Montreal Alouettes general manager Jim Popp made big waves late last week when he acquired the negotiating rights to quarterback Vernon Adams from the BC Lions. Giving up a 2017 first round pick, Popp paid a high price to acquire the rights of an extremely promising quarterback. But how much of a risk is he taking? And why did BC pull the trigger on this deal?

Risk and reward

This is really apt asset management from the Lions and for that reason I really like the deal from their perspective. I’m a little more leery on this for Montreal, yet I understand their motivation in taking such a big risk. It’s one of the more intriguing deals made in this league in quite some time.

BC is getting a guaranteed top nine pick in next year’s Canadian Draft for a player that wasn’t even on its roster. Knowing the Lions already have a promising young quarterback in the fold, it was going to be difficult to find a realistic slot for Adams.

Jonathon Jennings is five months older than Adams and already has CFL starting experience. With him and newly re-signed Travis Lulay battling it out for the starting job this year, the situation for Adams would not have been ideal in BC. Given a choice between Jennings and Adams, the former was the way to go. As such, leveraging Adams was the right play and Wally Buono did just that.



That first round pick next year (or any year) is so valuable, which is where I start to get a little nervous for Montreal. I always worry about teams dealing high end Canadian picks unless the return qualifies as a sure thing, or at least close to it.

For instance, I really wonder how much Winnipeg will end up regretting the decision to give up the number two pick in this year’s draft. Yes, the Bombers selected Dartmouth DB Garrett Waggoner in the 2015 Supplemental Draft and he’s a very promising prospect. But will he make as much of an impact on the Bombers as, say, Phillipe Gagnon, Charles Vaillancourt, or Brandon Revenberg? It’ll be a while until we have a definitive answer, but it’s a valid question to ask.

I’m not saying Adams isn’t promising, because he absolutely is. But to suggest he’s a sure thing wouldn’t be right, either. We’ve seen plenty of American pivots struggle to translate NCAA success to the CFL and that risk definitely exists here. From the outside, I would have leaned towards keeping the first round pick.

And yet I totally understand Popp’s motivation here.

Montreal has its likely starting quarterback for next year in Kevin Glenn, but he turns 37 in a few weeks. Both Rakeem Cato and Brandon Bridge have shown nice flashes but not enough to hand them the reins for the future.

Since the retirement of Anthony Calvillo, the Als have been searching for their next quarterback so I get why they’re looking for a home run. In three years at Eastern Washington and one more at Oregon, Adams established himself as an efficient and dangerous dual-threat pivot. He has freakish athletic ability, and if he pans out anywhere near his ceiling, Montreal is going to have a real player on its hands. I just worry about the word “if” in this case.

I really hope this risk pays off for Popp and Als and I’ll be the first to eat some crow if it does. Regardless, though, this is a solid move for the Lions with very little downside, mainly because of the return they got. You don’t see trades like this very often, so for that reason, I tip my hat to both GM’s who gave us a huge story to sink our teeth into.

Fantasy football (Part three)

Thanks to the Canadian Draft, we took a few weeks off in our MMQB fantasy draft. A couple columns ago, we took Justin Capicciotti and Ted Laurent with our first two picks on the defensive side of the ball. This week we’re going back on offence with our two picks on the offensive line. These were rather difficult picks that had me deliberating and second guessing for a few hours…choosing two guys is hard!

Jovan Olafioye, OL

BC Lions

This was the no-brainer of the two; while I debated the second choice, Olafioye always had to be on this team. For me, he’s the best offensive lineman in the CFL and his five straight CFL All-Star nods (six straight West Division selections) will back that up fairly well. In fact, Olafioye has never failed to finish as an All-Star since entering the league in 2010.

The scary part for the Detroit product is he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Olafioye has been consistently outstanding for six straight professional seasons and won’t turn 29 until after the 2016 season comes to an end. We’re probably talking about another three or four years of high quality football from Olafioye, if not more.

Being Canadian has buoyed some of our picks thus far. For Olafioye, though, his passport is of little consequence. He’s at the top of the CFL’s offensive line mountain, still has plenty of time left there, and was an easy choice in our little fantasy draft.

Pierre Lavertu, OL

Calgary Stampeders

This pick was a little more difficult, and not because Lavertu wasn’t a deserving choice. Instead, it was tough because names like SirVincent Rogers, Jon Gott and Jeff Perrett were also deserving candidates. In the end, I leaned Lavertu’s way for a few different reasons.

First off, Lavertu is a heck of a player and was a deserving West Division All-Star in just his second season in the league. The former first overall pick quickly turned himself into a mainstay on Calgary’s offensive line and made the loss of Brett Jones a whole lot easier to take with the job he did at centre.

The other names mentioned are really good, too, so there had to be a couple of swing factors for Lavertu. First off, he’s Canadian, so that bumped him ahead of Rogers slightly for me. Second, he’s 26 while each member of that aforementioned trio is at least 30. It was a very close call, but in the end, Lavertu got the nod by a hair.

Steinberg’s 2016 All-Fantasy Roster

Position Name Team QB Bo Levi Mitchell CGY RB Andrew Harris WPG OL Jovan Olafioye BC OL Pierre Lavertu CGY DT Ted Laurent HAM DE Justin Capicciotti SSK

Good vibes

I had the chance to chat with CFL Commissioner Jeffery Orridge on my radio program this past week and it was a very enlightening chat. My biggest takeaway was the overall positivity that seems to be in the air heading into the 2016 season. That positivity is well founded.

This off-season has seen the league implement a brand new and revamped drug testing policy, innovative player safety initiatives, a groundbreaking video review system, and a partnership with the NFL for development of officials. It’s tough to argue this winter hasn’t been productive!

The start of a new season is always exciting and 2016 will be no different. With such a positive off-season, though, it seems like the league has a ton of momentum with the start of the season just over a month away.