She's Week 17

INTRODUCTION

       Good morning, fans of the best sports league in the globe, far and wide! Before we kick things off for week 17, allow me to give you a rundown of what to expect from "She's CFL" for the remainder of the season, and what you'll see every week including the pre-season for 2026! . As a diehard fan of the Edmonton Elks, I will start off by diving into how I expect my boys to perform this week! After breaking down my team, I will go into predictions for the GAME SHAKERS and GAME MANAGERS of the week, where there will be both an offensive and a defensive player in each category. Next, I will digest my foresight for the total number of touchdowns for the week, which will be broken down into PICK SIX, PASSING TD's, and RUN IN TD's. Lastly, I will close things off by doing a "Round Table". This week's Round Table, as to be expected, involves the major changes made to the league, not all of which are very pleasant. Regardless, we will always love our game, and some things, like our 3 down, are those special aspects of our identity that we will ALWAYS be able to enjoy and take pride in! Without further ado, let's get into it! 

Elks

    It goes without saying that the energy has changed in Edmonton. No longer are we that losing team who once couldn't achieve a touchdown in the redzone with 5 chances. Kilam has truly found a way to make our team of limited options in the skills department work. He came into this team knowing that we're on rebuild, but unlike so many coaches in every professional sport, he took what he had to work with and has truthfully turned it into a broken masterpiece! . This week, I don't expect us to crumble. Whereas a win is unlikely, truthfully the only games we've played this season where we looked like we weren't even trying were one against BC, and the other was on Labour Day. Otherwise, when we've lost, it's been with dignity and a true effort. Coming into the season, most of us fans weren't quite sure about Fajardo. We expected to see the overthinking Cody that played in Regina, but it turns out that between Kilam and Cody's own willpower, we've managed to enjoy the version of a guy who won a Grey Cup on our field.  Tomorrow night against Saskatchewan, we need Fajardo to keep playing smart football, and we need Rankin to keep up the diversity of being able to run AND catch the ball. He's been a little quiet these past few games, but I believe he'll make a noise coming into this week against Saskatchewan. Regarding Leake as a punt returner, on occasion he'll make a huge play, but otherwise, he's a tier 3 in his return game. If we could get him performing as at least a tier 2, Saskatchewan doesn't have a perfect defense, and they tend to lean back into their old ways of getting frequently penalized on occasion. If our offense can try to drive the Roughriders, we may end up visiting the Red Zone often, but we still need Leake's help, and realistically, he'll probably average 10-15 yards per return carry. 

Game Shakers and Game Managers

    This theme truly excites me, because we see so many players across the league coming out of nowhere in ways we've never expected, and that's in finding their identities, either as a "game shaker" or a "game manager" , and both types of playing styles are incredibly riveting to witness in their own unique ways. 

For the offense this week across the league, we can expect Nathan Rourke to continue with his game-shaking ways, and for Nick Arbuckle to stay locked into being a spectacular game manager. Rourke will continue to have a point to prove, and we can expect to see more darts, many of which will be successful passes. This kid is not settling down anytime soon; we should expect to see the ripples to only get wider as the regular season comes to a close. Will he stay on top of things if he crosses over into the playoffs? That may be up for debate, but for now, he's not slowing down. On the flipside, Nick Arbuckle is starting to look like going from a decent backup Quarterback to a completely locked in manager. Even though he's been known to throw some interceptions, he continues to play smarter football each week, and appears to be learning the ins and outs of his own identity in a way that's very interesting to see unfold. Even if he throws an interception this week, we can still expect to see conservative plays with great results. 

On the defense end of things, Wiley will likely become hungry and be our game shaker of the week, and Ayers will likely continue to make noise where it counts the most. Wiley has been quiet ever since the Elks appeared to have gotten to him. We can expect him to show up this week and be his controversial self, likely making a major defensive play that may flirt with the line of being malicious. Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, Ayers continues to prove himself, especially when it comes to keeping the return yards low. He's very smart about when to pounce, and he will continue to show his intelligence on the field this week, making for some exciting "gotcha!" 's from the Bomber's D-line. 

Pick Six

    We can expect to see a total of 4 pick six touchdowns this week. MBT is starting to play more carefully, but Calgary's defense tends to enjoy getting feisty, and with MBT still having a lot to learn from, it's likely that the Stampeders defense will force one from him. Consequently, in the same game, VA has had 3 bad weeks in a row, and the possibility of seeing him throwing 2 interceptions deep in his own end of the field doesn't feel out of reach at all. Wrapping up the final pick six prediction, Streveler doesn't look like he'll be playing smart football anytime soon, so don't be surprised if he throws a few more interceptions this week with one of them resulting in a pick six that will make him out to be that quarterback who looks so bad that it's truly a car wreck; you want to look away, but you can't!. 

Passing TD's

    I've racked up a grand total of 22 predicted passing touchdowns this week. To break it down simply, these are the players we can expect to convert this week, and how many touchdowns for each:

J. Philpot: 1
T. Philpot: 1

Rambo: 1

Brissett: 1
Herslow: 2

Hatcher: 2

Lawler: 2

O'leary Orange: 1

RB Bell : 1
White: 1 
Demski: 1

Wilson: 1 

RB Rankin: 2

Gittens: 1

Victor: 1
Johnson: 1
Meyers: 2

Run-In TD's

    Our Run-in TD's can expect to see a grand total of 16. To break it down simply, these are the players expected to convert, and how many touchdowns for each:

VA: 1
Mills: 1
MBT: 2
Augustine: 1

Bell: 2

Oliveira: 2

Peterson: 1

Arbuckle: 1

Butler: 1

Rourke: 2

Rankin: 1

Fajardo: 1

This means a grand total of 42 touchdowns around the league for an official prediction this week. 

Round-Table

As previously mentioned, it goes without saying that the new rules of the CFL starting next season CANNOT go undiscussed! . With the change in yardages being the biggest, most detrimental change of them all, it has stirred up a wave of controversy across the Nation. Regarding the yardage change specifically, I conducted a poll that resulted in there being a complete split down the middle of fans who love the change, and fans like myself who are devastated. This isn't to say that none of the rules make sense, because a number of them do, especially getting rid of the rouge, but in order to make a more even playing field and a higher scoring game, I do not feel that getting rid of the 55 was remotely necessary. Move the goal-post, go right ahead, but there's no reason why we can't still see higher scoring while keeping the 55 alive! In the most recent discussion on the Streakers Island Podcast, Jacob Moore highlights his feelings as to why he doesn't personally feel that the move had to do with trying to Americanize the game. Raising some strong points, we may have walked away this time without an intent to be Americanized in our spectacular, one of a kind style of football, but let's keep it that way! Keeping the width of the field the same, as well as the number of players on the field the same, and OF COURSE, our beloved 3 down, we are still, and always will be, CANADIAN football. Personally, if we ever go to 4 down, I won't be sticking around for that change, but as it stands right now, that's not even an option.