• BC Lions dominate up front: All five Week 1 starters earned a pass-blocking grade of at least 73.0, and they combined to allow just four hurries across 41 passing plays.
• Watch out for Winnipeg: Arguably the two best offensive linemen in the CFL call Winnipeg home, as Stanley Bryant and Jermarcus Hardrick are potential Most Outstanding Offensive Linemen candidates.
• Montreal on the right track: The strength of this offensive line comes from its right side. Right tackle Landon Rice and right guard Kristian Matte both earned 70.0-plus overall grades in Week 1.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Few things are more important to a team’s success than the quality of its offensive line. Disastrous lines, or even disastrous weak-link mismatches, can determine the outcome of games, while strong units give an incredible advantage to an offense.
This CFL season, we will be keeping track of PFF’s offensive line rankings as well as highlighting the biggest weak-link player and their upcoming opponent to identify any obvious matchup advantage one way or the other.
Key:
Red text = weakest link
1. British Columbia Lions
LT Jarell Broxton
LG Andrew Peirson
C Michael Couture
RG Sukh Chungh
RT Kent Perkins
• This is the most complete group in the CFL. All five Week 1 starters earned a pass-blocking grade of at least 73.0, and they combined to allow just four hurries across 41 passing plays.
• The Lions field the only offensive line in the CFL without a clear weak link.
Upcoming opponent: Edmonton Elks
• Edmonton produced pressure on just 24.3% of their pass-rushing snaps in Week 1, the second-lowest rate in the CFL. Only the Calgary Stampeders, who played against BC, won at a lower rate. Expect the BC linemen to have another strong showing in Week 2.
2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
LT Stanley Bryant
LG Geoff Gray
C Chris Kolankowski
RG Patrick Neufeld
RT Jermarcus Hardrick
• Arguably the two best offensive linemen in the CFL call Winnipeg home, as Bryant and Hardrick are potential Most Outstanding Offensive Linemen candidates.
• Bryant earned an 85.7 pass-blocking grade in Week 1 and didn't allow a single pressure across 33 pass-blocking snaps.
• Hardrick earned a 70.9 pass-blocking grade in Week 1, giving up just two hurries — but no sacks or hits — across 33 plays.
• Kolankowski and Gray struggled in Week 1, getting beat a combined six times and each giving up a QB hit.
Upcoming opponent: Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Boosted by Anthony Lanier II and his 52.9% pass-rush win rate, the Roughriders produced pressure on 48.4% of their pass-rush snaps in Week 1.
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders
LT Brandon Council
LG Evan Johnson
C Peter Godber
RG Logan Ferland
RT Eric Lofton
• The Roughriders field the best group of interior offensive linemen in the CFL.
• Brandon Council struggled in Week 1, earning a 54.8 pass-blocking grade across 40 pass-blocking snaps. He allowed one QB hit and two hurries.
Upcoming opponent: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• The Blue Bombers' pass rush was underwhelming in Week 1, ranking fifth in pass-rush win rate, fifth in pressure rate and sixth in pass-rush productivity.
4. Montreal Alouettes
LT Nick Callender
LG Pier-Olivier Lestage
C Justin Lawrence
RG Kristian Matte
RT Landon Rice
• The strength of this offensive line comes from its right side. Right tackle Landon Rice and right guard Kristian Matte both earned 70.0-plus overall grades.
• Callender had a day to forget, surrendering three sacks and a hurry on 27 pass-blocking snaps.
Upcoming opponent: Bye
5. Calgary Stampeders
LT D’Antne Demery
LG Bryce Bell
C Sean McEwen
RG Ryan Sceviour
RT Hugh Thornton
• It was a very average outing across the board for a Calgary offensive line that gave up one sack, two hits and nine hurries across 39 pass-blocking snaps in Week 1.
• Byrce Bell earned a pass-blocking grade of just 28.1, giving up three pressures and losing three more reps on top of that.
Upcoming opponent: Ottawa Redblacks
• The strength of Ottawa’s team is its pass rush. Last week, Ottawa registered pressure on 40.7% of their pass-rush snaps and produced six sacks against Montreal.
6. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
LT Joel Figueroa
LG Brandon Revenberg
C David Beard
RG Coulter Woodmansey
RT Tyrone Riley
• Injuries were the story of week 1 for the Tiger-Cats offensive line. Seven players, including backup defensive tackle Casey Sayles, saw action last week. As a whole, the unit gave up three sacks and four hurries across 37 passing plays.
• However, the Tiger-Cats have the pieces in place to climb up this ranking as the season progresses.
Upcoming opponent: Toronto Argonauts
•The Argos' pass rush was solid last season, ranking top-three in most statistical categories.
7. Edmonton Elks
LT Andrew Garnett
LG David Foucault
C Mark Korte
RG Tomas Jack-Kurdyla
RT Josiah St. John
• This is likely the highest this group will finish all season due to the Argonauts' Week 1 bye.
• QB Taylor Cornelius was under pressure on 48.5% of his dropbacks in Week 1.
Upcoming opponent: British Columbia Lions
• As a team, BC posted a 70.1 pass-rush grade in Week 1. I expect more of the same, if not better, this week.
8. Ottawa Redblacks
LT Dino Boyd
LG Drew Desjarlais
C Cyrill Hogan-Saindon
RG Jacob Ruby
RT Zack Pelehos
• No member of this group posted a pass-blocking grade above 60.0 on true pass sets.
• This unit gave up one sack, one hit and five hurries, but they combined to lose another 16 reps over the course of the game.
Upcoming opponent: Calgary Stampeders
• Calgary produced pressure on just 25.6% of their pass-rush snaps in Week 1, the second-lowest rate in the league.
N/A Toronto Argonauts
LT Shane Richards
LG Ryan Hunter
C Peter Nicastro
RG Gregor MacKellar
RT Dejon Allen
Upcoming opponent: Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• It is a very average pass-rush group for the Tiger-Cats that ranks in the middle in most stat categories.
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