Weekly Predictor: Full confidence in Alberta

After a few surprises in Week 1, many CFL Pick ‘Em players find themselves on the wrong side of .500 this season including Jamie Nye.

Is this the week the Stampeders exact their revenge after what happened last November? Will the Riders open up their new digs with a much-needed win over the Bombers?

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 Week 2.

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Ottawa at Calgary
Thursday | 9:00 p.m. ET

The Stampeders and REDBLACKS meet again in Thursday’s Grey Cup rematch (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)

Overtime seems like the safe play for this game, no? These two teams have found themselves going to extra time four times in their last six meetings.

Possibly a safer play is going with a Calgary victory on home turf. The last time they lost at home was Oct. 10, 2015.

Neither team registered a sack, so I’m going to favour the Stampeders’ defensive line to have a bounce back game. Not only did they not sack Trevor Harris but they allowed over 100 yards rushing. I’m not going too far out on the limb to wager a guess that the Stamps’ defence will be much improved. I’m not too high on the REDBLACKS’ defence with plenty of changes this off-season.

PICK: CALGARY (80% confident)

BC at Toronto
Friday | 7:00 p.m. ET

The Argo defence came out flying in a season-opening win over the Ticats (Dave Chidley/CFL.ca)

Well this matchup is interesting because the BC Lions’ offensive line was terrible against Edmonton, while the Toronto Argonauts ate up the Tiger-Cats’ offensive line last week.

Be sure that Argos defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin will be dialing up another aggressive front seven against BC to make Jonathon Jennings’ life miserable.

However, the Lions were still able to score some points against the Eskimos, despite their offensive line woes. Jennings may be a little more elusive than Zach Collaros. I also expect that offensive line to have a punch back type performance against Toronto.

I’m not sure if this will be considered an upset or not because the Lions were among the Grey Cup favourites heading into the season, while not much was expected out of Toronto.

PICK: BC (20% confident)

Montreal at Edmonton
Friday | 10:00 p.m. ET

Brandon Zylstra and D’haquille Williams have become integral pieces in Edmonton (The Canadian Press)

The Edmonton Eskimos have some new weapons for Mike Reilly! Brandon Zylstra and Duke Williams were putting up huge numbers, while Adarius Bowman made barely a blip on the radar.

After the Alouettes allowed Kevin Glenn to throw for nearly 300-yards, I’m not thinking this trip is going to bode well for Montreal to Commonwealth Stadium.

The big factor will be how the linebacking corps of the Eskimos can hold up with J.C. Sherritt lost for the season and Tyrell Sutton being a big part of the Alouettes’ offence. If Sutton and the Alouettes can establish a ground game and slow down a defensive line that looked unstoppable against B.C., we could have a game.

I’m not, however, predicting this upset to happen.

PICK: EDMONTON (90% confident)

Winnipeg at Saskatchewan
Saturday | 9:00 p.m. ET

Kevin Glenn leads the Riders into their first game at new Mosaic Stadium (The Canadian Press)

The debate here is who has the advantage? The team that played in Week 1 and can work out the kinks or the team that didn’t play and has film on the other team, while the opposition has no film on them.

Hmmm. Deep thoughts. Since teams have started the season on the bye in 2014, it hasn’t gone well for them. 0-3 is the record. So I guess that settles that debate.

Roughriders will have the backing of what is to be a raucous crowd for the grand opening of the new Mosaic Stadium in Regina. There is going to be a lot going on before and during the game to celebrate the new stadium on Canada Day.

The Bombers and Riders battled to a tie in the pre-season and the Bombers didn’t have about a dozen starters with them so there is reason to believe the Bombers could spoil the Riders’ party.

I’m going to go with the home side.

PICK: SASKATCHEWAN (30% 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 2 lineup

The lineup to win it all has to be a mix of Hail Marys with a mix of weekly high-priced but high output players.

This is highlighted by my lineup for Week 2.

Lets start with Kevin Glenn. He is among the lowest priced for a starting quarterback with a receiving group that looked extremely good in Week 1 and that’s without Duron Carter performing. I was tempted to go with Carter in Week 2 to pair up with Glenn but decided to go with Naaman Roosevelt, who should be able to find the end zone.

The hot play on the Riders will likely be Bakari Grant but that alone means he gives a little more room for Roosevelt and Carter on the short side of the field.

John White is going to be a high percentage, high valued pick, as in, look for a lot of people picking him up but I think he’s set up for a big day against the Alouettes, who had some problems containing Cameron Marshall in the second half of last week’s game (Marshall is good, low-priced option and high-reward play this week as well)

Toronto is going to have people picking S.J. Green, DeVier Posey and Jeff Fuller. They’ll also get some attention from the BC defense. Don’t sleep on Armanti Edwards. He was able to show the ability to shed tacklers and make yards on his own in that game against Hamilton. The only thing that could chew into Edwards’ production is the health of Khalil Paden, who will want to get into the mix after starting the season on the 1-game injured list.

Clarence Denmark had some great chemistry with Matt Nichols last season, so I believe Denmark will be a great play again this year after scoring eight touchdowns in 10 games last season. A go-to receiver around the end zone and you can make hay by playing the third option receiver with Darvin Adams and Weston Dressler commanding plenty of attention.

The ability to save some money has me trying to score big with Adarius Bowman, who should have a little more space and get more attention from Mike Reilly after Brandon Zylstra and Duke Williams burst on to the scene. Bowman won’t have many games like that but is due to show everyone in the CFL who the real threat in Edmonton is.

I’m also going to play the low-cost Argonauts defence who swarmed Zach Collaros last week and piled up the sacks. BC’s offensive line also struggled so I’m hoping Corey Chamblin dials up a lot of pressure on Jennings this week to create some points.

As always, watch out for the depth charts to be released 24 hours before games on CFL.ca to make sure your lineup is healthy and playing!