The Canadian Football League last week announced nine rule changes ahead of the 2022 season aimed at increasing scoring and game flow, and they’re drawing mostly positive reviews.
The CFL saw scoring drop from 49.5 points per game in 2019 to 43.1 points per game in 2021, a decrease of 12.9%. This offseason, the CFL made it a priority to explore how it might boost offense across the league.
Players, ex-players, coaches, broadcasters, fans, league executives, and sportsbooks will all be watching closely to see the impact these changes make on games in Canada from week to week, and they’re already weighing in with their opinions.
“We want to make sure that we’re doing what’s right for the game,” said Darren Hackwood, the associate vice president of officiating for the CFL, in an interview posted on CFL.ca. “At the same time, if [the changes] work out we can add to them next year. I was kind of concerned that the reception might be, ‘Well, you’re not doing anything.’ It definitely was refreshing to get some positive feedback.”
Hackwood said all of the rules were run by the nine different head coaches in the league prior to being finalized, and their feedback was taken into account so that the new rules “don’t change the fabric of the game.”
Hashing it out
Perhaps the most impactful rule change will be moving the hashmarks closer to the middle of field. Each one will be 28 yards from the nearest sideline instead of 24 yards. As a result, they will be nine yards apart instead of 17 yards apart.
“Our football leaders told us the current hashmarks too often had the effect of taking the 12th man on the field — the receiver on the far side — out of the play. A throw to him was consistently seen as too risky. And that, in turn, was diluting the impact of our huge field, which is perhaps the most unique thing about Canadian football,” said CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie in the rules release.
Damon Allen played 23 seasons in the CFL from 1985-2007, passing for 72,381 yards and 394 touchdowns. The Canadian Football Hall of Famer and four-time Grey Cup Champion definitely thinks moving the hashmarks closer together will make it easier for quarterbacks moving forward.
“That’s a throw that not many can do. You see it in our game. Nobody throws across the field. That’s what all the defenses are doing these days — they’re packing the middle, packing the boundary, and forcing you to throw across the field. You have to be able throw that field-side out, field-side hook,” Allen told Sports Handle.
“You do need a strong arm. Some of our great Hall of Famers didn’t really make that throw. But there were some that could make that throw in our league: Matt Dunigan, myself, Henry Burris. We did out-routes to the field from the boundary hash.”
D9 insight on 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ecTjquAImP
— Outside the Pocket (@D9Allen) April 28, 2022
Allen, who is the younger brother of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, has been interning with the Las Vegas Raiders coaching staff and couldn’t believe the difference when throwing across the smaller NFL field.
“It was so much easier. All of your throws, corner out to the left, corner out to the right, they’re all the same distance. They’re the same throws, because you’re playing in the middle of the field.”
Allen, who is also a sports betting brand ambassador for BetRegal, went a step further, suggesting another way to boost offense is to recruit more dual-threat quarterbacks from south of the border. Allen says he played in an era that produced multiple Hall of Fame quarterbacks, but now the league is struggling to attract high-profile talent at the position.
“Week in and week out you were challenged every game that you played (in Allen’s era) because you were playing against a really good quarterback,” he said. “You look at the game today — QBs that can run and throw, which is very suitable for our game, they’re playing in the NFL.
“We have to do a better job of scouting and recruiting these types of QBs in the league. Nothing against pocket passers, but you become one-dimensional. When you destroy the pocket, it makes it very difficult to put points on the board. A two-way QB that run and throw is the most dangerous player on the field.”
Current Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea is a big fan of moving the hashmarks closer together, and he says the change will have offensive implications beyond the passing game.
“The angle that field goal kickers have to work against is less steep, so you should have a higher field goal percentage. And then the punting game, directional punting is a huge part of our game because the field [is so large] and now those footballs kicked to the sideline, there should be more room for the return game. Overall, it should add more excitement to the game,” he told 3DownNation.
Other notable changes
Some of the other notable rules changes that should help boost offense include:
- Fifteen-yard penalties will be assessed for all no-yards calls. All no-yards penalties — which are assigned when the cover team invades a 5-yard halo around the returner as he fields a punt — will be 15 yards. Previously, a no-yards penalty was 15 yards only if the ball had been fielded in the air — and only 5 yards if the punt had bounced. Also, any punt that sails out of bounds before it reaches an opponent’s 15-yard line will be assigned a penalty instead of only punts that sail out of bounds before they reach the 20-yard line.
- The league will be changing the placement of the ball for kickoffs as well as following field goals and single points. After a made field goal or single point, drives will start from the 40-yard line instead of the 35-yard line. Teams kicking off for any reason will do so from their own 30-yard line instead of the 35-yard line. The only exception is kickoffs following a safety: They will now occur from the 20-yard line instead of the 25-yard line.
- Two quarterbacks will now be allowed on the field at the same time to allow for increased creativity.
One notable omission from the rule changes was the four-down model. The CFL will continue to use its unique three-down system despite several rumors during the offseason the league could add an extra down, to have four like the NFL.
Milt Stegall played three years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and 14 more seasons in the CFL. He was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player as a wide receiver in 2002 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2012 class. The now-TSN football analyst believes some of the current offensive players in the league might take these rule changes personally.
If I was an offensive player or coach in the @cfl right now, I would feel disrespected. All these rule changes that may be implemented because scoring is down. Who’s to blame. Players, coaches, year off or something else? @cfl @CFLonTSN #PaperPlates
— Milt Stegall (@MiltStegallTSN) March 18, 2022
How will the books react?
Sportsbooks will be monitoring the impact these rule changes have on totals, but there could be some value for sports bettors early in the season while the oddsmakers figure it out.
“The CFL is a pass-first league and the rules implemented certainly continue the emphasis on scoring and offense,” BetRegal CEO Mike Mirtl told Sports Handle. “Anytime there are changes in rules, there is a period of adjustment. We’ll see the new rules through the exhibition games and first couple weeks of the regular season. That should give us a window into how scoring will be affected.”
BetRegal, the official sports gaming partner of the CFL, expects to launch in Ontario sometime in May. Allen is hoping other sports bettors across Canada also get to reap the benefits of a regulated market shortly.
“It’s a very interesting season because of the legalization in Ontario, plus you’ve got more companies coming out of the woodwork now,” he said. “They’ll try to take advantage of the legalization in Ontario. Hopefully, in a few more years, every province will have the ability to be involved in sports betting.”
We are very excited to introduce our three #BetRegalLegends!👑
Please give a warm welcome to @DamonAllen9, @MattDuniganTSN & @bernienicholls9 who have officially joined team @BetRegal.
We are excited to have these legends on board and can’t wait to do some amazing things! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/TgjZjYlaJt
— BetRegal (@betregal) August 5, 2021
When asked about sports betting potentially impacting the integrity of the CFL game, Allen responded with a resounding “No!”
“Me, as a player, that’s something I would never do (throw a game for betting purposes). It’s who I represent, the last name my parents gave me. Plus, the integrity of the sport and the teammates you play for. It’s something I would never think about no matter how much money someone would give me to blow a game. I would never do anything like that. I’m not concerned about other players doing that. It’s hard to do in football.”
Finally, Allen was asked who he would bet on to win the Grey Cup in 2022, but he was hesitant to respond without completing scouting reports on all nine teams.
“I thought Toronto made strides of being very competitive. [The West Division] is always competitive. The East is now competitive. You have a healthy Vernon Adams in Montreal. The [Hamilton] Ticats find a way to be competitive year in and year out, and you have Winnipeg who have dominated the East Division. You would have to say they’re the favorites, but I’m just guessing.”
The CFL preseason begins on May 23 when the Blue Bombers visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the first game of the regular season is scheduled for June 9 in Calgary. However, there could be a labor disruption that potentially delays the start of the season.
Hearing CFL players have given CFLPA a 95 per cent strike vote with clear direction to find a deal and that they won’t come to camp without one. Also hearing union has informed CFL of mandate as both sides are continuing talks. CBA expires May 14, day before camps slated to open.
— Dan Ralph (@danralphcp) May 3, 2022
