Weekly Predictor: Expect the Argos to find themselves in Week 4

Jamie Nye

CFL.ca

@jamienye

Are we having fun yet?

The Ticats continue to roll as Jeremiah Masoli further cements himself among the top pivots in the CFL this season. Meanwhile, Chris Williams and the Als took flight against the Riders. Can they do it again against one of the top pass defences in the REDBLACKS?

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With the first game tabbed to kick off on Thursday, here are my picks for Week 4 of the CFL season.

HAMILTON @ SASKATCHEWAN

Thursday | 9:00 p.m. ET

Jeremiah Masoli and the Ticats visit a quieting Mosaic Stadium when they take on the winless Roughriders in Week 4. (Adam Gagnon, CFL.ca)

Jeremiah Masoli turned on the film last week and likely started to get excited when seeing the deep ball working for the Alouettes. But it’s Masoli’s ability to spread the ball around that makes this offence so dynamic and Masoli’s ability to extend the play and he’ll need to run away from Willie Jefferson and Charleston Hughes.

Even though a lot of talk about the Riders has been about giving up a few big plays here and there their overall defence doesn’t give up a lot of yards so far this season.

Brandon Bridge will be looking to undo a poor performance and try to match the three touchdown effort he had against the Tiger-Cats in 2017.

I just think the Tiger-Cats playmakers will be too much to handle for a Riders team that clearly isn’t getting off on the right foot in 2018.

PICK: HAMILTON (75% confidence)

OTTAWA @ MONTREAL

Friday | 7:30 p.m. ET

Chris Williams had a stellar outing versus the Riders in Week 3. He and Drew Willy will have to magnify that performance if they hope to take down the REDBLACKS. (The Canadian Press)

The Montreal Alouettes ended a lengthy losing streak and team was ecstatic to finally get a win, but it didn’t exactly look pretty against the struggling Riders.

I fully expect the Alouettes to get brought back down to reality with Trevor Harris and company. Ottawa’s defence has been pretty good so far this season, so I expect another long night for Als fans.

PICK: OTTAWA (90% confidence)

EDMONTON @ TORONTO

Saturday | 5:30 p.m. ET

It’s James Franklin offence now and he’ll get his first chance to prove himself worthy as a starter against his former team on Saturday. (Peter Power, CFL.ca)

I still expect to see Marc Trestman’s Argonauts find their way again this season, despite their slow start. James Franklin gets to go up against his former team and that always leads to a little more motivation.

I know what you’re probably thinking and that is the Argonauts defence is the worst and they’re taking on Mike Reilly and the Eskimos. I hear yeah, but I’m always going to pick an upset every week and this is a game I think is ripe for a statement game from the Argos coming off their bye week.

PICK: TORONTO (10% confidence)

B.C. @ WINNIPEG

Saturday | 8:30 p.m. ET

Another week and Bombers’ rookie sensation Chris Streveler continues to impress us with his adaptation to the Canadian game. (Adam Gagnon, CFL.ca)

I’ve been split on this one all week. B.C. didn’t show well in the final few quarters of the game against Edmonton as the Eskimos pulled away but they did hold their own early.

Was that week one win against Montreal masking the flaws in B.C.’s game? If there is a team that could exploit it, that would be the Eskimos.

Winnipeg is a different animal with Chris Streveler at the helm. But he will test the Lions with his feet and with the game being in Winnipeg, I’m going to side with the home team.

PICK: WINNIPEG (50% confidence)

CFL Fantasy Picks for Week 4

QUARTERBACK: JAMES FRANKLIN – As much as Jeremiah Masoli has been money for weeks going over 300 yards and goes up against a defence that has shown some problems in the last two games, I’m going with the budget pick in Franklin against his former team. Franklin has a lot to prove and if Franklin can show any bit of the promise he showed with the Eskimos, it could pay off for fantasy owners in game one.

RUNNING BACKS: JAMES WILDER JR., ANDREW HARRIS AND WILLIAM POWELL – They are all lumped in. I’m picking their teams to win and they are the running backs who pick up the yards on the ground and pick up targets and catches to pile up some points.

WIDE RECEIVERS: LUKE TASKER AND SHAQ JOHNSON – The Tiger-Cats are going to get yards through the air, it’s just a matter of which receiver gets the looks. While you’d think putting Brandon Banks up against Duron Carter may be a matchup made in heaven, I’m taking the sure-handed Tasker to get the underneath yards as the Riders may be leaning to protect themselves over the top. As for Johnson, he comes in at a small price to play all the big name running backs and if the Lions are playing from behind, the targets could climb for the receiver with a bunch of potential.

DEFENCE: OTTAWA – Montreal could be looking at a new quarterback this week and even with a win last week, it wasn’t exactly stellar QB play that got them the victory. Looking for Ottawa to be able to pick up some turnovers against the Alouettes.

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