Week 1 of the CFL season kicks off this Thursday.
The latest: The action begins with the Ottawa Redblacks taking on the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Later on, two star quarterbacks duel in a Sunday night clash between the Edmonton Elks and BC Lions.
Check out the latest CFL Week 1 predictions for the games beginning Thursday, June 5.
CFL Week 1 predictions
Elks/Lions over 48.5 points (-110): Despite a down season from Nathan Rourke, the Lions still put up their fair share of points.
Including the playoffs, BC went 5-5 against this over with Rourke under centre and finished on 47 total points two other times.
That’s not great, but it was with the quarterback throwing four touchdowns and nine interceptions in those games.
I think most, including myself, are expecting a much better season from the Canadian, which would lead to more points.
On the other side, the Elks have a quality playmaker as well. Tre Ford is relatively new as a CFL starter, as Sunday will mark his 19th career start.
But he has a great arm and is explosive as a runner.
- Ford started five games for Edmonton last season and passed for 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
- He completed a career-high 71.1% of his passes.
- The best performance of Ford’s career was also the last time we saw him. He finished his season throwing 325 yards and three TDs in a 31-30 win over the Argonauts.
Ford should be able to go shot-for-shot with Rourke, pushing this game over this total.
CFL Week 1 best bets
Stampeders moneyline (+105): We don’t have to look back very far to see the most recent game in this matchup.
In Week 20 last season, Hamilton battered Calgary 42-20. But QB Jake Maier only threw five passes before being removed from the game.
If we go back to Week 1 of last season, these teams met in Calgary, and the results were very different.
- Maier had one of his best games of the season, completing 21-of-26 passes for 252 yards and two scores.
- This season, Calgary upgraded the QB spot to Vernon Adams from the Lions. He threw 31 TDs in his last full season.
The Stamps were also aggressive in free agency, signing star receiver Dominique Rhymes and All-CFL defensive back Damon Webb among other notable additions.
An updated Calgary team should be too much for the Ti-Cats to handle.
Alouettes -4.5 (-110): I like this spot for the Als over the reigning Grey Cup champions.
If Chad Kelly was starting at QB, I’d be all over the Argos. But with Kelly still recovering from a leg injury, it’s Nick Arbuckle who is expected to start Week 1.
And although he started in the Grey Cup and led Toronto to victory, his two TDs and two INTs in that win don’t jump off the page.
- Since the start of 2021, Arbuckle has 15 TD passes to 27 interceptions. He’s never proven to be good over a consistent period.
Montreal chose to ride with Davis Alexander as their starter this season. The 26-year-old has been solid to start his career. He threw six touchdowns and two picks in four starts last season.
In a game between evenly matched opponents, I’ll back the stronger signal caller at home.
CFL Thursday night pick
Redblacks +3.5 (-112): Ottawa made waves last year, reaching the CFL semifinal before losing to the Argonauts.
- Dru Brown grew into a good starter for the Redblacks, capped off by three straight games of 400-plus passing yards to finish the season and playoffs.
- In those games, he threw 10 TDs and four INTs and looks like a big arm in this league.
I’m bullish on Brown and the Redblacks, and that starts on the road in Week 1. Saskatchewan didn’t make enough improvements, in my opinion, to keep up with a young and upcoming Ottawa squad.
CFL Week 1 predictions as of 3:57 p.m. on 06/03/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.