On any given Monday there is always so much to dissect and digest from the week that was in the CFL.
The difficult part is parsing through all the action to sum up the most significant moments from the four games.
While I can’t include every moment and player, I have done my best to distill what we saw and have put together a list of five things we learned from these four games.
THE ELKS RUSHING ATTACK JUST GOT MORE DANGEROUS
Let’s start with the obvious: Justin Rankin is the best player in the league and would win MOP if the award was handed out in early July.
His 19-yard touchdown run in the first quarter had no business working, as the Ottawa REDBLACKS defence had blown up any chances for a run up the gut. The undeterred Rankin bounced away from the point of attack and looped around the left side of the line for yet another impressive touchdown. I felt bad for Ottawa’s Luiji Vilain who was isolated one-on-one on a swing pass and ended up tackling air as Rankin hit the turbo boost button and went in for a 33-yard touchdown.
The revelation on Thursday was the return of Javon Leake, the running back. Dating back to 2025, Leake had 65 total yards on the ground but against Ottawa he finished with 85. That total easily could have been well over 100 after a 67-yard touchdown was nullified on a penalty that had nothing to do with his run. It needs to be pointed out that Leake was not taking pitchouts or simply trying to use his speed to get to the corners, the majority of his carries were right up the middle. It is going to be so difficult to game plan against this running attack.
Oh, to our manager Kristina Costabile who posted this on X back in May of 2025: “I keep trying to type “leak” and have added an E on the end to make it (Javon) Leake every single time. You know you’re a CFL person when.” I feel your pain, the struggle is real.
WHEN IT COMES TO WILLIE JEFFERSON, AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
I bet you think I’m going to focus on the two sacks Willie Jefferson had on Chad Kelly, but nope!
Let’s go back to under 10 minutes left, where the Bombers had a 22-14 lead and the Argonauts were threatening after the Trey Vaval punt return fumble.
On first down, the 35-year-old was lined up several yards off the line of scrimmage, as if he was going to drop back in coverage. A split second before the ball was snapped, Willie burst towards Kelly on a delayed blitz forcing an errant throw. The drive soon stalled, Lirim Hajrullah missed the field goal, and Vaval went from goat to hero on his 129-yard missed field goal return touchdown.
That score can be traced back to Willie ruining Toronto’s first down play. Jefferson was a menace throughout the game, and it should be noted his second sack came against Demond Bland, who two weeks earlier was given all the flowers from Pro Football Focus for his pass blocking.
WINNIPEG RE-ACQUIRING DRU BROWN WILL GO DOWN AS THE BEST TRADE OF THE YEAR
I will not follow the chorus line of people questioning Ottawa’s decision to send Dru Brown back to the Bombers. Unless I have all the information, I’ll refrain from dunking on the REDBLACKS.
Also a quick note about Jake Maier’s difficult day against the Edmonton Elks. The final two interceptions were more than forgivable when you remember both were late-game, desperate throws with his team down by double digits.
With a 37-year-old Zach Collaros missing five games last season, general manager Kyle Walters did the smart thing to bring Brown back into the fold. While Dru wasn’t perfect and too many drives ended in field goals, how could you not be impressed with how he pushed away any distractions from the past three weeks and led his team to a 30-21 win over Toronto?
He threaded the needle to Tim White on his 35-yard first quarter touchdown. Watching how calm he was in the pocket, you never would have known this was his first start. Dru’s most important play came late with his team leading 29-21 with under three minutes. Instead of a safe throw, he managed to find Tommy Nield downfield for a 19-yard gain on second and long.
ALLEN PITTS WILL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON MONTREAL ALOUETTES GAMES
Remember when I said Justin Rankin is clearly the best player in the CFL? I imagine the majority of Montreal fans are rightfully throwing Tyson Philpot’s statistics in my face.
Philpot is currently leading the league in, well, everything. His “worst” game of the year was a measly 76 yards and one touchdown against Hamilton, and he is averaging a ridiculous 143.8 yards per game. The all-time single season leader for receiving yards is Calgary’s Allen Pitts with 2,036 yards set back in 1994. At his current pace, Philpot would obliterate that total with over 2,500 yards.
We all know no one is likely hitting that number. There are always potential roadblocks, but we can all envision a world where Philpot challenges this 32-year-old record.
Montreal’s first play from scrimmage was a 19-yard reception and later on in the first quarter Tyson had a 30-yard diving outstretched catch. Heck, the first touchdown reception of the game wasn’t even delivered from Alexander. Instead it was Tyler Snead catching a bubble pass and then finding the game’s best wideout in the end zone for a tricky seven-yard touchdown.
I DIDN’T LEARN A THING IN SASKATCHEWAN’S 38-7 WIN OVER HAMILTON
I’m not sure what we take away from this game, and I don’t mean to take away from how excellent the Roughriders defence looked or how hard A.J. Ouellette ran.
We all understand how important Bo Levi Mitchell is for Hamilton and Sunday night loudly reiterated something the football world already knows. The two interceptions by Trevor Harris were rare, but both were the results of excellent plays made by Wynton McManis and Stavros Katsantonis.
This was the case of All-CFL defensive players getting the better of an All-CFL quarterback.
