Far too early power rankings...

[theaardvark]

https://3downnation.com/2025/02/17/3downnation-cfl-power-rankings-elks-off-season-splash-creates-ripple-but-doesnt-moisten-podium/

1: SSK
2: MTL
3: OTT
4: WPG
5: EDM
6: TOR
7: HAM
8: BC
9: CGY

Some interesting points, looks like our big issue is our new, untested OC. 

Scroll a little further, and see the betting odds:

Tor +275
Wpg +370
Mtl +400
Ssk +700
BC  +860
Ott +1000
Cgy +1500
Ham +1800
Edm +2000

Guys with money on the line disagree with 3DownNation Staff...

[LXTSN]

Edmonton, Hamilton and Calgary all made big changes in the offseason. 3 teams still need to miss the playoffs, but I don't think there is one really bad team this year.

Calgary with VA should be much better. Hard to imagine them at the bottom.

Could Ottawa end up at the bottom?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Edmonton, Hamilton and Calgary all made big changes in the offseason. 3 teams still need to miss the playoffs, but I don't think there is one really bad team this year.

Calgary with VA should be much better. Hard to imagine them at the bottom.

Could Ottawa end up at the bottom?

Stamps only have untested QB PJ Walker behind Adams who is injury prone, don't think they should have been so quick to trade Maier away or let Shiltz walk.

[LXTSN]

Stamps only have untested QB PJ Walker behind Adams who is injury prone, don't think they should have been so quick to trade Maier away or let Shiltz walk.

Maybe CFL untested but PJ Walker has won XFL games and NFL games. He has a great arm and excellent mobility. I thought he would be a career backup in the NFL but I guess he wanted to come North!

[dd]

Wow, take those rankings with a grain of salt...how the heck is Saskatchewan the #1 ranked team in the league?!?! They acquired nobody in FA, yet jump to the front of the bus, i don't think so!!

Edmonton will be #1 (they have a wicked D line, a good running game and Fajardo as their #2), Ottawa #2, Bombers #3, Montreal #4, Riders #5, Hamilton #6, Toronto #7, BC #8, Calgary #9

[BlueFire]

Ya far too early. Waste of time

[Pete]

Elks have new coaching staff, new playbook and turned over 75% of their roster, only have 2 preseason games and a young qb.
  By mid point of season could well be 2 and 7 .

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Wow, take those rankings with a grain of salt...how the heck is Saskatchewan the #1 ranked team in the league?!?! They acquired nobody in FA, yet jump to the front of the bus, i don't think so!!

Edmonton will be #1 (they have a wicked D line, a good running game and Fajardo as their #2), Ottawa #2, Bombers #3, Montreal #4, Riders #5, Hamilton #6, Toronto #7, BC #8, Calgary #9

Disagree with their ranking but honestly the Riders were more active than the Bombers in FA and made some good moves.

Added: QB Jake Maier (A), DL Shane Ray (A), DL Mike Rose (A), DB Tevaughn Campbell (N), REC Tommy Nield (N), QB Tommy Stevens (A), OL Philippe Gagnon (N), RB Khalan Laborn (A), OL Sean McEwen (N), DB Kerfalla Exumé (N)

[DM83]

Really.?? Most of the guys the riders added are guys no one else wanted. Harris can make them happen.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Really.?? Most of the guys the riders added are guys no one else wanted. Harris can make them happen.

yah, really.

[dd]

Disagree with their ranking but honestly the Riders were more active than the Bombers in FA and made some good moves.

Added: QB Jake Maier (A), DL Shane Ray (A), DL Mike Rose (A), DB Tevaughn Campbell (N), REC Tommy Nield (N), QB Tommy Stevens (A), OL Philippe Gagnon (N), RB Khalan Laborn (A), OL Sean McEwen (N), DB Kerfalla Exumé (N)

Ok McEwen is a decent pickup as is Rose, but Maier is useless as a QB and never heard of the other guys, and that makes them #1?? Don't get it.

[TecnoGenius]

Scroll a little further, and see the betting odds:

Tor +275
Wpg +370
Mtl +400
Ssk +700
BC  +860
Ott +1000
Cgy +1500
Ham +1800
Edm +2000

Clearly the bettings odds are more tracking 2024 results than off-season moves.  Those are basically EOY standings, with the bottom 3 jumbled up a bit.

As for 3d power rankings, they focus too much on the personnel and not as much on the culture.  WPG has had its big run because of the W culture.  TOR should remain solid because of the culture Dinwiddie has rapidly built up.  CGY should remain in the dumpster because their 10 year winning culture was lost years ago.

Sure, talent might take you up 1-2 notches, but culture counts for even more than that.

P.S. 3d has been predicting the demise of the WPG run for at least 3 years now.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Clearly the bettings odds are more tracking 2024 results than off-season moves.  Those are basically EOY standings, with the bottom 3 jumbled up a bit.

As for 3d power rankings, they focus too much on the personnel and not as much on the culture. WPG has had its big run because of the W culture.  TOR should remain solid because of the culture Dinwiddie has rapidly built up.  CGY should remain in the dumpster because their 10 year winning culture was lost years ago.

Sure, talent might take you up 1-2 notches, but culture counts for even more than that.

P.S. 3d has been predicting the demise of the WPG run for at least 3 years now.

I believe having a good culture helps in the retention of players and a veteran squad that's played together for a number of years and gotten better through additions of talent has the positive effect of winning more football games.

If there is a good culture in T.O. it's probably been obliterated by player loss this off-season, if the Argos do well this year it's likely based on good coaching or the recruitment of new talent.

[TecnoGenius]

If there is a good culture in T.O. it's probably been obliterated by player loss this off-season, if the Argos do well this year it's likely based on good coaching or the recruitment of new talent.

To me good culture and good coaching are 2 sides of the same coin.  It's the coaches that set the initial culture, after all.

[theaardvark]

To me good culture and good coaching are 2 sides of the same coin.  It's the coaches that set the initial culture, after all.

You can have great coaching and bad culture.  Coaches can teach the X's and O's, but can't make players gel if the GM has loaded them with talented malcontents.  Culture comes from players bonding like brothers.  That's not something you can teach on a whiteboard.

You can have a team that executes flawlessly, and then rips each other apart on the sidelines or lockerroom.

It is, however, a lot easier to bond when you are winning... and a lot harder to bond when you are losing, so coaching is a part of culture, for sure.

[dd]

The Head Coach sets the tone for what behaviour traits he expects out of his team. Some are disciplinarians, others are not, some are all about the team (the MOS model), others are win at all cost/don't care if the players interact or even like eachother. The OC and DC look after the X's and O's and put together a game plan to review with the HC

In a game that has constant turnover in personnel, it is tough to establish the 'playing for the team' mentality, but MOS has done an incredible job of doing just that.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The Head Coach sets the tone for what behaviour traits he expects out of his team. Some are disciplinarians, others are not, some are all about the team (the MOS model), others are win at all cost/don't care if the players interact or even like eachother. The OC and DC look after the X's and O's and put together a game plan to review with the HC

In a game that has constant turnover in personnel, it is tough to establish the 'playing for the team' mentality, but MOS has done an incredible job of doing just that.

I think a big part of building a good culture is identifying the players innate personality and sussing out their outlook on life early on.  Background and upbringing are important and they don't have the resources, time or expertise to fix  broken, angry people.  A lot of football players grow up without father's living in poverty and generally receive piss-poor educations.  Some still turn out to be good people because they have strong family ties and a stable homelife, like Stanley and Yoshi.  Others are raised on the street and develop destructive attitudes at a formative age that they rarely escape, these players often end up on the news.

That's why the family component is so important to O'Shea, I think he loves having players with wives and kids around the team, often turning practices into family picnics.  If they're in committed relationships that's often enough to keep them away from trouble single players are apt to get into when they join up with a pack of like minded individuals of lower character. 

[dd]

MOS is all about commitment to the team and playing disciplined football and that's the reason he'd never consider picking up a player like Shawn Lemon, Duron  carter or Duke Williams because those players are too selfish/all about themselves and their ego. He doesn't waste time on these headcases as they simply aren't worth the trouble and will be a disruption in your clubhouse

[DM83]

I am not around the "culture" of the club.  I suspect he lets the. "Boys be boys" when it is warranted.( I did see management in a Montreal establishment at a time that in no way reflected football prep time) I also know some of the "retired" guys. They are awesome community people, who give back to the community as coaches, and business people. I have never met the guys you have insinuated are malcontents.

Coach O'Shea and management has been the head coach, as has Kyle, and Wade been perfect in creating an exemplary football team.

[ModAdmin]

Another version of the "Way too Early Power Rankings"...

https://www.cfl.ca/2025/02/24/the-way-too-early-amsoil-power-rankings-are-here/?lid=7ybxsdy85yad&utm_cta=feature-title&utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Field+Pass+Newsletter+-+2025+Way+Too+Early+AMSOIL+Power+Rankings&utm_brazeid=64d2d75607cbf60001365778&utm_content=&tf_u%5Bcfl_braze_id%5D=64d2d75607cbf60001365778&utm_instance=cfl&CAMEFROM=CFC_CFL_EMAIL_BRAZE_2025&src=cfl_email_unreal2025

[bluebeard]

Clearly the bettings odds are more tracking 2024 results than off-season moves.  Those are basically EOY standings, with the bottom 3 jumbled up a bit.

As for 3d power rankings, they focus too much on the personnel and not as much on the culture.  WPG has had its big run because of the W culture.  TOR should remain solid because of the culture Dinwiddie has rapidly built up.  CGY should remain in the dumpster because their 10 year winning culture was lost years ago.

Sure, talent might take you up 1-2 notches, but culture counts for even more than that.

P.S. 3d has been predicting the demise of the WPG run for at least 3 years now.

I agree.  Coaching and culture will take any team a long way.  Not enough teams have both.

[J5V]

Really.?? Most of the guys the riders added are guys no one else wanted. Harris can make them happen.

I tend to agree. Lateral moves do not improve your team.