Safimod’s 2019 Power Rankings – End of Preseason Edition

Safimod’s 2019 Power Rankings – End of Preseason Edition

Published: Monday, Jun 10th 2019, 5:06pm

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

We have made it through another long offseason, and regular season football is a short 3 days away. With that spirit in mind, I bring you the first official 2019 Safimod CFL Power Rankings (sorry Alex – yours didn’t count).

• 1 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• 2 – Calgary Stampeders
• 3 – Saskatchewan Roughriders
• 4 – Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• 5 – Edmonton Eskimos
• 6 – BC Lions
• 7 – Toronto Argonauts
• 8 – Ottawa REDBLACKS
• 9 – Montreal Alouettes

When it comes to early season football, consistency reigns supreme. Many of the teams in the top half of my power rankings have retained players in key positions and will come out of the gate without needing to build a ton of chemistry on offense.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers finished the preseason 2-0 and looked good in the process, enjoying yet another preseason championship. Matt Nichols did not have a stellar performance in Regina, despite what his stat line might tell you, but the Bombers look like the team to beat at the starting line.

I learned last year that the time has not yet come for the Calgary Stampeders to make their long-coming fall down the Western Division standings. Could this be the year? Sure, it certainly could. But history suggests otherwise.

The Riders go in to 2019 hoping another year with Shaq Evans, Kyran Moore, Naaman Roosevelt et all will do Zach Collaros wonders. Collaros shook off an early interception and looked solid the rest of the way. He was doing the things that made him successful in 2015 prior to injury. Unlike the rest of the Western Teams below them in the power rankings, the Riders will not have to work in a new offence/QB/etc. That will pay dividends early in the season.

Hamilton is the clear leader out East. A solid team with Orlando Steinhauer finally getting his chance to lead. Jeremiah Masoli returns to a very good-looking Hamilton offence. Look for Hamilton to sail through the East enroute to hosting the 2019 Eastern Division Final.

I had considered putting a few high schools and Usports teams ahead of Montreal, but decided to give them at least a week to prove me wrong before watching them fall to 10^th or 11^th in a 9 team league. Ottawa is working with a new “offensive coordinator” to lead a lot of new faces on their offense. Like BC and Edmonton, I expect it will take the REDBLACKS time to gel before they get moving.

This feels like a season where, out West at least, I could make an argument for almost every team to finish 1^st in the West, and for almost every team to miss the playoffs.