Farm to football: Bryson Barnes is ready for his moment

Looking for win No. 1 of the 2026 CFL season, the Ottawa REDBLACKS are turning to The Pig Farmer.

Bryson Barnes, a 25-year-old rookie, will step in as the starting quarterback Friday night at home as the REDBLACKS face the Toronto Argonauts (7 p.m., TD Place).

What has played out for Barnes through his football journey is a testament to the work ethic that was established from a young age - when he was expected to help while his family managed a pig farm in small-town Milford, Utah. He’d be up as early as 4 a.m. to do whatever was needed in taking care of about 12,000 pigs. As stinky as that could be, it also taught him about responsibility.

He later transitioned from pigs to pigskins. It wasn’t easy. As a college walk-on with the Utah Utes, he took on a job to help pay for his education. He persevered, getting a scholarship, going above and beyond to polish himself as a football player, mentally and physically preparing himself for the road ahead.

Opportunity knocked when he accepted an invite from the REDBLACKS in mid-May, joining the team a week into training camp.

And, now, he’s getting the opportunity he’s been waiting for. A short-yardage QB much of this season, scoring nine touchdowns, he will replace McLeod Bethel-Thompson as the starting QB for Friday's game.

With 16 losses, the REDBLACKS are desperate for a win. But it’s also important that the team gets an extended look at Barnes to see what they have at the quarterback position going forward.

“He's a competitor,” said REDBLACKS coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “He's still a rookie. There are things he's got to learn from and get better at. But he's got a decent grasp of our offence. The kid’s got a shot. He can run and throw it. He's big and physical and he's a leader."

After transferring from Utah to Utah State, Barnes showed he can not only pass the ball, he can pick up chunks of yardage with his legs. Named to the second-team All-Mountain West team in 2025, he threw for 2,803 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 740 yards and a single-season school QB record of 10 touchdowns.

“We can get him out on the edge with bootlegs,” said Dinwiddie. “We want to keep it simple for him, let him play football. He’s young, he hasn’t seen a lot of football up here.”

Coming to Ottawa, to a different country, a different league with different rules … well, it was a big adjustment for Barnes.

“When I first stepped off the plane into the airport here, it was cold,” he said. “I was like, ‘It's May, what are we doing? Why is it so cold up here?’ Then, all of a sudden people were speaking French, and I'm like, ‘Man, that's also different - it's cold up here. We're speaking French. Oh, and now this game of football; it's completely different than any type of football I've ever seen.' ”

As for the football itself, Barnes said: “It was like drinking water through a fire hose was the term I would use when I first got here. There was a lot to learn. I didn’t know anything about the CFL. I had an idea there were 12 people on the field, but that was about it. The motions, another defender on defence- that’s been a learning curve. It was a lot at first. But the more exposure I get to seeing the game, the more normal it starts to become.

"I feel good about the way my game carries over up here. Around Week 5 or 6, that’s when things finally started to click for me. I think of it like when you’re reading off a play call in the huddle, is it building a picture in your head?"

Friday night’s game against the Argos will be his first start since last December when his Utah State team lost 34-21 to the Washington State Cougars in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

“I’m not too far removed,” said Barnes. “I’ve been able to get a bit of experience here and there, at the end of games and getting in on short yardage. I’ve had 20-something weeks to be able to learn the playbook, learn the defences and get exposure to what the game is like up here. If I were to go into a game not ready, it’s 100% on me.

“I'm a religious man. I believe in God's plan, so whatever's supposed to happen is going to happen."

He's not adding pressure to himself by worrying about how he performs and how that may be tied into his future with the REDBLACKS and the CFL.

“There would be a lot of narratives that can be painted after this game of what the future might be,” he said. “The biggest thing is to go out there, take it one play at a time, regardless of what that scoreboard looks like. Try to win each rep. If you lose one play, get right up to the next play and try to win that one. That’s going to be the mentality, regardless of what the scoreboard says.”

To tell the story of Bryson Barnes and what helped him achieve his dream of playing professional football, we have to circle back to Milford and the pig farm.

“There were a lot of lessons learned; the work had to be done regardless of your mindset about it,” said Barnes. “You're a kid, and mom and dad are waking you up super early in the morning. You're dreading the next day because you know you have to go out to the farm. Those types of values and lessons that I learned as a kid have carried over. The work needs to be done; go put the work in and get the job done. Now, it’s that same mentality. Get up early, put in the work that you need to so that when you go out there and perform under the lights, you know that you gave everything you had.

“I've had a lot of it go my way, and I've also had times where it hasn't gone my way. But I like to lay my head down at night, knowing that I gave everything I could. Then the outcome just ends up being the outcome.”

Barnes should get a really good look Friday.

“I want to play him the whole game; we can’t just pull the plug on the experiment right away if he has a few bad drives,” said Dinwiddie. “But at the same time, we want to win the football game.

“We want to play good for our home crowd; let's go out there and finish it on the right note. It's been a tough season for everybody - for the fan base, for the organization. It's a chance for us to put some smiles on fans' faces.”

With Justin Hardy banged up and sitting out, Grant DuBose, a seventh-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2023, will get the start at receiver.

“That's going to be a big loss,” said Dinwiddie. “(Hardy) tried to fight through it. He was hurting pretty good this week; it gave us an opportunity to look at some other guys.

“(DuBose) has a big catch radius. He’s not a burner, but he can get open and he’s got a good feel for it.”