John Hodge argues that the league is still screwing Canadian QBs. How do you feel about this? Or is Hodge's suggestion of dressing 22 Internationals regardless of position? Is it going to lead to some teams simply dressing another International starter., while the third string National QB only gets on the field in an emergency and for a single game. Then an International fourth string QB from the PR or another International QB who has been signed becomes the backup and the situation repeats itself.

This year’s CFL combine was paired with the inaugural Mark’s CFL Week in Regina and the results were overwhelmingly positive. Bringing current and future CFL players together in an intimate environment allowed for fans and media to gain access to players and personnel people from around the league, generating a ton of stories, news, and buzz on social media.
The issue is that the players who partake in the combine are virtually all nameless faces to most fans. Regina product Jeremy Zver was cheered by the locals during the offensive/defensive line one-on-ones, while local boy Mitchell Picton got a similar response from the crowd during the receiving drills. Polite applause with a smattering of hoots and hollers — a solid showing of support, but nothing that blew the lid off of Evraz Place.
That all changed when Noah Picton hit the field. Picton, still a junior at Regina, is the starting quarterback of the Rams. Tossing balls to cousin Mitchell, Noah won the 2016 Hec Creighton Trophy as U Sports’ Most Valuable Player after a campaign that saw him break Andrew Buckley’s record for most all-time single-season passing yardage (3,186). Picton isn’t eligible for this year’s draft, but participated in the combine’s receiving drills to provide an extra arm. With all due respect to eligible draftees Sam Caron (Montreal) and Asher Hastings (McMaster), Picton was by far the best passer on the day. Picton’s got a lot to prove before he joins Buckley in the CFL. Buckley, the former Dino, will enter the 2017 CFL season with a chance to become Bo Levi Mitchell’s primary back-up following the trade of Drew Tate to Ottawa back in February. Picton’s size is suspect (he’s listed at 5’9, but is actually closer to 5’7) and there’s no understating the difference in game speed between U Sports and the CFL. Still, the Regina native deserves a shot to play professionally in Canada.
And the CFL would be insane to not want him to get a shot at the pro level. Picton is beloved in Regina — he’s the closest thing the Queen City has to a prodigal athlete like Sidney Crosby or LeBron James — and he plays the game’s most important position. It also doesn’t hurt that the kid is charismatic and bears a striking resemblance to pop sensation Harry Styles. He has superstar written all over him. Quarterbacks sell. They are the game’s biggest stars, hands down. As long the top prospects at the CFL combine are 300-pound offensive linemen (and I’m speaking as both a former offensive lineman and admitted draft junkie), the event will never be a must-see spectacle for most CFL fans. If you want to elevate the profile of the combine and capture the imagination of football fans, quarterbacks have to form a reasonable part of the equation as they do south of the border.
For that to happen, the league needs to stop disincentivizing teams from carrying Canadian quarterbacks. How is the CFL preventing Canadian pivots from being on even footing with their American counterparts? Allow me to explain. Back in 1969 (yes, the CFL governs its roster regulations by a fifty-year-old rule) there grew concern that teams weren’t doing enough to develop quarterbacks. Pivots — virtually all of whom were U.S.-born — were being traded across the country en masse every off-season, largely due to the overabundance of American pivots interested in coming north (this was back when the CFL could compete with NFL salaries, along with providing better off-hour and off-season job opportunities). Teams were unable to carry more than one quarterback at the time, meaning that acquiring a new passer would require trading or cutting the incumbent unless he was able and willing to play another position. Much was proposed in the way of rule changes to allow for teams to carry a back-up quarterback. Finally, a proposal put forth by Winnipeg was approved with a 7-2 vote. The proposal allowed teams to a) dress a maximum of 14 imports (ie. Americans), one of whom could only enter the game if the player he replaced was no longer going to play or b) dress a maximum of 14 imports with two strictly designated as quarterbacks. Finally, CFL teams could carry two quarterbacks without one having to play a second position, significantly limiting his development.


Teams that dress Canadian quarterbacks — and there are currently only two: Calgary (Andrew Buckley) and Saskatchewan (Brandon Bridge) — get no roster benefit in doing so. Dressing Canadians at any other position benefits teams by allowing them to allocate international roster spots elsewhere. Dressing a Canadian quarterback doesn’t benefit teams because quarterbacks are not considered nationals or internationals due to the origin of the league’s roster rules outlined above. Some pundits have suggested making it mandatory for all nine CFL teams to carry a Canadian quarterback in past years, creating a new roster spot specifically for national passers. In my opinion, this would be an unnecessary over-correction. Canadian quarterbacks shouldn’t be forced upon teams, especially considering that there aren’t nine national pivots available today who could realistically play in the CFL.
I’d suggest that fixing the league’s roster problem is as simple as eliminating the separate designation for quarterbacks. Canadian pivots should count as nationals and American pivots should count as internationals. It’s not a complex solution. Instead of teams fielding 21 nationals, 20 internationals, and three quarterbacks, teams should field 22 nationals and 22 internationals regardless of position. This would make clubs like Calgary and Saskatchewan eligible to dress an extra American player because of their use of a Canadian quarterback.
Many teams would continue to dress three international quarterbacks, sure. But who’s to say that, under this proposed rule change, there wouldn’t be a small handful of Canadian pivots to stick on CFL rosters who otherwise would have gone overlooked?