WEEK 1 IN THE CFL
Stats and storylines heading into this week’s action
BREAK IT DOWN
- 479 total players on CFL rosters
- 398 veterans (83 per cent)
- 81 first-year players (17 per cent)
- Averages of 42 games of CFL experience and 24 starts
- Average age: 28.1
- Status
- 225 Nationals
- 237 Americans
- 17 Globals
- 142 players from U SPORTS (29.6 per cent). UBC, Laval, Montreal and Laurier lead with 11 each.
SLINGIN’ IT
- Bo Levi Mitchell | 158 starts | 110-46-2 (.703)
- Zach Collaros | 143 starts | 89-54 (.622)
- Trevor Harris | 128 starts | 69-57-2 (.547)
- Cody Fajardo | 86 starts | 49-36-1 (.579)
- Vernon Adams Jr. | 77 starts | 49-28 (.636)
- Jake Maier | 47 starts | 19-27-1 (.415)
- Nathan Rourke | 36 starts | 23-13 (.639)
- Chad Kelly | 25 starts | 20-5 (.800)
- Davis Alexander | 11 starts | 11-0 (1.000)
2025 IN HINDSIGHT
- Home teams in the regular season: 44-37
- Six 1,000-yard+ rushers – the most since 2009 (7)
- League-wide passer rating (97.4) was the second highest in league history (98.3 in 2016)
- 51 per cent of games decided in the final three minutes. On 16 occasions, teams came back after trailing in the final three minutes
- Teams that won the turnover battle were 58-11 (.790)
- 73 singles. In 2026 with the modified rouge, 36 of them would no longer apply
QUICK SLANTS
LEAGUE-WIDE
- Possible milestone game(s)
- 100th | Justin Lawrence (MTL)
MTL at HAM
- Since 2022, Montreal is 7-3 against Hamilton, however the Ticats swept the season series in 2025
- Montreal has won its first game for the past three seasons
- Jason Maas’ next victory will move him past Marc Trestman (72) for 19th on the all-time coaching list
- Davis Alexander aims to extend his own CFL record for consecutive wins to start a career to 12
- Jose Maltos Diaz needs to make two field goals to reach 100 in his career
- Hamilton is hosting the season opener for the first time since 2019
- Hamilton has not won its season opening game since 2018
- Coming off a league-best 14 TD catches last season, Kenny Lawler’s next will be the 40th of his career
WPG at CGY
- Zach Collaros needs 17 passing yards to reach 36,000 in his career
- Nic Demski – the active leader in receptions – needs six to hit 500 in his career
- With four carries, Brady Oliveira will reach 1,000 in his career. His next 100-yard+ rushing game will tie Jon Cornish for second-most by a Canadian (22), behind only Andrew Harris (29).
- Oliveira needs 62 rushing yards to move into 5th on the Blue Bombers’ all-time list, passing Gerry James (5,541).
- Last season, Calgary was 3-1 against Winnipeg, ending an 0-6 run
- Vernon Adams Jr.’s next win will be his 50th
- Last season, Dedrick Mills rushed for a career-high 1,409 yards (5.6 yards per carry)
EDM at OTT
- Edmonton swept the season series 2-0 in 2025
- Cody Fajardo needs three TD passes to reach 100 and two rushing TDs for 50. His next win will be his 50th as a starter.
- Edmonton last won its season opener in 2019
- Fajardo is 9-1 against Ottawa; Jake Maier is 3-3 versus Edmonton
- Ryan Dinwiddie will make his debut as Ottawa’s fourth head coach. He went 51–35 (.593) with Toronto, making the playoffs in four of five season
- Justin Hardy needs 29 receptions to move past Greg Ellingson (332) for third on Ottawa’s all-time list
- Eugene Lewis – the active leader in TD receptions – is three away from 50 in his career
Lucas Barrett
Associate Vice-President, Communications & Public Affairs, Canadian Football League