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Morning Coffee: Will Rourke live up to the hype in his return to the Lions?
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Nathan Rourke has commanded the CFL spotlight with his return to the BC Lions this week.
In just over 48 hours, we’ll find out if he can live up to the hype in his highly anticipated season debut.
As we hit the midway mark of the 2024 season, we could see as many as six quarterback changes in Week 11.
I can’t recall another quarterback generating as much excitement as Rourke.
Last night, Jeremiah Masoli threw for 254 yards and a touchdown as he led the Ottawa Redblacks to a 31-29 win over the Calgary Stampeders in his season debut.
In a game that featured six lead changes, Masoli’s efficiency turned out to be the difference in his first victory in exactly 999 days.
Tonight, we could see Cody Fajardo and Trevor Harris return from injury when the Montreal Alouettes visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a battle between the teams with the best records in their respective divisions.
The Alouettes and Riders are two of the top three choices to win the Grey Cup at FanDuel this morning.
Montreal owns the CFL’s best record at 8-1 and entered Week 11 as the Grey Cup favourite.
However, the buzz surrounding Rourke’s return was sufficient to convince the FanDuel traders to install BC as the top choice to win it all this season earlier this week.
In two days, we’ll get our first look at the Canadian kid back in a Lions uniform in a highly anticipated showdown against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
All eyes are on Rourke to see if he’ll rise to the occasion.
This is the Morning Coffee for Friday August 16th, 2024.
Will Rourke Live Up To The Hype In His Return To The Lions?
Rourke’s return to BC caught a lot of fans off guard on Tuesday morning.
The announcement came less than 72 hours after Rourke was released by the Atlanta Falcons.
Shortly after his signing was announced, Lions head coach Rick Campbell revealed that he thought Rourke would be ready to start for the Lions on Sunday.
On Wednesday morning, I wrote about the fallout in FanDuel’s CFL markets following Rourke’s return.
In FanDuel’s Grey Cup winner market, BC’s odds were cut from +340 as the second choice to win it all to +185 as the favourite.
Meanwhile, Rourke was installed as the second choice to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award without having played a game.
At first glance, that might seem like an error.
Then again, the CFL is a nine-team league and injuries have certainly taken their toll through the first half of the season.
There’s also the fact that Vernon Adams Jr., who is currently sidelined with an injury, was the favourite to win MOP before Rourke signed with BC.
If Rourke takes over as the starter in Week 11 and leads the Lions to one of the CFL’s best records over the second half, he’ll certainly be in the conversation for MOP.
Alouettes QB Cody Fajardo has emerged as the favourite in that market after playing a vital role in Montreal’s 8-1 start.
However, even Fajardo has missed time due to injury.
Trevor Harris, Zach Collaros, and Dru Brown have all missed time due to injuries as well.
Fajardo and Adams are the obvious top choices for MOP through the first half of the CFL season.
If Rourke replaces Adams the rest of the way and Fajardo misses any more time, the MOP conversation will certainly be an interesting one.
As for this week, the Bombers were a 3.5-point favourite for Sunday’s game against the Lions earlier this week.
Over the past 72 hours, that line has flipped all the way to BC -2.5 at FanDuel.
That’s a six-point move generated by Rourke’s return.
After a 5-1 start, the Lions have lost three in a row and could certainly use a spark with Adams sidelined.
Winnipeg beat BC 25-0 in Week 9 before a Week 10 bye and should be both rested and motivated to quiet the hype surrounding Rourke’s debut.
Will the Canadian kid live up to the hype in his return to the CFL?
Regardless of what happens next, all eyes will be on Rourke when he takes the field for his highly anticipated debut on Sunday Night Football.
I know I’ll be watching.
Have a great weekend, everyone!