Week 1 in the CFL
CFL Canadian Football League

Week 1 in the CFL

Published on June 3, 2026 under Canadian Football League (CFL) News Release


Stats and storylines heading into this week's action

BREAK IT DOWN

479 total players on CFL rosters

398 veterans (83 per cent)

81 first-year players (17 per cent)

Averages of 42 games of CFL experience and 24 starts

Average age: 28.1

Status

225 Nationals

237 Americans

17 Globals

142 players from U SPORTS (29.6 per cent). UBC, Laval, Montreal and Laurier lead with 11 each.

SLINGIN' IT

Bo Levi Mitchell | 158 starts | 110-46-2 (.703)

Zach Collaros | 143 starts | 89-54 (.622)

Trevor Harris | 128 starts | 69-57-2 (.547)

Cody Fajardo | 86 starts | 49-36-1 (.579)

Vernon Adams Jr. | 77 starts | 49-28 (.636)

Jake Maier | 47 starts | 19-27-1 (.415)

Nathan Rourke | 36 starts | 23-13 (.639)

Chad Kelly | 25 starts | 20-5 (.800)

Davis Alexander | 11 starts | 11-0 (1.000)

2025 IN HINDSIGHT

Home teams in the regular season: 44-37

Six 1,000-yard+ rushers - the most since 2009 (7)

League-wide passer rating (97.4) was the second highest in league history (98.3 in 2016)

51 per cent of games decided in the final three minutes. On 16 occasions, teams came back after trailing in the final three minutes

Teams that won the turnover battle were 58-11 (.790)

73 singles. In 2026 with the modified rouge, 36 of them would no longer apply

QUICK SLANTS

LEAGUE-WIDE

Possible milestone game(s)

100th | Justin Lawrence (MTL)

MTL at HAM

Since 2022, Montreal is 7-3 against Hamilton, however the Ticats swept the season series in 2025

Montreal has won its first game for the past three seasons

Jason Maas' next victory will move him past Marc Trestman (72) for 19th on the all-time coaching list

Davis Alexander aims to extend his own CFL record for consecutive wins to start a career to 12

Jose Maltos Diaz needs to make two field goals to reach 100 in his career

Hamilton is hosting the season opener for the first time since 2019

Hamilton has not won its season opening game since 2018

Coming off a league-best 14 TD catches last season, Kenny Lawler's next will be the 40th of his career

WPG at CGY

Zach Collaros needs 17 passing yards to reach 36,000 in his career

Nic Demski - the active leader in receptions - needs six to hit 500 in his career

With four carries, Brady Oliveira will reach 1,000 in his career. His next 100-yard+ rushing game will tie Jon Cornish for second-most by a Canadian (22), behind only Andrew Harris (29).

Oliveira needs 62 rushing yards to move into 5th on the Blue Bombers' all-time list, passing Gerry James (5,541).

Last season, Calgary was 3-1 against Winnipeg, ending an 0-6 run

Vernon Adams Jr.'s next win will be his 50th

Last season, Dedrick Mills rushed for a career-high 1,409 yards (5.6 yards per carry)

EDM at OTT

Edmonton swept the season series 2-0 in 2025

Cody Fajardo needs three TD passes to reach 100 and two rushing TDs for 50. His next win will be his 50th as a starter.

Edmonton last won its season opener in 2019

Fajardo is 9-1 against Ottawa; Jake Maier is 3-3 versus Edmonton

Ryan Dinwiddie will make his debut as Ottawa's fourth head coach. He went 51-35 (.593) with Toronto, making the playoffs in four of five season

Justin Hardy needs 29 receptions to move past Greg Ellingson (332) for third on Ottawa's all-time list

Eugene Lewis - the active leader in TD receptions - is three away from 50 in his career

Check out the Canadian Football League Statistics

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Canadian Football League Stories from June 3, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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