As the season-long battle against cold temperatures continues, there are bright spots of hope that remind us a warm weather football filled summer is not as far away as it might feel.
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The 2025 CFL schedule is out, the free agent signings continue to trickle in, and now the second of three Scouting Bureau instalments has crossed your ice-covered windshield.
Here are the five most interesting notes about the winter rankings from these ski goggles.
KING KURTIS
Kurtis Rourke was ranked No.1 on the Winter edition of the CFL Scouting Bureau Rankings (Indiana Athletics)
The younger Rourke, Kurtis, remains atop his throne from the fall rankings. Rourke saw his magical single season run at Indiana come to a crashing halt in front of a sold out Notre Dame Stadium. But his ability to raise up that program on short notice and battle through major injury all season long has clearly garnered him immediate and long lasting respect from the Scouting Bureau and honestly anyone who followed along with the Big 10 season this fall.
Would it have been tremendous to see Rourke and company pull off the Irish upset and crash the college football playoff party for a few more quarters? Absolutely, but something tells me Kurtis has many more memorable moments up his football playing day sleeves.
STANFORD STANDOUT
Elic Ayomanor was ranked No. 3 on the Winter edition of the Scouting Bureau Rankings after being unranked in the fall (Stanford Athletics)
From Medicine Hat, Alberta to Massachusettes and all the way cross country to Stanford, Elic Ayomanor has impressed every step of the way through his football journey.
Ayomanor caught 125 balls for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Stanford before declaring early for the draft process and getting a Senior Bowl invite which will be sure to raise his stock further. With game film working Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter over and over again, the more teams on either side of the border dig into Elic’s game, the more they’ll fall in love.
At third on the second edition of Scouting Bureau rankings, Eric is the highest rated player who wasn’t included in the first round of evaluation.
SHUFFLE THE DECK
Speaking of players previously unranked, nine of the twenty names included in this Scouting Bureau ranking were not included in the first submission. Were the scouts out to lunch? Not necessarily, the nature of college football these days between the transfer portal and NIL money flying in every direction is a largely unregulated movement of chaos which has completely changed the fabric of player decision making on when to declare for drafts or transfer.
Many players at the top end, especially quarterbacks, are now threatening to leave for the draft to up their financial standing at their current or potentially new school. All of which is to say, names come and go and keeping track of it all is no easy task.
HIGH RISER
Jaylen Smith was ranked No. 6 on the Winter edition of the Scouting Bureau Rankings (UNT Athletics)
Previously slotted in at the bottom of the rankings, North Texas linebacker Jaylen Smith is the leapfrog king of the Winter rankings, bounding 14 spots north to land at sixth on this list.
The Hamilton native and former St. Thomas More elite cover man is five-foot-11 and led the team in tackles this past season with 97 while playing essentially coverage linebacker. He also had a career high SIXTEEN tackles against East Carolina this year and would make any team ecstatic to get into training camp this May.
QB….TWO?
While Kurtis Rourke leads the quarterback conversation, there is a two-time OUA MVP who plays the same position climbing steadily in the early winter evaluation stages.
Taylor Elgersma of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks was special in 2024. Despite falling short against the Laval Rouge Et Or in Kingston for the Vanier Cup title, the senior statesman made it clear he has the arm talent, mobility, and toughness to be a real threat to crash the CFL party and make some jaws drop along the way.
As his winter All-Star tour has continued, clips are spreading far and wide discussing the play of Laurier’s leading man who head coach Michael Faulds described as “someone who is born to be a linebacker and blessed with an arm” ahead of the Golden Hawks’ home field Yates Cup triumph over Western last November.