Davis Alexander continues to find ways to make the extraordinary look routine.
On Saturday, Alexander threw for 352 yards, four touchdowns, and added a rushing score against the league’s top-ranked defence to lead the Montreal Alouettes to a 48-30 win over the Edmonton Elks.
Tyson Philpot caught three of those touchdowns, including a 56-yard bomb, as the Alouettes extended their win streak to six in a row to improve to 8-1 entering their Week 11 bye.
Alexander improved to 19-1 as a CFL starting QB.
In his last two starts combined, Alexander has registered 752 passing yards, and seven touchdown passes without an interception.
The CFL regular season MOP favourite is down to -140 as the obvious favourite to win that award at FanDuel.
Nobody else is shorter than +600 to win it at FanDuel.
Meanwhile, Montreal is +195 to win the Grey Cup as the obvious favourite at FanDuel.
No other contender is shorter than +400.
With a massive advantage in the East Division and only nine games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Alouettes have emerged as the standard in the CFL.
As for the West Division, three wins separates the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in first place from the B.C. Lions in fifth place.
A healthy starting quarterback is key to success, and the return of Nathan Rourke in a Week 10 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats should make things a little more interesting in the West playoff race.
Meanwhile, south of the border, the NFL pre-season schedule is about to ramp up with all 32 teams in action starting with six games on Thursday night.
Unlike Week 11 in the CFL, we won’t see the NFL’s best QBs in action as the exhibitions ramp up this week.
However, there are some notable NFL QB competitions that add another layer of intrigue to the pre-season slate.
Who will be the Minnesota Vikings Week 1 starter?
How did Carson Beck’s performance in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game impact his odds to be the Week 1 starter for the Arizona Cardinals?
Let’s dive into the updated FanDuel odds for those NFL pre-season QB competitions in this Morning Coffee column for Monday August 10th, 2026.
NFL QB Competitions Heat Up Ahead Of NFL Pre-Season Week 1 Slate
You can’t build a legitimate championship contender in any league without a capable starting quarterback.
For the handful of NFL teams still searching for a franchise QB, nothing will be more important in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead.
The Vikings, Cardinals, and Cleveland Browns enter the pre-season without an unquestioned No. 1 option.
After landing in Minnesota as a free agent this offseason, Kyler Murray is the clear frontrunner to start for the Vikings when they host the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
FanDuel made Murray a -900 favourite to be the Week 1 starter – a 90 per cent implied probability.
2024 first round pick J.J. McCarthy is +520 as the second choice to be the Week 1 starter, followed by veteran Carson Wentz as a distant long shot at +7000.
Minnesota is +150 to make and -178 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel this morning.
Bringing in Murray is a clear signal from the coaching staff and front office that after a lost year with McCarthy, the Vikings have no interest in being patient.
Minnesota will start the QB that gives them the best chance to win now.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Kevin O’Connell manages his QB situation in terms of playing time when the Vikings begin their pre-season against the New York Giants on Saturday afternoon.
The situation in Arizona is a little more intriguing.
The Cardinals signed veteran Gardner Minshew in March to back up projected starter Jacoby Brissett, then drafted Carson Beck in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Arizona agreed to a reworked one-year deal that will pay Brissett $15.5 million guaranteed and up to $21 million with added incentives.
Meanwhile, head coach first-year head coach Mike LaFleur and Minshew have a history dating back to LaFleur’s time on the Senior Bowl coaching staff back in 2019, when Minshew entered the NFL Draft out of Washington State.
LaFleur has praised Minshew’s mobility, work ethic, and fit in his system in the past, creating a unique set of circumstances for the Cardinals.
The veteran Brissett is considered the obvious favourite to start for Arizona in Week 1 at -670 odds – an 87 per cent implied probability.
Minshew is +1300 to be the Week 1 starter behind Brissett and the rookie Beck, who is +600 at FanDuel.
Beck looked sharp in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, throwing for 188 yards and a touchdown with just four incompletions against the Carolina Panthers, which had some calling for him to be the Cardinals Week 1 starter.
However, Arizona has the toughest strength of schedule in the entire NFL and two capable veterans slotted ahead of Beck on its current QB depth chart.
Would the Cardinals really accelerate Beck’s timeline based on one exhibition performance?
I doubt it, but Beck will get another chance to prove he is ready for the job when the Cardinals visit the Raiders in their next exhibition game on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Thursday night will also likely mark the first time we see rookie first overall pick Fernando Mendoza in action for Las Vegas.
Prior to training camp, first-year head coach Klint Kubiak named Kirk Cousins the starter, adding that he wants Mendoza and Aidan O’Connell to push the veteran.
Mendoza and O’Connell should get that opportunity against Arizona on Thursday, and it will be interesting to see the impact it has on the starting QB situation.
Cousins is a -900 favourite to be the Raiders starter – a 90 per cent implied probability.
Mendoza is +600 as the second choice, followed by “any other QB” as the third option at +5500.
While Cousins is expected to be the starter, his age and injury history make the other options a little more intriguing, with O’Connell fitting the “any other QB” option at +5500.
Finally, the QB carousel continues in Cleveland with Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders,Dillon Gabriel, and Taylor Green all listed in FanDuel’s Week 1 starting QB market for the Browns.
Watson is the favourite at -310 odds – a 75.6 per cent implied probability.
2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders is the second choice to be Cleveland’s Week 1 starter at +230 – a 30.3 per cent implied chance.
Then there’s Gabriel at +4000 and Green at +8000.
First-year head coach Todd Monken has not named a starter and has repeatedly made it clear that he wants to see more before he makes any commitment.
Watson and Sanders have alternated first-team reps throughout most of the spring.
However, Zac Jackson from The Athletic wrote a column on Saturday with the headline, “Has Deshaun Watson taken the lead in Browns’ QB competition?”, noting Watson had worked with the No. 1 unit on consecutive days for the first time in training camp.
The Browns open their pre-season schedule against the Chicago Bears on Saturday afternoon.
Cleveland will host the Buffalo Bills the following week.
As is the case with Cousins in Las Vegas, Watson’s recent injury history is a factor to consider here, especially considering his grasp on the starting QB job is the weakest of the four QB competitions available to wager on at FanDuel.
Sanders could win the starting job in Cleveland.
He could also end up as a Week 1 starter if Watson suffers an injury at some point between now and September 13th, when the Browns open their season on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
We know the favourites to be the Week 1 starting QBs in Cleveland, Las Vegas, Arizona, and Minnesota.
Watson, Cousins, Brissett, and Murray are frontrunners.
Now it’s up to the actual quarterbacks to decide which of those favourites will get the nod in September.
A lot can change over the next four weeks.
Which QB do you think has the best chance to unseat a favourite as the Week 1 starting QB for their respective team?
Hit me up @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know your thoughts.
Have a great day, everyone!
