The 2025 CFL preseason gets underway on Monday, with the B.C. Lions set to host the Calgary Stampeders in front of a sold-out crowd at Starlight Stadium in Victoria.
Both teams are fielding inexperienced rosters for the game, with plenty of question marks on their depth charts after disappointing 2024 seasons. That will mean lots of opportunities for unknown newcomers to stand out in their quest to become household names. The challenge for CFL fans is figuring out in advance who they should have their eyes on.
Whether you are watching from the stadium or on CFL+, 3DownNation is teeing up every preseason game with a handful of rookies you should know. The only rule: those with CFL game experience need not apply.
“N” denotes National players (ie. Canadians), “A” denotes American players, and “G” denotes Global players.
B.C. Lions
DB Tyler Cole, Purdue University (A)
There will be plenty of new players vying for meaningful roles in the Lions’ secondary but while the likes of Johnny Dixon and Robert Carter Jr. are auditioning, Coyle has already gotten a callback. After he spent the last month of the 2024 season on their practice roster, B.C. built their team this offseason with the former Dallas Cowboys special teamer as the presumptive starter at nickel — the term they use for the SAM linebacker position. Listed at six-foot-four and 209 pounds, the 26-year-old is a physical freak who reportedly posted a 4.41 forty-yard dash at the Purdue pro day in 2021, along with a 39-inch vertical and 11-foot broad jump. If he can back up those numbers on a CFL field, Mike Benevides will have an abundance of ways to utilize him.
LB Mike Smith Jr., Baylor University (A)
With Josh Woods and Adam Auclair expected to start the season on the injured list, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Micah Awe and Ben Hladik are chiselled in stone as the Lions’ starting linebackers. However, team management has been surprisingly vocal in their belief that Smith, who spent time on the practice roster last year, has a chance to win one of those jobs. That could just be lip service but the five-foot-11, 244-pound backer should get a long look in the middle in Victoria and showed flashes of a quick trigger in college before a torn ACL derailed his senior season.
REC Hayden Hatten, University of Idaho (A)
In theory, the Lions have five returning starters at receiver but the reality is that neither Ayden Eberhardt nor Stanley Berryhill have done enough to make themselves untouchable. Hatten’s college production in the CFL factory Big Sky conference — 244 receptions for 3,349 yards and 33 touchdowns — puts him in a class of his own amongst the alternatives. The two-time FCS All-American had enough NFL interest to declare early for the draft last year, only for a mysterious five-game suspension to derail his shot with the Seahawks. At six-foot-one and 207 pounds, he showed all the size, spatial awareness, and toughness to be a stud slotback and should have an advocate with some pull after making multiple voluntary trips north to throw with Nathan Rourke this offseason.
DE Kemoko Turay, Rutgers University (A)
Top NFL draft picks don’t have a great track record of translating in the CFL but that hasn’t stopped teams from trying. Turay, a former second-rounder of the Indianapolis Colt who struggled to stay healthy, is the latest reclamation project and the Lions hope to exploit the explosive athleticism that drove him up draft boards. With starting defensive end Sione Teuhema facing a two-game suspension to start the season, B.C. might have an immediate role for a 29-year-old finished product, but the recent UFL cut will need to flash in the preseason to convince fans of his legitimacy.
Calgary Stampeders
QB P.J. Walker, Temple University (A)
CFL teams have been waiting for a decade to get a look at Walker, who was first put on Ottawa’s neg list back in 2015. After signing him last October, the Stampeders have had to wait eight months to get him in a live game themselves. The journeyman NFL backup spent time with five different franchises and made nine starts south of the border, in addition to leading the XFL in passing in 2020. The 30-year-old doesn’t have a realistic chance to unseat Vernon Adams Jr. but Calgary needs to find out what they have: an overrated insurance policy or a prime asset that a desperate team might overpay for down the road.
REC Damien Alford, University of Utah (N)
The Stampeders bet big on traits when they selected Alford with the first overall pick in the 2025 CFL Draft, believing that his six-foot-five frame and 4.46 speed were more indicative of his potential than his complete lack of playing time with the Utes last year. The native of Montreal, Que. was a legitimate deep threat before transferring from Syracuse and his preseason performance will give an early indication of if he can recapture that success as a pro. That could be essential for Calgary as durability has been a concern for their Canadian receivers, with Clark Barnes already nursing an injury in training camp.
DB Anthony Johnson, University of Virginia (A)
The Stampeders’ defensive backfield badly needs an upgrade after last season and there are opportunities across the board for rookies as a result. Johnson will be the first of several players to cycle through at cornerback and should turn heads due to his exceptional length for a CFL DB. The six-foot-two, 205-pound prospect was a first-team All-ACC honouree in his senior season, recorded a pick-six at the prestigious Senior Bowl, and had enough early interest to be invited to the NFL Combine in 2023, but was ultimately passed over because of concerns over his long speed. Keeping B.C.’s receivers in front of him will be the first step in proving that won’t hurt him to the same extent in Canada.
RB Eno Benjamin, Arizona State University (A)
A relentless, never-say-die runner who consistently creates something out of nothing, Benjamin was one of college football’s most entertaining players before the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the seventh round of the 2020 Draft. He compiled nearly 1,000 all-purpose yards over four NFL seasons but wasn’t able to establish himself as a feature back before a ruptured Achilles in 2023 left him on the scrap heap. Still just 26 years old, the buzz out of training camp indicates he hasn’t lost a step and could have a Ka’Deem Carey-esque second act. The Stamps have always prioritized a deep stable of backs and will want a viable alternative to Dedrick Mills after his unexplained team suspension last year.
