• Big-play Zach Collaros finally shows up for Winnipeg: Collaros made five big-time throws to just one turnover-worthy play and finished with a 93.5 passing grade that led the league.
• DI Shawn Oakman’s run defense as good as it gets: Most impressively, he had a positive grade on almost half his run defense snaps while recording zero negatively-graded snaps.
• Saskatchewan HB Rolan Milligan making M.O.P case: Milligan finished with a league-high 88.3 coverage grade after allowing just three catches on four targets for a measly 10 yards and zero first downs.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Week 17 in the CFL saw the return of M.O.P level Zach Collaros, as he threw six touchdowns and led the Winnipeg offense to a 55-point outburst. We also saw the Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their fourth straight game and keep their slim playoff hopes alive. As always, we’re going to highlight some of the top performances from players across the league in our “Team of the Week.”
With Winnipeg’s impressive showing, it’s no surprise that the Blue Bombers led the way with five players selected to this week’s team. Despite a 37-31 loss, the Montreal Alouettes also had five players selected, while the team that beat them, the Toronto Argonauts, only had three. It was a relatively even week this week, as every team had at least two players make it onto this list.
OFFENSE
QB: Zach Collaros, Winnipeg
RB: William Stanback, B.C.
Receiver: Kenny Lawler, Winnipeg
Receiver: Cole Spieker, Montreal
Receiver: Justin Hardy, Ottawa
Receiver: Nic Demski, Winnipeg
Receiver: Jevon Cottoy, B.C.
LT: Nick Callender, Montreal
LG: Pier-Olivier Lestage, Montreal
C: Chris Kolankowski, Winnipeg
RG: Coulter Woodmansey, Hamilton
RT: Trevon Tate, Saskatchewan
DEFENSE
DI: Shawn Oakman, Edmonton
DI: Dewayne Hendrix, Hamilton
Edge: TyJuan Garbutt, Winnipeg
Edge: A.C. Leonard, Edmonton
LB: Nick Anderson, Edmonton
LB: Davion Taylor, Ottawa
Cover LB: Tunde Adeleke, Toronto
CB: Tarvarus McFadden, Toronto
CB: Kabion Ento, Montreal
HB: Rolan Milligan Jr., Saskatchewan
HB: Mark Milton, Toronto
S: Nelson Lokombo, Saskatchewan
SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Brett Lauther, Saskatchewan
P: Nik Constantinou, Hamilton
Returner: James Letcher Jr., Montreal
QUARTERBACK OF THE WEEK: QB ZACH COLLAROS, WINNIPEG
This should be no surprise to anyone who saw what Collaros did in his game against the Edmonton Elks this past weekend. Collaros threw more touchdowns (six) than incompletions (five) and finished with over 400 yards passing. His adjusted completion rate of 88.0% was made even more impressive by his ridiculous 14.9-yard average depth of target. Collaros made five big-time throws to just one turnover-worthy play and finished with a 93.5 passing grade that led the league. It hasn’t been the best season for the Winnipeg quarterback, but if this game is a sign of things to come then, the league better watch out come playoff time.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: WR KENNY LAWLER, WINNIPEG
With the game that Collaros had, it makes sense that one of his receivers would be at the receiving end of this award. Cue Lawler, who had by far his best game of the season. Lawler caught all eight catchable targets that he saw for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Four of those catches were explosive plays, and two of them were contested catches. Lawler finished the week with the second-best yards per route run average of 4.48 and led the CFL with a 91.2 receiving grade.
OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE WEEK: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
The Tiger-Cats won their fourth straight game last weekend, and credit needs to go to their offensive line for playing such an impressive game. The TiCats dropped back to pass a league-high 48 times and allowed just seven total pressures. Their 93.7 pass-blocking efficiency score led all offensive lines this week. They didn’t run the ball often, but when they did, Hamilton RBs averaged an impressive 2.5 yards before contact per carry. Left guard Brandon Revenberg was the pas- blocking star after not allowing a single pressure, while right guard Coulter Woodmansey finished the week with the second-highest run blocking grade among all offensive linemen at 79.2.
PASS RUSHER OF THE WEEK: DI DEWAYNE HENDRIX, HAMILTON
It wasn’t a marquee weekend for pass rushers across the CFL, as the league-wide pass rush grade average of 66.4 was the second-lowest of any week this season. Hamilton’s Hendrix led the way with a 75.0 pass rush grade, though, thanks to two impressive sacks and a hurry. He also had two other pass rush wins and knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage. Hendrix has a 90.0 pass rush grade for the season, tied for the highest in the league alongside his interior partner Casey Sayles.
RUN DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: DI SHAWN OAKMAN, EDMONTON
While Winnipeg was able to do whatever it wanted through the air against Edmonton, the Blue Bombers had a tougher time when it came to rushing the ball. Oakman made sure of that with the most impressive run-defending game of the week. The interior defender made five solo tackles and another assisted tackle against the run. His four solo stops led the league this week. Most impressively, he had a positive grade on almost half his run defense snaps while recording zero negatively graded snaps. His 86.3 run defense grade was the highest in the CFL.
COVERAGE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: HB ROLAN MILLIGAN, SASKATCHEWAN
Another week, another impressive game from the star of the Saskatchewan defense. Milligan finished with a league-high 88.3 coverage grade after allowing just three catches on four targets for a measly 10 yards and zero first downs. He also had his first interception since Week 10, and now sits alone at the top of the interception leaderboard this season with seven. Milligan has been one of the best players in the CFL this year, ranking third with an 89.1 coverage grade. Quarterbacks have a passer rating of just 55.2 when targeting him, the fourth-lowest in the league.
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