Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
The QB Index is a weekly power ranking of quarterbacks across the CFL, voted on by CFL.ca staff. The ranking reflects recent performance, historical value, statistical indicators, team success and overall on-field evaluation.
TORONTO — Season six, episode 13 of The Sopranos unfolds in a setting that many Canadians can identify with. Tony spends his birthday at a cabin on a lake in upstate New York near the U.S.-Canada border with family. He and his brother-in-law, Bobby Baccalieri, sit in a fishing boat on still waters on a picturesque late August day.
It’s there on the boat where Bobby gives a clue as to how the show might end.
“You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” Bobby says of the untimely end that many in their line of work meet.
That line has always stuck with me because it’s so easily applicable to the world of professional sports. Endings, professionally speaking, are largely out of the hands of athletes, coaches and even the execs that walk in and out of the building every day. A very small, fortunate few get the ending they want, clasping a trophy under a rainfall of confetti and hordes of cameras, walking off into the sunset with a feeling of a mission being accomplished.
We got an example of that on Tuesday, when the Calgary Stampeders announced its two-year extension of Jake Maier (No. 2 in this week’s QB Index). The Stamps wisely addressed the hall-of-fame-bound elephant in the room with that extension announcement.
“In regards to Bo Levi Mitchell, we plan to speak to him at the conclusion of the season and we’re keeping all options open,” the statement read. “Bo has been a tremendous player for the Stampeders for a long time and he has continued to be a great teammate and a great leader.”
RELATED
» Buy Tickets now for Week 17 action
» Prediction Time: CFL.ca writers’ Week 17 picks
» Power Rankings: Finding your late-season groove
| QB INDEX SEPT. 28, 2022 | ||||
| Ranking | Name | Team | Last Week | Movement |
| 1. | Zach Collaros | WPG | 1 | – |
| 2. | Jake Maier | CGY | 3 | +1 |
| 3. | McLeod Bethel-Thompson | TOR | 2 | -1 |
| 4. | Trevor Harris | MTL | 4 | – |
| 5 | Cody Fajardo | SSK | 5 | – |
| 6. | Dane Evans | HAM | 6 | – |
| 7. | Taylor Cornelius | EDM | 8 | +1 |
| 8. | Vernon Adams Jr. | BC | 7 | -1 |
| 9. | Nick Arbuckle | OTT | 9 | – |
| 10. | Caleb Evans | OTT | – | – |
If you’ve paid attention to the CFL even as the most casual of fans, you know how significant Mitchell has been to the Stamps. A two-time Grey Cup champion and Grey Cup MVP (2014 and 2018), a two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player (2016 and 2018), twice a CFL All-Star and twice the league’s leading passer, Mitchell came into the 2022 season the face of the Stamps’ franchise.
From the time he was named the team’s starter in 2014, Mitchell has been a lightning bolt of productivity, self assuredness and most important, wins. He holds the record for the fastest run to 60 wins for a starting QB in league history. It only took him 72 games to hit that mark of 60.
Even this season, where he only got on the field for nine games, he’s thrown for 2,010 yards and nine touchdowns, with six interceptions. Having sat essentially the last five games, Mitchell is still the ninth-leading passer in the league as we head into Week 17.
That’s not to question the Stamps’ decision making. John Hufnagel and Dave Dickenson know what they’re doing. The Stamps are one of the few teams in the league that have smoothly managed that quarterbacking transfer of power, time and time again. If they’re handing you the torch, it’s for good reason.
Mitchell has helped lead the Stampeders to two Grey Cups in his time with the team, including here in Edmonton in 2018 (The Canadian Press)
Maier’s extension marks an eventual end for Mitchell in Calgary, whether it’s at or before the quickly approaching Oct. 5 trade deadline or in the off-season, where Mitchell’s contract is set to expire and he can have his choosing of where he’d like to play next.
The tone of Tuesday’s news suggests a trade isn’t on the horizon.
“I get paid to help this team win football games and I’ll continue to try and do that until I’m not on this roster,” Mitchell told reporters in Calgary on Tuesday, adding that he hasn’t requested a trade.
At 32, there is still ample time for Mitchell to chase the ending that every athlete wants and there will no doubt be plenty of suitors for his services. While we’ve watched Maier settle in as the starter over the last month-plus in Calgary, it was still jarring to see what had unofficially happened first on BMO Field in Toronto in Week 11 become a concrete reality on Tuesday, as Mitchell’s name trended on Twitter past midnight, into Wednesday morning and into a new chapter at McMahon Stadium.
