August 16, 2017

Weekly Predictor: Some reluctance in Week 9

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

Is this finally the week the Edmonton Eskimos fall? That’s the question heading into Week 9 and we’ll know on Thursday night after the Double E visits the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

For Jamie Nye, Thursday night’s marquee matchup isn’t the only one too close to call. Nye is putting little confidence in his first two picks of the weekend, including when Ottawa and Hamilton meet on Friday night.

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In a tough slate of games with little consensus, Nye makes his reluctant Week 9 selections.

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Edmonton at Winnipeg
Thursday | 8:30 p.m. ET

Can I pick a tie? I really do think this game is going to be another tight one, which has kind of been the thing for both these teams. The Eskimos continue to survive despite injuries piling up and the Bombers continue to survive despite late game drama.

The home crowd is going to be unbelievable on Thursday night in Winnipeg. It’s military appreciation night, the 50/50 is up there, it has all the makings of a good western rival game.

Winnipeg wins if Andrew Harris can dictate the play. The Eskimos have lost Almondo Sewell and Marcus Howard off the defensive line this week and that is where the Bombers need to expose an Eskimos weakness.

The Eskimos, however, continue to put up a ridiculous number of yards and points with their own injuries on offence. I think the points continue to come as the Bombers’ defence has not been great so far this season. I see the over/under is 58.5. I’m taking the over and the Eskimos to move to 8-0.

PICK: EDMONTON (10% confidence)


Ottawa at Hamilton
Friday | 7:30 p.m. ET

I’ve been wanting to pick the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to finally overcome their winless start. I’m going to do it this week. At home, with a lot of pressure on the team and an eastern rival coming in.

Zach Collaros has had his job questioned at quarterback and I think the fiery leader of the Tiger-Cats will come out aggressive against an Ottawa defence that ranks right down there with the Tiger-Cats in major defensive categories.

Ottawa’s offence also hasn’t blown many away so far this season as some of the off-season losses have clearly had an impact on their production.

PICK: HAMILTON (5% confidence)


Calgary at BC
Friday | 10:30 p.m. ET

The Calgary Stampeders are coming off their bye week, while the BC Lions are coming off a dismal effort in Saskatchewan.

The Lions should be fired up to take on the Stampeders but I’m a little concerned about the play up front for the Lions against a fierce defensive line in Calgary. The Roughriders were all over Jonathon Jennings and Travis Lulay and the Stamps’ line has been much more consistent this year than Saskatchewan’s.

I’m looking at the last time the Stampeders lost following their bye week in the regular season (they’ve lost a few playoff games following bye weeks). In the regular season, it was 2005 when they lost their opening game following a Week 1 bye. So it’s been awhile.

I think with rest, the defensive line for Calgary will make Jennings’ day a long one on Friday.

PICK: CALGARY (75% confident)


Montreal at Toronto
Saturday | 4:00 p.m. ET

The big question here of course is the health of Ricky Ray. Things look good early in the week in the rematch game for the Argonauts and the Alouettes.

The Roughriders’ response against BC in a home and home set should be fair warning not to predict a similar game between these two, especially with first place on the line against in the East Division.

The Alouettes’ defence, however, is what tilts the scales for me again this week and that is despite the potential return of Ricky Ray. Darian Durant is getting more confident with the offence and Tyrell Sutton can wear down and keep an aggressive Argos defence honest.

I’m picking the Alouettes to complete the sweep of Toronto and it would be a big boost to the team’s playoff hopes after missing the post-season in back to back seasons.

PICK: MONTREAL (50% 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 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 9 lineup

POS PLAYER TEAM AVG PTS SALARY
QB Bo Levi Mitchell CGY@BC 21.6 $10,300
RB Andrew Harris EDM@WPG 19.6 $7,300
WR DaVaris Daniels CGY@BC 11.9 $7,600
WR Bryant Mitchell EDM@WPG 18.7 $5,700
FLEX Tyrell Sutton MTL@TOR 13.9 $6,600
FLEX LaDarius Perkins EDM@WPG 11.8 $5,900
DST Stampeders CGY@BC 13.3 $4,900

 

I’m going with the rare strategy of deploying three running backs as I see some favourable matchups for players to be great in both run and pass.

Andrew Harris, Tyrell Sutton and LaDarius Perkins have been tremendously reliable in aspects and are definitely key cogs to all three offences.

Harris is up against a defence that is missing some key pieces along the line so Winnipeg will want to get him rolling early. Perkins has been a great player for the injury-plagued Eskimos and has averaged 19 points per game since becoming the starter two weeks ago.

Tyrell Sutton is back and after slowing down a little bit in his return, I expect him to pick things up to above his average of 13.9 points so far this season.

I’m matching Bo Levi Mitchell and DaVaris Daniels this week as again, Daniels has moved to a favourable position in the offence at slot and Mitchell is coming off some rest and if he’s a little more healthy than he was going in, Mitchell will start putting up those big numbers again.

Bryant Mitchell moving into the slot position for the Eskimos has turned him into one of Mike Reilly’s favourite targets and the trend in Edmonton has been go with Reilly’s favourites because he’ll keep piling up points.

And finally, I’m going with the Stampeders defence because the BC offensive line hasn’t been very good and the Riders exposed them last week. The Stampeders’ defensive line is one of the best.