CFL Awards - Early Picks

MOP - Ricky Ray (Safe pick in a tough year to pick, could go to several players on offense or defense.
Defense - Odell Willis (Elimimian would be good choice as well)
Canadian - Jon Cornish (Would be MOP if healthy all year)
Rookie - Dexter McCoil (No contest)
Special Teams - Swayze Waters (Shouldn't that be Swayzed in Canada)
O. Lineman - Brett Jones (Another tough category)

Unless the rules have changed,since he played in the NFL, Dexter McCoil can't be rookie of the year.

Richard

Did he play in the NFL?

Did he play in the NFL?

Elimimian for Defensive. He's 10 tackles away from breaking the CFL record

besides that, can't complain

Nope, didn’t play a down in the NFL. Went to Oakland’s rookie camp though. It would appear that Dexter McCoil can be rookie of the year.

those are good picks except for Defense.

Elimimian gets it for Defense...

The way Dexter McCoil is going both Willis and Elimimian could be an afterthought by the end of the season. Still think it’s a race between Willis and Elimimian but if McCoil has a big finish, he could get the nod in Edmonton for both Rookie and defence.

Another one that is likely to change before the voting is Cornish is looking more and more like a double winner again.

Ricky Ray was very average until a month ago. I don't care Cornish missed so many games he leads the league in yards by 130 yards and 2nd among rushers with over 200 yards for yards/carry (he trails Reilly by 0.1 yards/carry). And those stats are in only 8 games. Ray has been good overall, but Cornish has been great and in a season that will be more remembered for poor quality of play he has by far been the leagues best player.

It’s funny how the roles are reversed this season. Ricky Ray had the best season by a quarterback in CFL history last season, but he only played in 11 games. If he kept up his stats over 18 games, he would have won the 2013 MOP.

This season, if both players play in all remaining games, Cornish will have played 11 games and Ray in 18. Cornish is better on a per-game basis, but Ray may finish with outstanding full-season numbers. The easiest way to figure it out is if Toronto misses the playoffs, Ray shouldn’t win MOP regardless.

Ray was great when he played last year and so was Cornish. Not so this season. Ray has been average for most of the season while Cornish has been great. Ray leads in yards but has almost 100 more attempts and 85 more completions than his closest rival (Willy) which accounts for the 500 yds more Ray has passing. He also leads the league in interceptions at 14 (tied with 2 others) and has a stellar 6-9 win/loss record and is in danger of missing the playoffs. None of that can be said about Cornish last year or Cornish this year.

I think Ray wins it by default. You could make a case for Bowman. He's blowing every receiver out of the water in terms of yards, but he only has 6 TDs (last I checked). Reilly is a great leader and has fantastic rushing numbers, but his passing numbers aren't the greatest. You could throw in people like Elimimian, Chick (very doubtful), or Willis, but I just can't see the MOP going to a defensive player. Sherritt didn't get it when he broke the tackle record, so why should Elimimian. Unfortunately, this is a poor year for the MOP.

One award not mentioned: Coach of the Year. If the Stamps could've tied Edmonton's record of 16-2, I would've given it to Huff. But now I'd say Chris Jones. He's done a tremendous job of turning this team around. 4-14 last year to potentially 13-5 this year.

I think Chief is correct. I don't think Cornish will get the award simply because of the amount of games he's missed. What could have potentially been shouldn't sway the way people vote, because it simply didn't happen. I think it'll be either Ricky Ray or Bowman. They've really pulled away from their peers.

I can see Chris Jones winning coach of the year, despite how much I dislike the guy.

I had been leaning towards Odell Willish of late, but I think Chick retook back that honour right now. He's got a 2 sack lead and he impacts all aspects of the D more than Willis. He's much more of a force on running plays. I'm leaving out Solomon because I don't believe that tackles are a good stat.

Willis also has 2 picks (1 for a TD), and 5 forced fumbles. You could probably call Chick and Willis 1a and 1b. It'll be interesting to see how the votes are cast.

Also, I corrected my previous error: The Esks could potentially finish 13-5, not 15-3. Still an impressive turnaround from 4-14.

:thup:

I think Willis should and probably will get it though. Good for the both of them showing they can still play. I have always liked Willis so im glad he is getting his opportunities.

My vote for MOP goes to Bowman in Edmonton

This has been a boring season highlighted more by mistake filled games than great plays, either defensive or offensive. To give the MOP to Ricky Ray would be the perfect cap. Any average MOP for a below average season. I'm a Ricky Ray fan and I've said before if this was an MVP award I would agree with Ray, but there is no way Ricky Ray's season has been better than Cornish. The fact Cornish missed so many games yet still leads the league in rushing and is setting a record for yards per game say it all. What has Ray done? He's put up good numbers for a QB, but by no means great. When the Argos needed him to carry the team early in the season when the defence couldn't stop a PeeWee team from scoring he was very un Ricky Ray like. You can blame injuries, but Ray under threw/over threw as many receivers as missed routes for him.

Ray has had flashes of brilliance this year with extended periods of poor to average play. Cornish shined bright every game. MOP is no contest and Ricky Ray is not in the conversation, but then no one else should be either besides Cornish.

If missed games aren't an issue, then why not throw John White into the mix? He's only played 9 games but has 3 100-yard games and 7 games with at least 90 yards. And he's averaging 6.9 yards/carry. If you wanna be MOP, you need to play more than half a season.

Cornish likely doesn’t set the yards per game record with a larger sample size though. Any borderline games he’s sat out where other backs would have played through it. He’s had a lot of “maintenance weeks” this year and that likely means he’s been fresher for the games. Kory Sheets was on pace to set the single season mark through 9 games last year, and look what happened. You don’t give out the end of the year awards based on “what ifs”

Exactly. Remember when Cobourne was on pace to get 1,000 yards rushing and receiving, but injuries hampered that. He didn’t get the MOP based on what he could’ve done. You get credit for what you do.