was Jim Kelly’s nephew a one-hit wonder, or will he reward the Boatmen for handing him the keys from McLeod Bethel-Thompson?
#9 – At age 57, Bob Dyce finally has the reins to a CFL team and this time it’s not on the interim. Will the CFL lifer be the one to turn things around in Ottawa?
#8 – Did the Calgary Stampeders make the right decision in dumping Bo Levi Mitchell for 3rd-year vet Jake Maier? Time will tell, but the Stampeders braintrust rarely misses. Especially when it comes to quarterbacks.
#7 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are hosting the Grey Cup for the second time in three seasons. Will they get back there? And win it this time?
#6 – Perhaps it should be higher, but a key storyline is how Trevor Harris will fare with the Riders. He’ll be 37 by the time the season kicks off, and all the pressure in Riderville is on Trevor’s broad shoulders. How will he respond?
#5 – It’s the seventh season under Commissioner Randy Ambrosie. Will the league experience considerable growth in Year 7? All other pro leagues seem to be, so it’s time to see some results.
#4 – This year’s season sponsor should be McDonald’s. Or Old Dutch, because a whole lotta guys have a chip on their shoulder, including incumbent BC quarterback Vernon Adams. Can the Lions win without Nathan Rourke? Many pundits say no, but V.A. says yes.
#3 – It’s a Quarterback League, more than any other, so that’s why all the attention on the QBs. I’m particularly rooting for Cody Fajardo to revive his career in Montreal and prove that he wasn’t the problem in Riderville.
#2 – Will the Winnipeg Blue Bombers appear in a fourth consecutive Grey Cup? Under GM Kyle Walters and Head Coach Mike O’Shea, the Bombers don’t rebuild. They reload.
And #1 – this is open to much debate but the story I’ll be watching the most is if 33-year old Bo Levi Mitchell can lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a Grey Cup! It’s gotta sting being turned out to pasture by the Calgary Stampeders, where he won two Grey Cups and became the franchise’s all-time leading passer.
I wouldn’t bet against Bo at the best of times, and particularly not a motivated one.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE & Streaming)
Being able to get the XFL on occasion on network TV, and then the USFL – it’s just like having an awesome appetizer before the full meal arrives with the CFL. Sigh….the CFL 5) He takes his cues from the Governors so I can either assume they have an incredibly low bar for that position or they’ve just resided to themselves he’s dumb and they work around him. If anyone watches Pro-Wrestling Podcasts. To quote Bruce “Brother Love” Pritchard with regards to Jerry Jarrett – “I’ve never been more unimpressed.” – my God if there has been a more underwhelming… Read more »
#3 I want to cheer for Cody Fajardo but I can’t possibly pull for Jason Maas.
Dumped by the Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Club, both Montreal Alouettes Head Coach Jason Maas along with qb Cody Fajardo together again. The Saskatchewan Roughriders hierarchy will soon find out they were not the problem but rather their bewildered befuddling bumbling head coach and others who run that team. Qb Fajardo and Hc Maas will succeed with the Montreal Alouettes proving the Saskatchewan Roughriders wrong.