June 21, 2017

Weekly Predictor: Nye makes his Week 1 picks

Jason Halstead (CFL.ca)

There’s no shortage of storylines in Week 1 of the CFL season, from Darian Durant facing his former team to a Grey Cup rematch in the nation’s capital.

With the season set to kick off, Jamie Nye is back for another season with his weekly picks.

CFL Pick ‘Em is back in 2017 with more than $130,000 in combined cash and prizes are up for grabs*. Pick 30 in a row, win $30,000; pick 40, win $40,000; think you can pick 50 straight? You’re looking at $50,000. *View rules regarding streaks and prizing.

Here’s Jamie Nye with his picks for the season’s opening week.

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SASKATCHEWAN @ MONTREAL
THURSDAY | 7:30 P.M. ET

Als QB Darian Durant doesn’t have to wait long to face his former team (Dominick Gravel/MontrealAlouettes.com)

The most intriguing matchup of Week 1, and that even includes a Grey Cup rematch. Darian Durant and Chris Jones are downplaying the game as the quarterback will try to show the general manager — who didn’t think he was worth the money — that he is indeed still a premiere player in the CFL.

But maybe more important is the intangible of the Roughriders’ travel and practice schedule between last week’s pre-season finale and this game. It’s been a whirlwind from playing in BC Friday to play in Montreal on Thursday.

I was going to pick the Riders to win, but I think with the limited time to install a game plan against Montreal and going coast to coast in five days is going to impact the team too much.

PICK: MONTREAL (75% confident)


CALGARY @ OTTAWA
FRIDAY | 7:30 P.M. ET

Trevor Harris and the REDBLACKS will look for a repeat of last November’s win vs. Calgary (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

The Grey Cup rematch will not have the drama of the Grey Cup from last year (thanks Captain Obvious).

Calgary is coming in with a lot more returnees than the reigning champions are and it’s going to be interesting to watch Ottawa try and work in new receivers and some new defensive backs and try to keep up with the Stampeders, who enter the year as Grey Cup favourites again.

PICK: CALGARY (50% confident)


EDMONTON @ BC
SATURDAY | 10 P.M. ET

Mike Reilly and Jonathon Jennings will square off in a duel of premiere pivots (The Canadian Press)

The Edmonton Eskimos and BC Lions have a lot of fire power for both offences and I think this could be the first shootout of the season.

The Lions however have a little more familiarity with the quarterbacks and receivers than Mike Reilly and his new group do, so the odds are with the home team.

I also think the BC Lions have a little bit better defence and have the game changer Chris Rainey on special teams.

PICK: BC (35% confident)


HAMILTON @ TORONTO
SUNDAY | 4 P.M. ET

A health Zach Collaros is Nye’s pick to win East Division Most Outstanding Player (The Canadian Press)

Zach Collaros is the player I have pegged to win the East Most Outstanding Player and I think the Tiger-Cats will come out of the gate in a hurry to start the season.

Toronto has a lot of new faces, learning a new offence and a defence that struggled late last season. I think Toronto will take the first six games to really figure things out before starting to string some wins together.

PICK: HAMILTON (90% confident)


DRAFTKINGS: NYE PICKS HIS ROSTER

With the CFL continuing its partnership with DraftKings for a second season, fans can experience the excitement of daily fantasy and test their skills without the need to make a season-long commitment.

Each week throughout the upcoming 2017 season, fans will have the opportunity to set their ultimate CFL fantasy team. DraftKings offers free-to-play contests, the ability to play privately with friends or with other fans globally to win prizes, tickets and exclusive VIP CFL experiences.

DraftKings Week 1 lineup

POS PLAYER TEAM 2016 AVG SALARY
QB J. Jennings EDM@BC 22.2 $9,600
RB Tyrell Sutton SSK@MTL 12.5 $6,400
WR Duron Carter SSK@MTL 14.4 $7,800
WR DaVaris Daniels CGY@OTT 19.7 $8,300
FLEX Jerome Messam CGY@OTT 16.9 $7,500
FLEX Brandon Zylstra EDM@BC 16.1 $4,400
DST Tiger-Cats HAM@TOR 8.8 $5,000

 

By now you know I’m high on Jonathon Jennings and the BC Lions this season so I’m not going to avoid playing him during a Week 1 matchup against the Edmonton Eskimos’ defence, which wasn’t as fierce as it was two years ago with Chris Jones running the show.

Great value for a potential top scoring quarterback in the first week of the regular season.

Tyrell Sutton will be a big part of the offence for the Montreal Alouettes to provide some balance for Jacques Chapdelaine. He’s also good out of the backfield in the passing game and with the Riders struggling to contain the run in the pre-season finale, I’m going to try to hit a goldmine here.

Duron Carter returning to Montreal already has a rapport with Riders quarterback Kevin Glenn. He’s a top-five receiver in the CFL when he’s at his best and I see no reason why he won’t start the season strong in Saskatchewan.

DaVaris Daniels is player that you can argue is a weekly must play in fantasy football as the favourite target and big play target of Bo Levi Mitchell. Jerome Messam is the same, although I hesitate going with two running backs to start the season as the run game became much more prominent in the later stages of 2016 and it was the receivers who dominated the early portion of last season. But I’ll take the risk because Messam will get his touches, especially around the goal line… unless it’s the Grey Cup.

Brandon Zylstra is my breakout player for 2017 so I’ll give him some love early in the season as a Top-10 receiver for not nearly the price.

As for the Tiger-Cats’ defence against the Argos, I’m just very hesitant to think the Toronto offence is going to click off the start of the season. The only mark against the Tiger-Cats here is Ricky Ray doesn’t throw many interceptions, so this is strictly a points allowed play.