Morning Coffee: QB1 battles remain focus entering Week 2 of NFL Pre-Season

The Canadian Football League has hit its stride.

After working out a few kinks over the first few weeks of the regular season, the past five games have provided some of the most entertaining football that I’ve watched in recent memory.

The scoring is up around the league.

We’ve seen a 6-1 run to the over on CFL totals dating back to the final game of Week 9.

Meanwhile, the dogs have been barking as underdogs have covered the spread in five straight CFL games, including a wild backdoor cover by the Ottawa Redblacks getting six points in a 30-27 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday Night Football.

While there was some questionable decision-making throughout that CFL Week 11 opener, it made for an entertaining contest and another profitable night for anybody who took the points and the over at FanDuel.

Turning the page this morning, the stage is set for an intriguing match-up on Friday Night Football.

The Toronto Argonauts entered Week 1 as a co-favourite to win the Grey Cup at FanDuel along with Winnipeg.

While they’ve been in a lot of close games this season, the Argonauts have consistently found ways to lose a lot of those games, which has resulted in them falling to the bottom of the CFL standings with a 2-7 record.

The situation is so bad in Toronto that the Elks, which had the longest odds to win the Grey Cup entering Week 1, are a three-point favourite for tonight’s game at FanDuel.

Will we see the underdog Argonauts at least cover in another game that flies over the total at FanDuel?

Meanwhile, we’ve reached the final countdown to the NFL regular season and there’s still several position battles to be decided heading into the first two games of Week 2 of the NFL pre-season tonight.

Who will win the starting quarterback jobs in Cleveland, Indianapolis, and New Orleans?

While a favourite has emerged in all three markets, we should have an even better idea of how the QB depth charts will shake out for each of those teams following another busy weekend of NFL pre-season games.

This is Morning Coffee for Friday August 15th, 2025.

QB1 Battles Remain Focus Entering Week 2 Of NFL Pre-Season

The pre-season is the NFL version of a reality TV drama.

Nobody’s sure who’s getting voted off the rosters.

The drama probably feels way bigger than it really is.

Still, hardcore football fans like me can’t help but tune in.

The Cleveland Browns are considered more likely to miss the playoffs than any other team at FanDuel.

It doesn’t matter.

I want to know when Shedeur Sanders will start.

However, the Browns QB1 battle is suddenly starting to look a lot less like an episode of Survivor and a lot more like the 1975 movie Rollerball.

Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders, Dillion Gabriel, Deshaun Watson and Tyler Huntley are all under contract in Cleveland.

Flacco is the obvious favourite to start in Week 1 of the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals, but a big part of that equation is the fact that every other passer on the roster other than Huntley has been injured.

Flacco is -310 to be the Browns Week 1 starting QB.

Considering there’s nobody left to stand in his way, Flacco to be Cleveland’s Week 1 starting QB wouldn’t be a bad bet even at that price if somehow the Browns QB injury roulette wheel was guaranteed to stop spinning before it inevitably lands on the 40-year-old at some point.

This franchise is desperate for a solution at quarterback.

We know at least one QB on their roster can sell tickets.

Cleveland hasn’t had a Pro Bowl passer since Derek Anderson in 2007 – the NFL’s longest active drought.

It makes sense for the Browns to eventually audition both Sanders and Gabriel to find out what they have on their current roster.

Both rookie passers will need to get healthy again for them to have that opportunity.

With a couple of other NFL teams dealing with injuries at the position, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of the QBs on Cleveland’s roster was eventually traded elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Anthony Richardson remains the favourite to start for the Indianapolis Colts at -245 at FanDuel.

Daniel Jones is the second choice at +186.

After a brief injury scare in the Colts exhibition opener, Richardson impressed again in the team’s joint practice with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

Richardson was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and at 23-years-old he is still as young as some current NFL rookies, so it would make sense if he was given every opportunity to succeed in Indianapolis.

Still, I’m not convinced the Colts have the long-term answer at the quarterback position on their roster.

Finally, the New Orleans Saints continue to audition Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, and Jake Haener in their QB1 competition.

Rattler really struggled in limited playing time last season, but he’s -245 to be the Saints Week 1 starter.

The rookie second round pick Shough is +190 as the second choice in that FanDuel novelty market.

Rattler will start Sunday’s pre-season game against the Los Angeles Chargers, with Shough coming off the bench to replace him, followed by Haener to finish the game.

Head coach Kellen Moore hasn’t committed to a Week 1 starter, but he did explain that Rattler had “earned” the pre-season start based on his training camp performance.

While I don’t have a good enough reason to fade Flacco, Richardson, and Rattler as heavy chalk in FanDuel’s novelty QB1 markets, I will recommend a couple of NFL pre-season bets to consider.

On Thursday, I sat in as the guest host for Matt Cauz on Game Play on TSN1050 Radio.

Covers Betting analyst Josh Inglis recommended a play on the Seattle Seahawks first half -1.5 for tonight’s exhibition against the Kansas City Chiefs at -115 on the show.

He also circled the under 38.5 in tonight’s pre-season game between the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans.

I locked in both plays and circled Philadelphia Eagles -3.5 against the Browns as a FanDuel Best Bet.

Cleveland is already dealing with several notable injuries at the quarterback position, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Huntley was forced to play most of Saturday’s game.

2023 sixth round pick Tanner McKee looked good in two appearances for the Eagles last season.

He picked up where he left off in Philadelphia pre-season opener, going 20-of-25 for 252 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-27 win over the Bengals.

McKee has been one of the most interesting QBs to watch throughout training camp and Week 1 of the pre-season, with many believing he has what it takes to eventually start in the NFL.

The fact that the Eagles were willing to trade Pickett to Cleveland and promote McKee to QB2 on their depth chart speaks volumes.

With McKee aiming to build on a strong exhibition debut and the former Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson looking to prove he belongs in the NFL, Philly will have the edge at the most important position in this game.

We could also see rookie sixth round pick Kyle McCord, who attempted just on pass in the pre-season opener but is expected to get a chance to audition his skill set over the team’s final two pre-season games.

With Pickett, Sanders, and Gabriel all banged up and Cleveland likely unwilling to risk a Flacco injury, I’ll take Philadelphia to win and cover as a 3.5-point favourite in Saturday’s pre-season game.

Hopefully, Josh and I can go a combined 3-0.

Plus, in case you missed it, our guy Drew F. Morrison has been absolutely on fire with the CFL picks featured in his weekly 3rd and 1 column.

You can check out what Drew likes for the rest of this week’s game by clicking on the link above.

Enjoy the football, everyone!