Recapping every West Division team's 2025 season

The Wild West. It has always been that way, and in the CFL it always will be. You can overhaul your roster, change your franchise quarterback, fire your coach and general manager, bring in the top draft pick, have a superstar lose a chunk of time to major injury, or watch a young player become a household name.

No matter the plot or the series of events, the CFL’s West Division teams always seem to take a curious, different route than anticipated, but the on field entertainment is rarely missing.

The 112th Grey Cup champions hail from the West in 2025, but they had plenty to battle through to get there, as you will see in the West season recap that follows.

EDMONTON ELKS | 7-11 | FIFTH PLACE

When I think of a season going differently than imagined as training camps opened, Edmonton is the poster child.

I thought Tre Ford would flourish given his first real chance to be a franchise quarterback, right up until the team made the switch to Cody Fajardo, who carried the torch the rest of the season and now has firm control of the operation. That fact, combined with their adjacent playing styles, meant the entire trajectory of the Elks’ design was drastically altered. Everything from offence to defence to special teams felt the impact of “The Cody Effect,” often for the better, but even in the thin moments it was obvious this was a very different team.

After losing six of their first seven games, Edmonton won four of the next five, with a lopsided OK Tire Labour Day Weekend loss crammed in between all the smiles. The one thing driving the organization forward is head coach Mark Kilam, who has both the vision and the experience needed to bring it to life. All he needs now is the patience to see his work rewarded. It is coming, Elks fans.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS | 10-8 | FOURTH PLACE

A crossover team in 2025 after years of running the West Division, the Blue Bombers were sunk in large part by injuries to key positions and players at the wrong time. Not that there is ever a good time for those kinds of things. Still, one statistic above all else jumps off the page.

Despite having 2024 Most Outstanding Player Brady Oliveira, who also dealt with injuries in 2025, the Bombers lacked a true offensive identity at times this season.

The residual effect was what felt like a disorganized effort, with spurts of greatness that simply could not overcome the massive number of interceptions thrown between Zach Collaros (16) and Chris Streveler (11). 2026 needs to be a reset year where the Bombers find themselves again. If they do, all roads likely lead back to or near the top, with their prairie rivals waiting to defend the crown.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS | 11-7 | THIRD PLACE

Change, change and more change.

The Stampeders had an extremely sour taste in their mouths at the end of 2024 and decided to upgrade everything from the roster to the locker room to surrounding facilities. As a reward, they landed Vernon Adams Jr., who, as he always does when playing his brand of ball, looked like the Most Outstanding Player for chunks of the year.

However, inconsistency, injury and a hard charging BC Lions club pushed the Stamps backwards in the standings, before landing them in a road role for the Western Semi-Final in Vancouver. That is where the Lions closed the 2025 book for Calgary followers.

Disappointment? Yes. Collapse? No. This season felt worse than it really was. The Stampeders still had plenty of fight down the stretch, players believed in their surroundings, and valuable lessons were learned as they climbed quickly from the West basement at 5-12 last year to respectability in 2025.

BC LIONS | 11-7 | SECOND PLACE

Nathan Rourke won all the awards, Keon Hatcher Sr. led the CFL in receiving yards, the Lions rattled off seven straight wins, and they still lost the Western Final by the slimmest of margins in Saskatchewan. Yet here we are, heading into another off-season where BC’s biggest fans are left wondering when their moment of glory will finally come.

It will. Rourke is too savvy, talented, athletic and intelligent to let his moment slip by more than once or twice. You are supposed to lose and learn difficult lessons early in your career, lessons that harden you for the moments that come later. Rourke is nearing that point of “yeah, I have learned enough, it is time to just win the damn thing.”

The numbers, the production and the energy from owner Amar Doman through head coach Buck Pierce and beyond were sensational all season. Still, the Lions must be hungrier than ever through the winter months.

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS | 12-6 | FIRST PLACE

To the victor go the spoils, and when the Roughriders win a Grey Cup, there are some serious spoils to be had.

Trevor Harris led the way, stayed consistent with his release, and leaned on a talented defence filled with opportunistic playmakers. Saskatchewan found a way to take down the Lions, reach the 112th Grey Cup, and then end the East’s Grey Cup run by defeating Montreal.

After winning eight of their first nine games, it was obvious the Roughriders had the talent and ability to win it all. From there, head coach Corey Mace spent the rest of the season tinkering and hardening the club so it would be ready for the biggest moments. They delivered, and the result is an iconic campaign.

Recapping every West Division team’s 2025 season

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