CFL Week 5: PFF Team of the Week & Player Awards

• Historic start for BC’s Vernon Adams Jr.: Week 5 marked Adams' fourth straight 90.0-plus passing grade and his third time being named Quarterback of the Week.

• Hamilton pass rusher Casey Sayles put on another dominant performance: Sayles finished with a sack, a hit and six hurries. He also added three more pass-rush wins for a pass-rush grade of 90.3. His eight total pressures led the CFL this week, as did his 21.1% pressure rate.

• LB Wynton McManis a stone wall for Toronto’s run defense: McManis was all over the field in the run game, racking up seven total tackles. He made four solo stops and two tackles for loss or no gain.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Week 5 of the CFL season is in the books, and we again saw some fantastic action across the league. This past weekend was full of highlights, from Montreal’s massive comeback to Winnipeg’s first win of the season to the Vernon Adams Jr.-Justin McInnis connection. As always, there were plenty of players who were deserving of Team of the Week honors.

It’s no surprise that the B.C. Lions and Montreal Alouettes led the way this week, with both teams having six players selected. The no-longer-winless Winnipeg Blue Bombers were second with five players, while Ottawa was the only team not to have a single player chosen.

OFFENSE

QB: Vernon Adams Jr., BC
RB: Brady Oliveira, Winnipeg
Outside WR: Alexander Hollins, BC
Slot WR: Justin McInnis, BC
Slot WR: Rasheed Bailey, Toronto
Slot WR: Samuel Emilus, Saskatchewan
Outside WR: Tyson Philpot, Montreal
LT: Nick Callender, Montreal
LG: Pier-Olivier Lestage, Montreal
C: Justin Lawrence, Montreal
RG: Logan Ferland, Saskatchewan
RT: Dejon Allen, Toronto

DEFENSE

DI: Casey Sayles, Hamilton
DI: Josh Banks, BC
Edge: Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg
Edge: Pete Robertson, BC
LB: Kyrie Wilson, Winnipeg
LB: Trevor Hoyte, Hamilton
Cover LB: Patrice Rene, BC
CB: Tyrell Ford, Winnipeg
CB: Tre Roberson, Calgary
HB: Rolan Milligan, Saskatchewan
HB: Dionte Ruffin, Montreal
S: Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Montreal

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Sergio Castillo, Winnipeg
P: Nik Constantinou, Hamilton
Returner: Janarion Grant, Toronto

QUARTERBACK OF THE WEEK: QB VERNON ADAMS JR., BRITISH COLUMBIA

What more is there to say about what Vernon Adams Jr. is doing to the league to start this season? He just put up his fourth straight 90.0-plus passing grade and now finds himself being named Quarterback of the Week for the third time of the year.

Adams was his usual mix of accurate (81.8% adjusted completion percentage) while pushing the ball downfield like no other quarterback (league-leading 13.5-yard average depth of target). He made four big-time throws to just one interception. He now has 18 big-time throws on the season to just two turnover-worthy plays, both of which are the top marks in the league.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: RB BRADY OLIVEIRA, WINNIPEG

While B.C. wide receiver Justin McInnis could have won this award, he didn’t carry his team to victory almost single-handedly — as Oliveira did.

With backup QB Chris Streveler getting the start, Oliveira was called upon to try and put the Blue Bombers in manageable situations on offense. He certainly delivered. The outstanding Canadian led the league with 129 rushing yards on 23 carries, with 82 of them coming after contact. He broke three tackles and was only stuffed for a loss or no gain on one carry. He also led the team with five catches for 37 yards, with three of them going for a first down and another taking them to second-and-inches.

The Bombers will need more weeks like this from him to turn their season around.

OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE WEEK: MONTREAL ALOUETTES

To the surprise of very few, the Alouettes again deserve the Offensive Line of the Week award after their comeback victory on Saturday night.

Montreal’s line was impressive in limited run blocking, with their 3.6 yards before contact per carry average leading the league. However, it was their pass-blocking that really propelled them to their win. Montreal QB Cody Fajardo dropped back 49 times and was not sacked once. His offensive line allowed just six total pressures all game and posted a team pass-blocking efficiency score of 94.9.

The group was led by star left tackle Nick Callender, who was not beaten on a single one of those 49 snaps this week and finished with a league-leading 88.9 pass-blocking grade.

PASS RUSHER OF THE WEEK: DI CASEY SAYLES, HAMILTON

For the second week in a row, the Hamilton interior defender earns the pass rusher of the week thanks to another dominant performance. Sayles finished with a sack, a hit, and six additional hurries. He also added three more pass rush wins for a pass rush grade of 90.3. His eight total pressures led the CFL this week, as did his 21.1% pressure rate. Through five weeks, Sayles is the highest-graded pass rusher in the league at 90.2, and his 33 total pass rush wins are tied for the most. He also leads the league with three batted passes.

RUN DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: LB WYNTON MCMANIS, TORONTO

Despite losing the game, Toronto’s defense did a fantastic job of neutralizing the Saskatchewan rushing offense. Riders starting running back A.J. Ouellette ran the ball 18 times for just 67 yards, his 3.7 yards per carry average ranking second-last among RBs last week. Toronto can thank star linebacker McManis for that.

McManis was all over the field in the run game, racking up seven total tackles. He made four solo stops and two tackles for no gain. McManis has been ramping up his play in the run game as of late, and his 83.7 run-defense grade in this game was his best of the season.

COVERAGE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: HB ROLAN MILLIGAN, SASKATCHEWAN

The Roughriders defense continued its hot start to the season, holding Argonauts starting QB Cameron Dukes to zero touchdowns and picking him off four times. Two of those interceptions came from Milligan, both of which came when the game was still within reach.

Aside from those two picks, Milligan allowed four catches on eight targets for just 25 yards and only a single first down. He made three tackles in the passing game, two of which were charted as solo stops. Milligan finished the day with an 87.3 coverage grade, the highest of the week.