Free Agency Power Rankings: A Whole New League

It’s been almost a month since the last Power Rankings, and a lot has happened – pivotal moves, coaching changes, and a few more players heading South of the border. Here, we cover them all to look at who is best poised for the Draft and the 2020 season.

1. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

It should come as no surprise that the Ticats are topping the FA Power Rankings. They’ve managed to keep ahold of many of the key players that gave them so much success in 2019, such as Dylan Wynn and Ja’Gared Davis. Additionally, new signings such as Devier Posey, Don Jackson and Larry Dean will help replace departing talent, and with a strong coaching staff, the Ticats are in prime position to take an early lead this season.

2. Toronto Argonauts

A team that struggled A LOT in 2019, the Argos are looking to turn things around following one of the most exciting Free Agencies this year. Signing Matt Nichols will obviously give the team a lot more offensive talent, which is complemented well by the likes of Juwan Brescacin, DaVaris Daniels and Marcus Thigpen. On defence, Toronto has had a complete overhaul, which is a good move for the team that gave up 562 points last year.

3. Montreal Alouettes

Another team that has made a lot of signings, the MontreALS are looking to bounce back after a disappointing playoff performance in 2019. The defence has seen this biggest changes so far, following the signings of Tyquwan Glass, Adrian Tracy and Ciante Evans, but adding Tyrell Sutton to complement James Wilder Jr.’s immense skill will serve the Als well on offence too. Naaman Roosevelt on offence will help, too.

4. BC Lions

BC’s biggest problems in 2019 came on QB protection, with Mike Reilly unable to perform due to countless sacks. The Lions highlighted this as an offseason priority, and signing Ryker Matthews is probably the best start they could have gotten. Chris Rainey will serve asa  good backup to John White, and Dominique Rhymes combined with Bryan Burnham will form a fierce receiver duo. The Lions have made some great acquisitions – they just need more of them.

5. Ottawa Redblacks

A month or so ago, the Ottawa Redblacks were one of the hottest teams in the league. But that was before the FA opened up – now, they face stiff competition despite boasting a strong roster. Still, the additions of Cleyon Laing, Anthony Coombs and Don Unamba will ensure that Ottawa stays strong going into 2020, but they don’t reduce the sting of losing star receiver Dominique Rhymes.

6. Edmonton Eskimos

There’s been a lot going out and not a lot coming in for the Edmonton Eskimos – still, they’ve managed to retain much of their talent and have signed a bunch of players to fill in some holes. WRs Jimmy Ralph and Shakier Ryan help to replace DaVaris Daniels, and QB Antonio Pipkin gives the Esks a stronger contingency plan for when Trevor Harries gets injured. Still, Edmonton isn’t in the strongest position going into 2020, and they’ll need to do some more work if they want to improve on their mediocre performance last year.

7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers

It was an extremely close race between the Bombers and Calgary for 7th place, but the deciding factor was that now Winnipeg has Zach Collaros and Willie Jefferson, and the Stamps don’t. Still, don’t let that detract from the fact that the Bombers have lost a lot of key pieces in this Free Agency – losing Matt Nichols, Chris Streveler and Craig Roh (not to mention Winston Rose and Darvin Adams) will hurt the defending champs a lot, especially since many of their players have already gone to other teams that now have an edge over the Bombers.

8. Calgary Stampeders

The Stamps have been pretty inactive over the course of this Free Agency, which spells trouble seeing the amount of talent they’ve lost – Don Jackson, Chris Casher, and Juwan Brescacin have all departed. Signing DB Richard Leonard from Hamilton, as well as gaining two QBs to back up Bo Levi Mitchell means the Stamps are still in the game, but if this FA is anythign to go by, then the end of the Red Reign of Terror looms on the horizon.

9. Saskatchewan Roughriders

In the last Power Rankings, we wrote that the Roughriders would remain strong contenders if they re-signed key players Naaman Roosevelt, Marcus Thigpen and Manny Arcenaux. They’ve lost two of these to other teams, and there’s no sign of Arcenaux being extended. We also wrote that the Roughriders could do with a better secondary QB than Isaac Harker, so they signed James Franklin. While he’s not the star talent anyone was really hoping for, Franklin isn’t the worst signing the team could have made, but they’ll need to do much better than this if they want to stay in the game at all.