OUT OF THE TUNNEL: THE CFL IN 2020

BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF

With the snow still falling and temparatures plummeting ever closer to those dreaded -40s, we’re looking forward to spring instead of celebrating the new year.

Of course with a new year (we know we are a little late to the party) there are hopes and dreams for 2020 on and off the field.

2019 was a whirlwind in the CFL: change of coaches, change of quarterbacks, a new CBA, the thwarting of an upstart league and being ready to thwart another.

2020 looks to be a lot calmer. 

So instead of the usual list of potential doom and gloom looking at what pitfalls are ahead for the CFL, let’s look at the positives and the potential for awesomeness for 2020 and beyond!

Quarterbacking Has Caught Up To The CFL  

Don’t take this as the usual fart-huffing #Pleaselikemyleague take we see on twitter.

The NCAA, which is the main pipeline for quarterbacks for the CFL, has finally adapted to the type of quarterback that fits in the CFL. 

Yes, we have seen the likes of Damon Allen and Tracy Ham in the past and more recently in Mike Reilly and a younger Darian Durant both of whom really took advantage of their legs to power their teams to the Grey Cup. Maybe the greatest example is the one-year wonder of Kerry Joseph for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007.

Now the NCAA is running a lot more spread formation with a ton of read-option tendencies. This uses both the arm and the legs of a quarterback…perfect for the CFL.

Last season Cody Fajardo averaged 35 yards rushing per game with a game high of 80 yards. Vernon Adams had a 60 yard rushing game and Chris Streveler was sixth in the CFL in rushing.

None of this is new, it’s just that there will be more quarterbacks like this to pick from and from better NCAA programs. It means nothing but great things for the future of CFL quarterbacks.

The tough thing will be the NFL has also started to adopt this.

Patience With Head Coaches

We have seen an incredible turnover of head coaches in a little over a year. Now it’s time to see some patience from owners, presidents and general managers with their bench bosses.

It takes time for a new culture to be formed and relationships to be built within an organization.

Like the NFL, when a team sees their record slide, the head coach takes the hit and the GM’s enjoy the job security. The GM just goes out and finds a recycled name or some hotshot coordinator to extend their job security.

A little patience would be nice to see. Give the head coach the time and space to build something. We know this won’t happen because this is the nature of the sport. Alas, one can dream.

Nine Stable Ownership Situations

This one took its first step a week ago with the Montreal Alouettes finally having new ownership in place with Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern taking over the team.

It was a long saga that began in early 2019 with the Wettenhall’s stepping away from the franchise and having the CFL run things for the season.

Let’s hope this is the beginning of a return to glory of a very important franchise.

Next are the B.C. Lions. David Braley has wanted to sell the team for a few years but has been incredibly diligent in waiting for the right person or group to take over the Lions and guide them thru a very crucial next few years.

With the Alouettes being sold, there is now a dollar amount to what a franchise is worth and Mr. Braley can take the steps in finding the right person to lead the Lions.

The New Player Ratio

With the new player ratio being implemented in 2020, free agency will take a little bit of a different twist.

3DownNation has a great breakdown of all the new items in the CBA that were agreed upon last spring with the most interesting being the number of national starters on game day will be upped to 10. Three of those can be an American who has three consecutive years with their current club or four total seasons played in the CFL.

Then if there is an injury to any ten of these players, they have to be replaced with either an outright national or an eligible American according to the above standards.

This is something we have been pounding the desk for here at Out of the Tunnel for three years. Rewarding those American players who take a chance in this league and those who want to stay with one franchise.

This rule looks great in practice but let’s see how it will look in-game.

It will be tough for the communications folks across the league. Game day rosters already have asterisks, hashtags (we prefer the term octothorpe) and double asterisks to represent rookies, draft picks, international players and Americans. We can now add another symbol to the rosters. Soon it will be emojis to represent each player. 

Attendance Will Rise In 2020

The CFL saw attendance drop yet again in 2019 but this trend will stop in 2020. Saskatchewan will be a no-brainer with the Grey Cup set for Mosaic Stadium in November; Winnipeg will see a jump on the tail of their Grey Cup victory; Ottawa will rebound with better play; Edmonton is always solid; Hamilton is looking like they’re getting ready for another run and with new ownership and a solid 2019 Montreal looks like they should have a good year at the gate.

Then there are the B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts. The league needs these two teams to have just a slight improvement at the gate for the attendance numbers to rise.

With all of the positives happening around the league early in 2020 it should result in a slight improvement at the gate.

(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF/PHOTO: JAVA POST)