Quarterback Rankings: Who is the No. 1 pivot heading into Week 17?

Quarterback Rankings is a bi-weekly series that breaks down the top signal-callers in the CFL. The ranking of starters heading into each week reflects recent performance, statistical indicators, team success, and overall on-field evaluation.

The past two weeks have felt a bit like the famous Ferris Bueller line (if you’re under 30 ask your parents) when it comes to assessing the quarterback landscape: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Some pivots have come back from injury, while others have found themselves on the injured list. We’ve also had a surprisingly spectacular performance where Winnipeg won a game with their starter throwing only the ball eight times!

Among all the late-season chaos, there has been a shakeup at the top of the Quarterback Rankings.

Let’s get to it.

1. (4) NATHAN ROURKE | BC LIONS

Nathan Rourke has thrown the ball 50 times over the last two weeks, and he has just nine incompletions. Rourke easily could have gone for over 400 yards two weeks ago against the Ottawa REDBLACKS if the game had been closer. Rourke had hit on 12 of his 13 passes for over 200 yards before the half in that game. After a third quarter Deontai Williams fumble recovery touchdown had pushed the Lions lead to 38-13, there wasn’t much else needed from their quarterback.

Sticking with the theme of getting your work done early, Rourke lit up the Calgary Stampeders defence for 21 points in the opening quarter, helping his team build a 21-0 lead. I would not want to be in the Stampeders film room when they watch back Rourke’s 26-yard touchdown run that gave Calgary a three-touchdown lead.

2. (3) BO LEVI MITCHELL | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

That’s 252 career passing touchdowns for Bo Levi Mitchell!

He’s now tied with Tom Clements for 11th all-time!#CFLGameDay
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Bo Levi Mitchell won’t get many style points for Hamilton’s game-winning field goal drive against the Edmonton Elks, but considering how windy it was on Saturday, I have to give bonus points to him for getting it done. Especially getting a third down conversion on a night that was meant more for kite flying than downfield passing.

Mitchell’s best moment came on his 15-yard touchdown to Kenny Lawler with a blitzing defender right in his face.

3. (1) NICK ARBUCKLE | TORONTO ARGONAUTS

I can point out many different statistics that prove that Nick Arbuckle deserves to be this high, or I could just point to how poorly the Argonauts offence looked last week in their Friday night loss to Montreal. Arbuckle appears to be ready to return to the field, taking first team reps in practice this week.

4. (2) TREVOR HARRIS | SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

We’ll get to that 48-31 Week 15 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in a moment.

Congratulations to Trevor Harris for throwing his 200th career touchdown pass in style. KeeSean Johnson did most of the work on his 38-yard race to the end zone, but Trevor hit Johnson in stride, allowing the second-year receiver to score.

5. (-) DAVIS ALEXANDER | MONTREAL ALOUETTES

The Montreal Alouettes just became a far more formidable team with Davis Alexander likely coming back from that hamstring injury.

Alexander is 4-0 as a starter, and the last time he was on the field, Davis led his team to a come-from-behind victory over Toronto. That performance was highlighted by his 10-yard game-winning touchdown run. The East Division playoff race becomes so much more compelling with a healthy Alexander.

6. (-) DRU BROWN | OTTAWA REDBLACKS

Though I am a member of the Dustin Crum fan club, it was great to see Dru Brown healthy and starting again.

It was a good news/bad news day for Brown in Ottawa’s 26-18 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Dru put up over 400 yards and started the game with an impressive opening drive resulting in a Bralon Addison touchdown. After that, the REDBLACKS had so many empty-calorie drives ending in punts.

Both of Dru’s interceptions were the result of passes sailing over the intended target. This game felt like an anomaly, considering Ottawa routinely put up 30+ points whenever Brown is starting.

7. (6) VERNON ADAMS JR. | CALGARY STAMPEDERS

I think it is fair to say Vernon Adams Jr. and the Stampeders losing by 29 is the exact opposite of a “revenge” game.

His first interception was an awkward pass forced into double coverage, and I’m still not sure how he didn’t spot Micah Awe on his second turnover of the first quarter. It was a tough start for the Stamps’ starter, and ended even worse with a third quarter injury forcing him out of the game.

8. (7) CODY FAJARDO | EDMONTON ELKS

No team had a tougher last two weeks than the Edmonton Elks, losing by one to Toronto and two to Hamilton. I imagine they’re thrilled to be out of the Eastern time zone.

That Week 15 loss to Toronto will be studied for years: how can you be plus six in the turnover margin in the second half of a game and still lose? His fumble in the fourth quarter keyed the Toronto comeback, and his biggest play against Hamilton was a simple screen to Justin Rankin who turned it into a 78-yard touchdown.

9 (-). ZACH COLLAROS | WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

Here’s hoping that Zach Collaros can remain healthy for the remainder of the season as it appears he is likely to return this week, taking first team reps on Tuesday.

In his last game, a 21-13 loss to Saskatchewan, we saw the same trend of too many turnovers from the Winnipeg quarterback. A bad overthrow to Ontaria Wilson right before the end of the first half led to a Marcus Sayles interception and a Roughriders field goal. Early in the ensuing quarter, we saw a deep shot in the middle of the field go right into the hands of Damarcus Fields, setting up a Saskatchewan touchdown.

For Zach to climb this list, he is going to have to drastically cut down on these sorts of mistakes that directly lead to points for the opposition.

Quarterback Rankings: Who is the No. 1 pivot heading into Week 17?

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