THURSDAY COMMENTARY – THE WAY-TOO-EARLY CFL POWER RANKINGS

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

THE CFL GOT TONGUES WAGGING ON WEDNESDAY WHEN THEY RELEASED THEIR INITIAL OFF-SEASON POWER RANKINGS AS VOTED ON BY THEIR TEAM OF WRITERS.

AS USUAL, I DIDN’T AGREE WITH THEM BUT MAYBE THAT WAS THE POINT OF IT ALL. (TO GET THE DISCUSSION GOING).

I WON’T RUN THROUGH ALL THEIRS HERE TODAY BUT SUFFICE IT SAY WINNIPEG AND HAMILTON – THE COMBATANTS IN THE LAST TWO GREY CUPS – WERE RANKED 1-2. NO ARGUMENT THERE.

BUT THEY HAD THE EDMONTON ELKS RANKED IN NINTH; BETTER KNOWN AS DEAD-LAST.

YOU CAN BET THEY HEARD THAT IN EDMONTON, AND CHRIS JONES WAS LIKELY SMILING BEHIND HIS BLACK RAY BANS.

IT’S TRUE, EDMONTON WILL BE PICKING FIRST IN THIS SPRING’S DRAFT BY VIRTUE OF THEIR LAST-PLACE FINISH IN 2021 BUT A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN.

MY WAY-TOO-EARLY RANKINGS LOOK LIKE THIS:

1 – WINNIPEG (BACK-TO-BACK GREY CUP TITLES WILL EARN YOU THAT)

2 – HAMILTON (STILL THE BEST OF THE EAST TILL SOMEONE PROVES OTHERWISE)

3 – CALGARY (THEY WENT THROUGH A REBUILD AND NO ONE NOTICED. PLUS BO LEVI IS HEALTHY)

4 – TORONTO (EVERYBODY HAS THEM PRETTY HIGH SO I GUESS I WILL TOO)

5 – SASKATCHEWAN (WE CAUTION THAT IT’S STILL MARCH BUT THE RIDERS NEED TO MAKE SOME MORE MOVES TO PROVE THEY’RE A GREY CUP CONTENDER)

6 – MONTREAL (THEY’VE GOT THE BEST 1-2 QUARTERBACK TANDEM IN THE LEAGUE)

7 – EDMONTON (IS IT TOO EARLY TO CALL FOR A CROSSOVER PLAYOFF BERTH? I CAN’T SEE JONES MISSING THE PLAYOFFS FOR JUST THE SECOND TIME IN HIS CAREER)

8 – OTTAWA (THEY’LL BE BETTER WITH JEREMIAH MASOLI AND NEW GM SHAWN BURKE BUT HOW MUCH BETTER CAN THEY BE?)

9 – BC (ENTERING THE SEASON WITH AN ALL-CANADIAN QUARTERBACK TANDEM SEEMS LIKE A MAJOR GAMBLE)

AGAIN, IT’S PROBABLY WAY TOO EARLY FOR THIS BUT ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CFL – WHEREVER WE ARE IN THE CALENDAR – IS A GOOD THING.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY.

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live and listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)