CFL Week 9: PFF Team of the Week & Player Awards

• Zach Collaros is cooking: Collaros had four big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. His 78.6% adjusted completion rate was especially impressive considering his average depth of target was a ridiculous 15.4 yards
• Montreal offensive line dominates: The Als’ offensive line turned in as dominant a performance as we’ve seen this season. The offensive line didn’t allow a sack (the two sacks the Als surrendered were not on the offensive line) and even more impressively, as a unit, it only had three pass block losses the entire game.
• Big Willie Jefferson can’t be contained: He finished with one sack and also had three quarterback hits, a hurry and three additional pass rush wins. His 21.2% win rate was one of the highest of the week for edge rushers

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

We’re almost halfway through the season, and we’ve seen lots of big performances. This week was no different. Two teams really stood out in this one. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who steamrolled the BC Lions 50-14, saw six different players make the “Team of the Week.” The Montreal Alouettes also saw six players make it, as did the Calgary Stampeders. Every team was represented at least once, with Hamilton’s center David Beard being the lone Tiger-Cat to make it.

Team of the Week

Offense 

• QB: Zach Collaros, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• RB: Dedrick Mills, Calgary Stampeders
• Outside WR: Kenny Lawler, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Slot WR: Dalton Schoen, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Slot WR: Tyler Snead, Montreal Alouettes
• Slot WR: Shawn Bane Jr., Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Outside WR: Tommylee Lewis, Calgary Stampeders
• LT: Nick Callendar, Montreal Alouettes
• LG: Pier-Olivier Lestage, Montreal Alouettes
• C: David Beard, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• RG: Kristian Matte, Montreal Alouettes
• RT: Jamar McGloster, Montreal Alouettes

Defense

• DI: Ricky Walker, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• DI: Mike Rose, Calgary Stampeders
• Edge: Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Edge: Anthony Lanier II, Saskatchewan Roughriders
• LB: Jovan Santos-Knox, Ottawa Redblacks
• LB: Jonathan Jones, Toronto Argonauts
• Cover LB: Tyrice Beverette, Montreal Alouettes
• CB: Jonathan Moxey, Calgary Stampeders
• CB: Demerio Houston, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• HB: Royce Metchie, Toronto Argonauts
• HB: Emmanuel Rugamba, BC Lions
• S: Branden Dozier, Calgary Stampeders 

Special teams

• K: Brett Lauther, Saskatchewan Roughriders
• P: Cody Grace, Calgary Stampeders
• Returner: Terry Williams, BC Lions

Players of the Week

Quarterback of the Week: Zach Collaros, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Since momentarily being overtaken at the top-graded spot by QB Chad Kelly, Collaros has been on an absolute tear. This week was no different, as he finished the game with a 92.6 passing grade. Collaros had four big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. His 78.6% adjusted completion rate was especially impressive considering his average depth of target was a ridiculous 15.4 yards. On the season, Collaros leads the league with 18 big-time throws and has just four turnover-worthy plays, the second-fewest in the league. He’s on pace for a 5,000-yard, 36-touchdown season and should rank right at the top of anyone’s Most Outstanding Player rankings so far.

Offensive Player of the Week: Kenny Lawler, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 

It was an absolutely dominant performance from this entire Blue Bombers’ offense, but Lawler stood out the most. He caught 7-of-7 catchable targets for 199 yards and a touchdown — six of those catches went for first downs and two were contested balls. He also had a 14-yard touchdown catch taken away from him thanks to an offside penalty. Lawler has only played two games this season, but he’s averaging an absurd 6.12 yards per route run. If he keeps playing at this level, he could easily challenge for the top receiver spot in the league despite missing six games.

Offensive Line of the Week: Montreal Alouettes

Looking at the team of the week above, it’s easy to see why the Alouettes are the top offensive line overall. With four players making the team (and the fifth being the second-highest graded center of the week), the Als’ offensive line turned in as dominant a performance as we’ve seen this season. The offensive line didn’t allow a sack (the two sacks the Als surrendered were not on the offensive line) and even more impressively, as a unit, it only had three pass block losses the entire game. Not to be completely overlooked was the line's run blocking, which was good enough to push the Alouettes to 109 yards on 26 attempts, with 41.3% of those coming before contact.

Pass-Rusher of the Week: Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Jefferson has been one of the CFL's best pass-rushers all season, and he proved it again this past week. He finished with one sack and also had three quarterback hits, a hurry and three additional pass rush wins. His 21.2% win rate was one of the highest of the week for edge rushers. Seemingly the only negative to his game was that he didn’t bat down a pass, something he’s done in five separate games already. After that performance, Jefferson now leads the CFL on the season with an 83.8 pass-rush grade. His 41 total pressures also rank first in the league.

Run Defender of the Week: Jovan Santos-Knox, Ottawa Redblacks

In one of the top run-stopping performances of the season, Santos-Knox was a force and almost single-handedly willed the Redblacks to a come-from-behind victory in Week 9. Santos-Knox was involved in the QB sneak stop-and-fumble that resulted in a Redblacks touchdown. He also made a ridiculous first-down-saving tackle on second down late in the fourth quarter, which led to another third-down stop that ended up allowing Ottawa to take the lead. Overall, Santos-Knox made six run game tackles, multiple of which were stops, and finished with a 91.3 run defense grade.

Coverage Player of the Week: Royce Metchie, Toronto Argonauts

Metchie wasn’t tested much down the field in this game, but he was all over it nonetheless. He defended multiple screen passes to near perfection, allowing just 12 yards on three screen receptions. All of those went down as defensive stops. He also showed tight coverage on his other coverage snaps as well, hence his 88.0 coverage grade. Metchie has been one of the better coverage players in the CFL this year, with just 0.77 yards per coverage snap allowed and a 75.0 coverage grade.