Jun 9, 2022
Marin's Market Movers: Fades for the CFL Season
Another CFL season has arrived, and after a boatload of movement in the offseason, we should be in store for a great season from both a fantasy and betting perspective. Not only are we finally getting a full schedule for the first time since 2019, but there’s a chance we see one of the higher scoring seasons in CFL history thanks to some rule changes that were made this winter.
Another CFL season has arrived, and after a boatload of movement in the offseason, we should be in store for a great season from both a fantasy and betting perspective. Not only are we finally getting a full schedule for the first time since 2019, but there’s a chance we see one of the higher scoring seasons in CFL history thanks to some rule changes that were made this winter.
With that said, I like several player props to go Under this season, so let’s not waste any time and dive right in to some future player props available at FanDuel Canada that I think you can confidentially hit the under on.
Andrew Harris - Under 1223.5 Yards
Andrew Harris is one of the greatest running backs to play in the CFL and is still a trustworthy starter in the backfield, but asking for 1,224 rushing yards in a season is a bit much, even if he’s already done it twice in their career. Harris recently turned 35 and is coming off a season where he missed time due to two different leg injuries, not to mention he’s also going from a team that ranked 2nd in the CFL in total rushing yards in 2021 to the team that ranked 7th in the category. The Argos also loaded up at wide receiver and have one of the deepest corps in the league, so he might fall short of his usual 18+ carries per week. While there’s a good chance we see him join the short list of CFL running backs to hit the 10,000-yard mark in their career this season, he probably isn’t gaining more than 1,200 yards on the ground this season.
Bryan Burnham - Under 1,295.5 Yards And Lucky Whitehead Under - 1,278.5 Yards
There’s a good chance Bryan Burnham locks up another 1,000+ yard season this year, but getting to the 1,300 mark might be a bit out of reach. With Michael Reilly no longer in the mix, Burnham will most likely eat up a lot of the targets with Lucky Whitehead. Still, unless Nathan Rourke goes off this year and stuns everyone, it’s more likely we see both Burnham and Whitehead finish around the 900-1,100 yard mark instead of the 1,300+ yard mark. BC does have the advantage of playing indoors, so there’s a chance one of them eats up more targets and goes off this year as Rourke’s favourite target, but you can’t expect a young quarterback to steal the show in his first full season as a starter.
Ka’Deem Carey - Under 1,202.5 Yards
Ka’Deem Carey has a shot at leading the league, or at least finishing near the top of the rushing leaders, this season if the Stampeders decide to give him similar usage to what he got in the second half of last season. Through the first six games of 2021, Carey turned 75 touches into 365 yards (4.8 yards per carry), but in the final six games he played, he ran for 621 yards on 111 carries (5.5 yards per carry.) Let’s say we get the second-half version of Carey this season and he carries the ball 200 times, he would finish about 100 yards short of the mark at that rate. Getting 1,100 rushing yards in a season can win you the league rushing title, but it won’t help you on the over on this one.
Jeremiah Masoli - Under 4,295.5 Yards
Even though the Ottawa Redblacks have the worst odds to come out of the East, a lot of people like them to be one of the surprises of the year. The team went out and added Jeremiah Masoli in the offseason and stocked up at wide receiver, bringing Jaelon Acklin, Darvin Adams and Shaq Johnson onboard. However, Masoli has only hit the 4,295-yard mark once in his career, and he’s had better wide receiver corps in previous years than the one he has now. Masoli and the Redblacks can undoubtedly shock the league this season, but I think he does it with fewer than 4,295 passing yards to his name.
William Powell - Under 893.5 Yards
William Powell is returning to the city where he started his CFL career, but I’m not expecting a big bounce-back season from the 34-year-old veteran. Powell was a touchdown machine in his first season with the Roughriders and picked up nearly 1,100 yards on the ground, but last year he might have taken the most significant step backwards as a starting running back. He averaged his lowest yards per carry of his CFL career, racked up his lowest yard total since his rookie campaign, and failed to hit the 800-yard mark. There’s a chance Ottawa can shock the league this year, but there’s also a good chance they play a lot of their games from behind.
We also need to keep in mind there is a good chance he misses some time this season, so I’m going to hammer the under on Powell’s total.
Brandon Banks Under 915.5 Yards And Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Under 911.5 Yards
This play is simply based on too many bodies needing to eat in the Toronto Argonauts' offence. Sure, they loaded up on offence, which is great for the team overall, but for fantasy managers and futures bettors, it puts them in a tough spot. We’ll need a few weeks to see who comes out on top as the favourite receiver in this offence, but if one of these two guys surprises us and goes over their projected total, then I would lean more towards Gittens than Banks. Sure, Speedy B is the proven receiver of the two and recently had some of the best years of his career, but it might take some time for him to move up the favourites list, something Gittens seemed to have full control of by the end of last year. Once the Argos realized what they had in Gittens, he became their most consistent receiver in targets and yards down the final stretch of the season, which is why I have a little more faith in him hitting the over rather than Banks. Still, there’s a good chance we see a bunch of Argos receivers finish between 600-800 yards because of how deep their roster is at the position.
Disagree with some of these plays? Have some CFL bets you want to share with us? Send us your bet slips and/or picks on Twitter at @TSN_Edge and let’s enjoy an entire summer of the CFL together!