- Top CFL quarterback rooms balance elite starters with dependable backups: Teams like Hamilton and Montreal lead the way with Bo Levi Mitchell and McLeod Bethel-Thompson offering high-end production and insurance at the most important position.
- Injuries, inconsistency, and depth concerns cloud the outlook for others: Clubs like Toronto and Ottawa boast talented starters in Chad Kelly and Dru Brown, but questions around availability and support behind them leave their quarterback rooms among the league's riskiest.
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Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
With the 2025 CFL season fast approaching, it’s time to preview the league’s quarterback landscape.
Each of the league’s nine QB rooms features a mix of established veterans and emerging talent, and we’ve ranked them all based on talent, experience and projected impact.
1. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Projected Starter: Bo Levi Mitchell
- Projected Backup: Taylor Powell
Bo Levi Mitchell enters 2025 as one of the CFL’s top quarterbacks, coming off a season in which he led the league in nearly every major passing category and earned a finalist nod for Most Outstanding Player. He posted an 89.5 overall grade and closed the year with a nine-game stretch that included 21 big-time throws against just six turnover-worthy plays. As long as Mitchell stays healthy, he’ll be in the M.O.P. conversation again. Backup Taylor Powell may not profile as a long-term starter, but he’s proven more than capable of keeping the offense on track if called into action.
2. Calgary Stampeders
- Projected Starter: Vernon Adams Jr.
- Projected Backup: P.J. Walker
Before suffering an injury in Week 9 last season, Vernon Adams Jr. was on track for a historic year. He averaged nearly 350 passing yards per game and racked up 28 big-time throws to just seven turnover-worthy plays across seven starts. At full strength, Adams is the CFL’s premier deep-ball passer and a dynamic playmaker capable of lifting an entire offense. The concern, as always, is durability, as he’s topped 10 games played in just two of his eight CFL seasons.
The addition of NFL veteran P.J. Walker offers insurance. If Walker adapts quickly to the Canadian game, he could emerge as one of the league’s top backup quarterbacks.
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Projected Starter: Trevor Harris
- Projected Backup: Jake Maier
Father Time will catch up to Trevor Harris at some point, but it doesn’t look like that time is now. The Roughriders quarterback will be 39 years old when the 2025 season kicks off, yet he’s coming off a year in which he was the CFL’s highest-graded quarterback at 91.6 overall. No one diagnoses a defense faster, as shown by his league-low 2.27-second average time to throw. Despite that quick release, nearly half of his attempts (49.7%) still came beyond the first-down marker, the third-highest rate in the league.
Behind him, Jake Maier transitions into a backup role after an inconsistent run as a starter. His accuracy remains elite, though, as he led the CFL with a 64.5% accuracy rate last season.
4. British Columbia Lions
- Projected Starter: Nathan Rourke
- Projected Backup: Jeremiah Masoli
The Lions might land a bit lower if this ranking were based solely on 2024 performance.
Nathan Rourke struggled in his return to the CFL, earning just a 65.7 passing grade across eight starts last season. But with a full offseason to readjust to the Canadian game, he should be closer to his 2022 form, the year he won Most Outstanding Canadian honors with a league-leading 92.9 overall grade and 35 total touchdowns in just 12 games.
Backup Jeremiah Masoli, meanwhile, returned from multiple serious injuries to post a solid 72.8 grade in five appearances with Ottawa.
5. Montreal Alouettes
- Projected Starter: Davis Alexander
- Projected Backup: McLeod Bethel-Thompson
The Alouettes are moving forward with Davis Alexander as their starting quarterback in 2025 after he flashed potential in a backup role last season. Alexander logged significant snaps in seven games, finishing with a 74.7 passing grade and nine big-time throws. Whether he can sustain success as a full-time starter remains to be seen, but he’s not the primary reason Montreal ranks this high. That credit goes to McLeod Bethel-Thompson, the best backup quarterback in the CFL.
Bethel-Thompson earned a 90.4 overall grade last season, the third-best in the league. If Alexander falters or goes down, the Alouettes have a proven veteran ready to step in without much drop-off.
6. Edmonton Elks
- Projected Starter: Tre Ford
- Projected Backup: Cody Fajardo
The Elks could climb this list quickly if Canadian quarterback Tre Ford puts it all together. In 2023, Ford started 10 games and made an impact on the ground with an 83.1 rushing grade, though his passing (67.1) lagged behind. Last season, the script flipped — he earned an excellent 84.2 passing grade across seven games but wasn’t nearly as effective as a runner (63.9). If Ford can blend those two elements in 2025, he has the tools to become one of the CFL’s elite quarterbacks. Behind him, veteran Cody Fajardo offers a steadier hand with a very different profile: his 79.3% adjusted completion rate in 2024 ranked second in the league, though his 8.5-yard average depth of target was among the lowest.
7. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Projected Starter: Zach Collaros
- Projected Backup: Chris Streveler
Despite leading Winnipeg to a fifth consecutive Grey Cup appearance, the 2024 season marked Zach Collaros’ worst since joining the Blue Bombers. His 77.5 passing grade ranked just 10th in the CFL, and his 23 turnover-worthy plays were the second-most among quarterbacks. Collaros is still capable of elite performances — his 91.1 overall grade in the West Semi-Final proved that — but his 49.7 mark in the Grey Cup raised concerns about his ability to sustain high-level play over multiple games. Chris Streveler remains one of the league’s top rushing quarterbacks and serves well in wildcat packages, but he may not be equipped to handle a full-time starting role if Collaros misses extended time beyond his one-game suspension to start the year.
8. Ottawa Redblacks
- Projected Starter: Dru Brown
- Projected Backup: Dustin Crum
Dru Brown’s first year as Ottawa’s starter didn’t go as planned. He led the CFL with 28 turnover-worthy plays and finished 11th in passing grade at 77.4. The encouraging sign, however, came in his final three games, where he posted a 90.2 passing grade and delivered nine big-time throws against just four turnover-worthy plays. Brown could easily outperform this initial ranking if that late-season form carries over into 2025.
Backup Dustin Crum is arguably the league’s most dangerous rushing quarterback, having gained 942 yards and forced 48 missed tackles on 156 carries over the past two seasons. But his limited effectiveness as a passer makes him a less viable long-term option if Brown were to miss time.
9. Toronto Argonauts
- Projected Starter: Chad Kelly
- Projected Backup: Nick Arbuckle
Chad Kelly is a former CFL Most Outstanding Player and, when on the field, ranks among the league’s best quarterbacks. However, significant uncertainty clouds his outlook heading into 2025. Kelly was suspended for the first half of last season, and any further off-field issues could jeopardize his CFL career entirely. He also suffered a fractured leg during the playoffs, adding to the risk. His overall grade dropped from 90.0 in his 2023 M.O.P. campaign to 81.0 last year. If he can recapture that elite form, Toronto’s quarterback room shoots up this list — but that’s a major “if.” Backup Nick Arbuckle performed well in last year’s Grey Cup (77.4 game grade), but he hasn’t proven capable of sustaining success as a full-time starter.
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