And more importantly, welcome to the final full month of the off-season. Training camps open across the league in a little over a month, while the 2026 CFL Draft is just over three weeks away. We’ll be watching an Eastern Final rematch between Montreal and Hamilton to kick off the season in time.

As we get April underway, it feels like a good time to bring back our MMQB Positional Rankings for another year. Hopefully these will help prime you for a new season or serve as a good refresher from last season.

We’re going to start this year’s rundown at quarterback, which always leads to plenty of debate and discourse. The fact Vernon Adams Jr., Zach Collaros, Dru Brown, Cody Fajardo, and Chad Kelly don’t make this list is testament to that. Because any one of those guys could easily make someone else’s, and with plenty of reason.

It’s one of the best runs of quarterbacks across the league I can remember in a long time, so let’s get things started.

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1. NATHAN ROURKE | BC LIONS

I would think this selection should generate the least debate of the three. Coming off his first Most Outstanding Player nod last season, and the CFL double as Most Outstanding Canadian, Nathan Rourke enters 2026 firmly as the league’s top pivot. And turning 27 next month, you could argue Rourke is only just now entering his “prime”.

Last season saw Rourke finish second overall (by six yards) with 5,290 passing yards and 36 touchdowns, and that’s despite missing a pair of starts in June. When you add in ten more touchdowns and 564 additional yards on the ground, you really get the full scope of how big Rourke’s impact was each week.

Rourke led the league with a stunning 112.2 quarterback rating and an average of 10.6 yards per attempt, while our friends at Pro Football Focus ranked him as the league’s number one quarterback by a healthy margin. With standout receivers Keon Hatcher Sr. and Justin McInnis in the fold again, I’m expecting more aerial dominance from Rourke and the Lions in 2026.

2. BO LEVI MITCHELL | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

Two straight seasons leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns. Back-to-back East Division Most Outstanding Player nods. It’s not only safe to say Bo Levi Mitchell is back after a rough few years, but it’s also no exaggeration to suggest he’s returned to the elite tier of CFL quarterbacks. And with a surrounding cast that includes Kenny Lawler, Kiondré Smith, and Shemar Bridges, I’m not expecting that to change in 2026.

Last year saw Mitchell finish with a league leading 5,296 passing yards and 36 touchdowns as the Ticats advanced to the Eastern Final for the first time in four years. And with a heartbreaking loss to the Alouettes to end Hamilton’s season, you can bet Mitchell’s motivation to return to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2018 will be as high as ever.

3. TREVOR HARRIS | SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

Yes, Trevor Harris turns 40 in May and could be entering his final CFL season. But it’s hard not to have the reigning Grey Cup MVP on this list coming off likely the best campaign of his career. Harris emphatically showed us last year that when healthy, he’s one of the league’s best, most consistent, and most accurate quarterbacks.

En route to winning the 112th Grey Cup, Harris finished with 4,549 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while leading the league with a 73.6 per cent completion rate. And knowing Saskatchewan’s push to run it back started with a Harris contract extension in December, the drive to repeat has a strong chance to bring out another great year.

Just like the release of our top 30 free agents at CFL.ca, I always look forward to Marshall Ferguson’s first mock draft. Released early last week, Marshall has East Carolina offensive lineman Darius Bell as his projected first overall pick to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. And that tracks with what I’ve heard from other experts I’ve spoken to in recent weeks.

And whether it’s Bell, Purdue’s Giordano Vaccaro, Niklas Henning of Queen’s, or Louisiana Tech’s Jonathan Denis, the smart early bet seems to be an offensive lineman at number one. Knowing Ottawa struggled to protect their quarterbacks in 2025, that makes a lot of sense; the REDBLACKS allowed 47 sacks last season, the third highest total in the league.

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