https://www.tsn.ca/naylor-many-questions-but-few-answers-on-a-2021-cfl-season-1.1543725

The Canadian Football League has been outrageously quiet since it pulled the plug on its season more than two months ago, leaving behind a wake of speculation about where things are headed next.

With the reality setting in that COVID-19 is likely to still be around in some form next summer, there is real concern about what the 2021 season might look like or if it will occur at all.

There are teams that believe it is vitally important to play in 2021 and that without a season the CFL is in danger of being mothballed. Whether every team believes that is another question. And there is a lot to sort out before anyone can accurately predict what a season might look like and how much pain the teams are collectively willing to stomach to make it happen.

The league and its franchises are currently running through various scenarios for next season, trying to get a handle on true costs of each and working at ways to trim budgets and save money. That’s likely to continue until the league can truly choose a course of action, which feels like next April at the earliest.

Why? Well, there’s not much point in fully committing to a scenario that’s seven months away if that scenario might be totally unrealistic by the time you get there.

There has been no 2021 business plan presented yet, only regular updates to the presidents and governors about what the league is doing to prepare for the unknown.

It should be noted that teams will need to make decisions about retaining assistant coaches with expiring contracts by December, which will be the first real economic commitments to a 2021 season. Restrictions on signing players will need to be lifted well before the opening of February free agency, where players are likely to meet a cautious market – one in which signing bonuses will probably be absent.

There’s a collective bargaining agreement to amend, if not renegotiate, with the players, which will require some kind of pressure point because it always does. But the league can’t sit down with the players until it gets a true handle on revenues and it can’t do that until it chooses a course of action.

Will CFL teams be allowed to have full stadiums next summer? It doesn't seem likely. But just what percentage of capacity will be allowed – if any at all – is impossible to guess. It seems as if the league is counting on the restrictions that currently prevent fans from being in stadiums being lifted. But to what degree?

When will we see a schedule? Good question. Or could we see multiple schedules for different scenarios? Never say never.

Could it be a 21-week, 18-game season played in home stadiums? Unlikely, given the losses teams are expected to take with reduced numbers of fans in the stands. Could we see a return to the 10-week bubble? Maybe. A nine-game schedule played in home stadiums before fans? Perhaps.

The point is no one knows, so demanding answers to questions that can’t possibly be answered right now is a waste of time.

All we know is that there’s going to be a lot less revenue for teams to operate with under any scenario, not just because of crowd restrictions but also due to older fans choosing to stay home for their safety. The CFL’s fan demographics do it no favours in this regard.

Getting consensus on a best course of action won’t be easy for the CFL’s nine teams. Back in the summer, there were teams that were willing to play without government support and teams that weren’t. And just like then, the biggest challenge commissioner Randy Ambrosie faces now is finding a scenario they can all live with.

Adopting a revenue-sharing model so that each team absorbs the same amount of red ink would certainly make consensus-building easier, which many believe should be the direction for the future, COVID-19 or not.

The other elephant in the room is federal government, which many in the CFL believe left it high and dry last summer after months of back-and-forth talks where the league believed it was making progress.

Is the CFL prepared to go down that road again, knowing it doesn’t control the timeline and larger forces can change things in an instant? Perhaps, although it’s not as though the feds don’t have a long list of people coming at them with their hands out.

There will be voices demanding the owners suck up the losses of playing a season under any circumstance, as owners have done in other sports. But the business calculation in sports such as MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA is different because of the percentage of revenues those leagues derive from television.

Losses sustained by playing in those leagues can also be viewed as investments towards protecting massive franchise values. That’s not the case in the CFL, where teams can’t just float money on the backs of their franchise values, and where one third of the teams are publicly owned.

It would be beneficial for the league to soon announce its formal commitment to play some kind of season in 2021.

But beyond that, get ready for months more of waiting with lots of questions and speculation but very few answers.

Just now, rebusrankin said:

Nye gives continuity as a reason for picking the Riders. Let's see new RT, LG, RG on the OL, missing their best DE and no returning  LBs from last year, yeah his argument holds up.

They"re still playing on the same field. And the same pigeons will still crap on their cars. 

22 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

False. The answer we were looking for is: Nye is a watermelon wearing, cousin kissing jackass.

He's a straight up greenie homer turd-nugget for sure.

38 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Nye gives continuity as a reason for picking the Riders. Let's see new RT, LG, RG on the OL, missing their best DE and no returning  LBs from last year, yeah his argument holds up.

Delusional from wearing hollowed out watermelons too small 

It's been 2 ******* years! Does anyone really have any continuity at this point?

3 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Delusional from wearing hollowed out watermelons too small 

Didn't follow instructions and hollowed out head. 

2 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

It's been 2 ******* years! Does anyone really have any continuity at this point?

Zach hasn't missed a game in almost two years. Ironman.

43 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

They"re still playing on the same field. And the same pigeons will still crap on their cars. 

The Hoff talkin' smack. Gotta love it!!!

 

Reilly had an mri on his elbow and is on a pitch count but bc is sure he won't miss week 1. I'd be worried as much about him putting him self at risk. He'd go out and play missing an arm. 

8 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Reilly had an mri on his elbow and is on a pitch count but bc is sure he won't miss week 1. I'd be worried as much about him putting him self at risk. He'd go out and play missing an arm. 

The years he has spent behind inept o-lines...

6 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

If Reilly cant play then it would be an easy win for the Riders. I believe Reilly has not practice all week.

Having been in BC Place to witness the beat down the Riders put on the Lions in 2019 I can say that it will probably be an easy win even with Drew Brees playing for BC.  Their team was just so awful.  That being said, maybe they've upgraded since then, I don't know anything about BC right now.  

10 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Having been in BC Place to witness the beat down the Riders put on the Lions in 2019 I can say that it will probably be an easy win even with Drew Brees playing for BC.  Their team was just so awful.  That being said, maybe they've upgraded since then, I don't know anything about BC right now.  

Lucky apparently had a good camp.

1 hour ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Having been in BC Place to witness the beat down the Riders put on the Lions in 2019 I can say that it will probably be an easy win even with Drew Brees playing for BC.  Their team was just so awful.  That being said, maybe they've upgraded since then, I don't know anything about BC right now.  

Riders going to be doing that again this season? Getting the easy games? 

On 2021-08-03 at 9:51 PM, Bubba Zanetti said:

Banks headlines TSN's Top 50 players for 2021 - CFL.ca

Number 7, LMFAO

I almost feel bad for Fajardo because the expectations for a guy who had a good but not great year is completely unreal.  Unless the guy puts up MOP like numbers anything else he does would be considered a complete failure based on how high the media is putting the guy up on a pedestal.  

17 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I almost feel bad for Fajardo because the expectations for a guy who had a good but not great year is completely unreal.  Unless the guy puts up MOP like numbers anything else he does would be considered a complete failure based on how high the media is putting the guy up on a pedestal.  

But but but.... If Fajardo falters, they've got some brother-of-an-NFL-name who wasn't good enough to what out Isaak Harker for QB2............ Or so I'm led to believe on Twitter.... 

39 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I almost feel bad for Fajardo because the expectations for a guy who had a good but not great year is completely unreal.  Unless the guy puts up MOP like numbers anything else he does would be considered a complete failure based on how high the media is putting the guy up on a pedestal.  

The gap between expectations with respect to him and Dane is kinda nuts imo. Fajardo will be running for his life till the wheels fall off this year. Riders are my least favorite team and fan base in sports. But I liked Fajardo at Nevada. And I never want to see Young qbs get ruined. 

 They expect that who ever O'Day plugs in will be great no matter what and that Fajardo will be able to just make it work. But football doesn't work that way.  

He's hardly young now..had 3 yrs of blah play..and a fluke yr last...the proof of what he is will come to light this yr..a mid teir at best QB but not one who will pull a rabbit out of the hat for u game in and game out

Believe it or not Rob Vanstone from the Regina Leader post picked the Riders to finish 4th in the west! But wait for it......ahead of the Bombers lol. Here is his take on the Bombers this season through his green colored glasses:

Also of note is the fact that the Blue Bombers do not have a ready-made understudy to the fragile Zach Collaros, whose late-season excellence in 2019 powered the team to its first Grey Cup title since 1990.

Winnipeg’s top offensive weapon, tailback Andrew Harris, is 34 and already sidelined by an injury.

The Bombers’ offensive personnel, as a whole, is unremarkable.

Consider, too, that Paul LaPolice is no longer the Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator. He is now the Redblacks’ head coach and, uh, good luck with that.

LaPolice has been succeeded in Winnipeg by Buck Pierce, who may encounter growing pains as a first-year CFL offensive co-ordinator.

So Winnipeg, from this perspective, appears to be a house of cards.

Edited August 5, 20214 yr by Bubba Zanetti

8 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Believe it or not Rob Vanstone from the Regina Leader post picked the Riders to finish 4th in the west! But wait for it......ahead of the Bombers lol. Here is his take on the Bombers this season through his green colored glasses:

Also of note is the fact that the Blue Bombers do not have a ready-made understudy to the fragile Zach Collaros, whose late-season excellence in 2019 powered the team to its first Grey Cup title since 1990.

Winnipeg’s top offensive weapon, tailback Andrew Harris, is 34 and already sidelined by an injury.

The Bombers’ offensive personnel, as a whole, is unremarkable.

Consider, too, that Paul LaPolice is no longer the Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator. He is now the Redblacks’ head coach and, uh, good luck with that.

LaPolice has been succeeded in Winnipeg by Buck Pierce, who may encounter growing pains as a first-year CFL offensive co-ordinator.

So Winnipeg, from this perspective, appears to be a house of cards.

It's like saying the house will fall down because the paint is peeling.

 

Trenches is where we are best. And, we are best in the league in both trenches. And the trenches are where we will repeat. 

Edited August 5, 20214 yr by JCon

We are best in the trenches, but losing Harris and Adams and having a rookie OC means that points could be hard to come by early on. Our D is way different than last year. We'll see how that works out especially early in the year as they try to come together. The rest of the West is pretty equal to us and each other. Not much difference among the top 4 and if BC can keep Reilly safe, they'll be in the mix too. Hopefully a lot of close hard fought games this year.

The first few weeks are going to be ugly football with a lot of mistakes that will lead to some big plays. It's going to look a lot like preseason after such a long layoff. We won't know what we have or what other teams have until September IMO.

People will be shocked by the bomber receivers. Lapo neutered the passing game.

41 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

People will be shocked by the bomber receivers. Lapo neutered the passing game.

Maybe just maybe LaPo knew what kind of personnel he had and operated the offensive plan around it. Call it neutering if you want, but Harris was the known talent and we centered the offence around him, very successfully as it turns out. Haven’t seen anything in Nelson or Bailey or Walker to show that they are game breakers of any sort yet, and I am certainly more confident in LaPo’s assessment of talent than yours when it comes to maximizing an offence. His passing attack was not very neutered when he had the two people in your username playing for him. We shall see. 
 

Honestly I thought Darwin Adams was looking for a bigger year as he seemed to have instant chemistry with Collaros. Now that has been put on hold. 

Edited August 5, 20214 yr by TrueBlue4ever

I'd go out on a limb and say that although Buck is a rookie OC, he's had enough time as an assistant coach to know what he's doing.

I've said it before in another thread (or possibly this one), a few years back, every time Buck was up in the booth calling plays, the team did really well.  I'm not worried at all about how he'll do, and in fact, I'm very excited to see what his offence looks like.  I think it's going to be exciting to watch.

I agree. I'm actually not worried about Buck, he was behind Lapo for a long time. There was obviously a plan for Buck to take this role on so I'm sure Lapo and the organization coached him up. I suppose the only worry for me would be when the pressure is really on him, like in a close game near the end of half or the 4th Q....but again, I'm not worried.

Not having Harris/Adams this week isn't ideal. I'm hopeful the replacements can get the job done, but realistically there will be a drop off there. As long as those drop offs don't include mistakes like penalties/turnovers they should be ok.

I'm excited to see Lawler and I don't think 1,000 yards is out of the question for him. I'm also looking forward to seeing Collaros now that he's had a TC and more time to absorb the playbook and the offense.

Just now, TrueBlue4ever said:

Maybe just maybe LaPo knew what kind of personnel he had and operated the offensive plan around it. Call it neutering if you want, but Harris was the known talent and we cantered the offence around him, very successfully as it turns out. Haven’t seen anything in Nelson or Bailey or Walker to show that they are game breakers of any sort yet, and I am certainly more confident in LaPo’s assessment of talent than yours when it comes to maximizing an offence. His passing attack was not very neutered when he had the two people in your username playing for him. We shall see. 
 

Honestly I thought Darwin Adams was looking for a bigger year as he seemed to have instant chemistry with Collaros. Now that has been put on hold. 

I think that has a lot to do with it. Matt Nichols is no Khari Jones. Nichols won a lot of games and played well for the most part but was not a guy you want throwing 40+ passes a game like Khari. Lapo knew what he had and played to its strengths. Great running back and ok QB. Hand the ball off 20 times, throw high percentage shorter passes, and control the game. And when we would get behind by a couple scores it was usually lights out. Nichols isnt a world beater and does not play well when forced to throw. Zach can beat you with his arm and likes to take chances down the field, much more so than Nichols who was VERY risk averse. I cant remember how many times we were down by a couple scores late in games over the years, and Nichols is still trying to nickel and dime himself down the field with 5 yard throws. Buck knows Collaros is more gun-slinger than Nichols. Add in the fact that Harris is 2 years older, and i think you'll see Buck open up the passing game much more this season.

1 hour ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Believe it or not Rob Vanstone from the Regina Leader post picked the Riders to finish 4th in the west! But wait for it......ahead of the Bombers lol. Here is his take on the Bombers this season through his green colored glasses:

Also of note is the fact that the Blue Bombers do not have a ready-made understudy to the fragile Zach Collaros, whose late-season excellence in 2019 powered the team to its first Grey Cup title since 1990.

Winnipeg’s top offensive weapon, tailback Andrew Harris, is 34 and already sidelined by an injury.

The Bombers’ offensive personnel, as a whole, is unremarkable.

Consider, too, that Paul LaPolice is no longer the Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator. He is now the Redblacks’ head coach and, uh, good luck with that.

LaPolice has been succeeded in Winnipeg by Buck Pierce, who may encounter growing pains as a first-year CFL offensive co-ordinator.

So Winnipeg, from this perspective, appears to be a house of cards.

First bolded part...And the Rider's have....who?...yeah...a guy in the same boat as McGuire basically, but not as good or poised 

Second bolded part William Powell is 33, and didn't produce like Harris....nuff said

Third bolded part....Best O-line in the league that manhandled all takers to win a cup, and are all back with starter quality back ups, 2 Canadian Receiver's who are more proven and better than what Ssk is rolling out, and a Grey Cup winning offence, all intact...nuff said..Sask has who that is remarkable?....

Fourth bolded part thank good...and if he knew anything Pierce the last few seasons had huge input to the gameplan and what we did...

and a non bolded part...what a friggin idiot....not a lot of actual thought was put into that other than having a green something in his yap