{"id":512480,"date":"2026-03-03T22:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512480\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:30:08","slug":"everything-wrong-with-the-way-too-early-power-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512480\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything wrong with the Way-too-Early Power Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Away we go for the 2026 season with Way-too-Early AMSOIL Power Rankings<\/a>!<\/p>\n

And away we go with the Way-too-Early overreactions to the Way-too-Early Power Rankings!<\/p>\n

Here I am to tell my colleagues who came up with these power rankings that they\u2019ve got a few of them wrong and a few of them really wrong.<\/p>\n

Did they get any right?<\/p>\n

Last year, Matthew Cauz was tasked with this<\/a> and pre-empted his column by apologizing to anybody feeling disrespected by saying they were ranked too high.<\/p>\n

Well, I think you\u2019re reading too deeply into a power ranking that is dubbed\u2026 \u201cway-too-early\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s great to debate all the moves made since the Roughriders got their hands on the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg and decide which teams are making the right moves to improve their standing, or keeping the status quo to continue their consistency.<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, let me tell you how I really feel about these rankings.<\/p>\n

RELATED
\u00bb Way-too-Early AMSOIL Power Rankings: Who sits at the top?<\/a>
\u00bb 3 bold predictions for the 2026 CFL season<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a03 free agent signings that could shape the 2026 season<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Subscribe to the CFL\u2019s official YouTube channel<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Subscribe to the CFL\u2019s newsletter for exclusive offers and league updates<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0View the entire 2026 season schedule here<\/a><\/p>\n

1. SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS<\/p>\n

Well, surprise, surprise. We find the defending champions on the top of the rankings.<\/p>\n

They keep Trevor Harris<\/a>, AJ Ouellette, Jermarcus Hardrick<\/a>, Samuel Emilus<\/a>, Kian Schaffer-Baker<\/a> and KeeSean Johnson on offence.<\/p>\n

But they lose C.J. Reavis<\/a>, A.J. Allen<\/a>, Malik Carney<\/a> and Micah Johnson<\/a> on defence.<\/p>\n

There was no doubt that defence was a big reason why the Saskatchewan Roughriders were Grey Cup champions. And while they do have depth behind these players, can they all become All-CFL calibre? It\u2019s doubtful.<\/p>\n

The Roughriders are still a top contender to win the 113th Grey Cup, but are they the team I\u2019m picking to win it all right now? Nope.<\/p>\n

2. BC LIONS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t have to wait long to find the team I\u2019d be placing at No. 1.<\/p>\n

The Lions were so so so close to winning the Western Final on the road in Saskatchewan and needed to make one big defensive play when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

Enter Darnell Sankey and Casey Sayles in the middle of the Lions defence.<\/p>\n

Add that to the reigning Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian and certified CFL superstar quarterback Nathan Rourke<\/a> with a stable of playmakers on offence. Yes, they lost Jarell Broxton<\/a> on the offensive line, but I\u2019d be more worried if any of you could have foreseen Broxton becoming a top offensive lineman when he arrived.<\/p>\n

The battle at the top of the West is going to be fascinating in 2026!<\/p>\n

3. MONTREAL ALOUETTES<\/p>\n

Do I have to disagree with everything?<\/p>\n

Is that the assignment?<\/p>\n

Because if so, this is a spot that is actually hard to disagree with. The only thing is \u2026 is this too low? If you go on the assumption that Davis Alexander<\/a> stays healthy this season, should the Alouettes be No. 2 after having an undefeated regular season record and going all the way to the Grey Cup to finally lose a start?<\/p>\n

They did lose key pieces in Sankey and the retirement of Marc-Antoine Dequoy<\/a> on the defensive side of the ball, which are not easy holes to fill.<\/p>\n

Overall, this is the same team that went all the way to the Grey Cup with a hobbled quarterback. A healthy quarterback and they should be right back in the conversation.<\/p>\n

4. HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The top four were all pretty safe picks.<\/p>\n

Hamilton is the team I fear most could fall out of the top four as the season goes on as they\u2019ve had more reconstruction than the top three.<\/p>\n

And there are some teams behind them ready\/hoping to make a jump. The loss of Greg Bell<\/a> and Tim White<\/a> will hurt as well. I\u2019m having a hard time seeing the people to make up for 2,500 yards of production getting plucked out of the lineup.<\/p>\n

Wynton McManis<\/a> on defence, however, is a huge boost!<\/p>\n

5. EDMONTON ELKS<\/p>\n

Okay\u2026 now this is where things go off the rails.<\/p>\n

A team as inconsistent and with as many questions as the Edmonton Elks, who have more changing parts than anyone else, again, cannot be placed above teams who won double-digit games last year that barely changed a piece. (ahem, Calgary).<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how many times I have to say this over and over and over. But those who spend the most in free agency do not win championships.<\/p>\n

The Elks, again, have to form a bond, a team, a unity, and a culture and you can\u2019t do that by changing over the roster. Fifth spot is far too high for this team.<\/p>\n

There is optimism, don\u2019t get me wrong. But too many questions on what this team will look like on the field.<\/p>\n

6. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Bomber fan and are thinking how the Elks jumped ahead of a team that has made the playoffs consistently and still has a core group of Grey Cup champions, I\u2019m with you.<\/p>\n

They added an All-CFL offensive lineman as well as a playmaking receiver in Tim White<\/a> with a full year of Ontaria Wilson<\/a> with Brady Oliveira<\/a> on offence.<\/p>\n

They also brought in Jake Ceresna<\/a> along the defensive line with a developing group around him and Willie Jefferson.<\/p>\n

With Tommy Condell in to run the offence this season, and re-unite with Zach Collaros<\/a>, the Bombers aren\u2019t messing around to try to join the race in the West after a down year.<\/p>\n

7. OTTAWA REDBLACKS<\/p>\n

Is this the Ryan Dinwiddie bump?<\/p>\n

The REDBLACKS are like the Elks as they\u2019ve spent a lot of money to bring in All-CFL calibre talent to get more wins.<\/p>\n

But like I said earlier, paying big bucks in free agency doesn\u2019t necessarily equal wins.<\/p>\n

I like Greg Bell<\/a>, C.J. Reavis<\/a> and A.J. Allen<\/a> especially. These are good moves, but how quickly will Ryan Dinwiddie and Dru Brown<\/a> mesh offensively?<\/p>\n

And there are still questions about whether Dru Brown<\/a> is an absolute No. 1 quarterback in the CFL with his injuries.<\/p>\n

I feel having the REDBLACKS here is less bullish than the Elks, but equally disrespectful to who comes next.<\/p>\n

8. CALGARY STAMPEDERS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Okay. Calgary. You can feel disrespected.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m stunned that an 11-win team that nearly beat the Lions in the Western Semi-Final and beat the Roughriders twice last season is sitting in eighth.<\/p>\n

An 11-win team with a Most Outstanding Player calibre quarterback and the best running back in the CFL is sitting in eighth?<\/p>\n

They made little noise in free agency, but with the crop of players and young guys who are going to be better than they were last year, I feel like Dave Dickenson is building a group to contend again in 2026. I\u2019m flabbergasted they are sitting below Edmonton, Ottawa and Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

I also think that\u2019s the first time in my CFL.ca history I\u2019ve used \u201cflabbergasted\u201d to describe my feelings.<\/p>\n

9. TORONTO ARGONAUTS<\/p>\n

Someone has to be ninth, and with the amount of money Edmonton and Ottawa spent and the fact Ottawa\u2019s head coach Ryan Dinwiddie left Toronto this off-season, this makes sense.<\/p>\n

There is also the question of what we\u2019ll get from Chad Kelly<\/a> in his return after a full year out of football with that broken leg suffered in the 2024 Eastern Final.<\/p>\n

There is plenty of talent in this Argonauts room and they are definitely a contender to be a major surprise, but after I\u2019ve been outraged for four straight selections, we finish with a ranking that makes sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Away we go for the 2026 season with Way-too-Early AMSOIL Power Rankings! And away we go with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-512480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}