SportsCage analyst Glen Suitor believes the B.C. Lions will give the Saskatchewan Roughriders the most trouble in the 2026 CFL season as the Green and White try to defend the Grey Cup.

“You look at their coaching staff, it’ll be year two for Buck Pierce as the head coach and play-caller. Nathan Rourke, he’s going to be much more comfortable,” Suitor said on The SportsCage. “I think that staff will settle in.”

The Lions finished second in the West Division last year with an 11-7 record, won the West Semi-Final over the Calgary Stampeders but lost in the West Final to the Riders 24-21. Suitor likes the additions B.C. has made in the offseason, especially on defence.

“They went into free agency and really added some defenders. Dionte Ruffin, Casey Sayles, and maybe the most important, Darnell Sankey in the middle, he will bring in that leadership on defence,” Suitor said.

“Personnel-wise that they have T.J. Lee and the veterans back, the B.C. Lions, I think, will improve on defence. Offensively, this is still a fantastic team with the MOP at quarterback.”

Shifting to the Stampeders, Suitor wanted to highlight their defensive coordinator, Bob Slowik.

“I thought he did some really cool things last year with that defensive line. He rushed with four, but he had such a real cool sort of scheme where he would get [Folarin] Orimolade off the edge and force the quarterback to step up in the pocket. Then he’d have spies underneath like Clarence Hicks that would slide and make the tackle,” Suitor explained.

“It was a setup that you haven’t really seen, it wasn’t conventional. Slowik has quite the resume, we’re talking about the NFL with the Broncos and DC down there. He was a coach for a long time in college. I’m really excited to see what he brings.”

Calgary finished the 2025 season with an 11-7 record and lost to the Lions in the West Semi-Final 33-30. Stamps’ head coach Dave Dickenson has held that role since 2016 and been the team’s general manager since 2023. He used to be offensive coordinator, but promoted Pat DelMonaco to the role in 2019.

Turning to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Suitor was most interested in head coach Mike O’Shea hiring offensive coordinator Tommy Condell.

“Winnipeg is the team in the West that has made a change, they brought in Tommy Condell. Mike O’Shea did not wait to make this move. It wasn’t because Jason Hogan did an awful job last year, I think it’s maybe inexperience in the play-calling department,” Suitor said.

“So O’Shea saw what happened last year, saw the team slip a bit, and said, ‘Let’s bring in some more experience to play call for Zach Collaros.’ Now, Zach and Tommy Condell have worked together before, so that chemistry will be automatic.”

Condell was Collaros’ offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2014 and 2015.

The Bombers crossed over to the East during the 2025 CFL playoffs with a 10-8 record. Winnipeg faced the Montreal Alouettes and lost 42-33 in the East Semi-Final.

Next up is the Edmonton Elks, led by Mark Kilam, who will be in his second season as head coach. Similar to Winnipeg, Suitor is interested in how the Elks’ offensive coordinator will do.

“Jordan Maksymic was back in Edmonton last year. He’s going to be working with Cody Fajardo, and that’s a quarterback style that works with Jordan Maksymic. Tre Ford and Jordan Maksymic didn’t work,” Suitor pointed out.

“I’m not blaming one or the other, but that offence didn’t suit Tre, and Tre didn’t make the adjustments. So you can divide the blame any way you want, but Cody Fajardo is the type of quarterback that Jordan Maksymic is used to. I could see that’s going to be a good combination.”

Tre Ford started last season as the No. 1 QB with Edmonton before Fajardo took over, which caused Ford to go to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Last year, Edmonton finished last in the West Division with an 7-11 record and did not make the playoffs.

Rounding it off with Saskatchewan, Suitor appreciates Corey Mace delegating defensive tasks to Jousha Bell, who will be that unit’s coordinator for the 2026 season.

“Corey Mace is going to do the big picture more and let Josh Bell take care of the defence and have that responsibility. Corey has been calling defensive plays early in his tenure in Saskatchewan, and is stepping away from that, which I think that’s a good call in a lot of ways,” Suitor detailed.

“He can still have tons of input, even in games, but, thinking as a coach, our game happens so quickly that the big picture and game management for a head coach is crucial.”

Mace helped the Riders finish first in the West Division with a 12-6 record last season. The Roughriders captured their fifth Grey Cup in team history by defeating the Alouettes 25-17.