Dave Chidley/CFL.ca
Calgary handed Toronto a 23-7 defeat on August 26, the Stampeders’ second win over the Argonauts in three weeks and a loss that dropped the Argos to 4-6 overall. Exactly three months later, the two teams meet in Ottawa for the right to claim the 105th Grey Cup.
Fantasy owners will have to decide if the numbers from the two regular season games between Calgary and Toronto are firm trends to be used when setting their final lineups of the 2017 campaign, or if the changes – especially from the Argonauts – over the past 12 weeks can offer stronger insight for how to wisely spend their $30,000 salary cap. In the grand finale of our Start/Sit column, we’ll present one player to start and one to sit from each team to give Fantasy owners a double dose of insight for the biggest game of the year.
Toronto (9-9-0) vs. Calgary (13-4-1)
Sunday, 6:00 p.m. ET
James Wilder Jr. ran for 100-plus yards three times this season. (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Start
Argonauts: Running back James Wilder ($7,306) is the X-factor for both Toronto and Fantasy owners. Wilder played in both games against the Stamps during the regular season, but had a combined five carries for 26 yards, of which 20 came on one carry. Brandon Whitaker ($4,591) was the Argos’ lead back at the time, but he could manage only 40 yards on 11 carries against Calgary. It was Whitaker’s struggles (both as a runner and staying healthy) that opened the door for Wilder to become the lead back prior to the Week 13 matchup against the Eskimos. The rest, as they say, is history. His explosive running skills (nine runs of over 20 yards) are documented, but Wilder’s pass-catching skills (51 receptions, 533 yards) will also present problems for the Calgary defence. The Stamps only had a limited dose of Wilder’s potential, yet they will see firsthand why he’s a Rookie of the Year finalist. Without question, Wilder belongs in your lineup.
Stampeders: Receiver DaVaris Daniels ($3,822) had just four regular season games in which he accumulated double-digit Fantasy production. Two of those contests were against the Argos, as Daniels put up 13.6 Fantasy points (four catches, 76 yards, one touchdown) in Week 7, before pulling in eight passes for 114 yards and two scores in Week 10 to finish with a season-best 23.2 FP. It would be easy for some to dismiss Daniels after he had just one catch for five yards in last week’s Western Final win over the Eskimos, yet it would be wise to remember that he reeled in seven passes for 89 yards and added two carries for 33 yards and a touchdown in last year’s Grey Cup. In just his second year, Daniels has displayed a big game gene that makes him a value pick for Fantasy owners.
Marken Michel has just one catch since Week 17 — is he worth the fantasy gamble? (Mike Sturk/CFL.ca)
Sit
Argonauts: The numbers strongly suggest avoiding Ricky Ray ($9,781). No defence in the league flustered the veteran pivot more than the Stampeders, who handed Ray his two worst games of the season when it comes to Fantasy production. Ray scored just 7.6 FP in the Week 7 defeat before slightly improving to 8.8 FP in Toronto’s Week 10 loss to Calgary, two of the three times the Most Outstanding Player finalist finished with fewer than 10 Fantasy points during the regular season. The Week 10 contest was also one of only two times Ray failed to throw for a major this season. With numbers trending like that, it’s somewhat difficult to imagine the third time being the charm for Ray against a Calgary defence that led the league in most categories throughout the year, including fewest touchdown passes allowed (17) and lowest opponents’ QBR (55.3).
Stampeders: Receiver Marken Michel’s ($4,227) outstanding rookie season did not extend into solid production against Toronto, which held him to a combined four catches for 52 yards in the two regular season games. The recent surge in production from Kamar Jorden ($5,089) has come at the expense of Michel, who missed most of the last three regular season games with a hamstring injury before returning in last week’s Western Final with only one catch for four yards, although he did score on a 13-yard touchdown run. The Argonauts’ defence has been solid against the pass for most of the season, yet it feels like the Rookie of the Year finalist could be the odd man out of the quartet of Daniels, Jorden and Marquay McDaniel ($4,131).
