Partway through Week 11 action over the weekend we officially hit the midway mark of the 2024 CFL season. Last week’s MMQB focused on some of our mid-season observations, which helped pave the way for this week’s main event.
It’s time for our 2024 mid-season player awards as this fascinating season continues.
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MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER: VERNON ADAMS JR., BC LIONS
This is so interesting. For me, Adams is the clear-cut choice for first half MOP. At the same time, things have taken an unfortunate turn for him over the last few weeks. Adams sustained what appeared to be a lower body injury in the fourth quarter of a Week 9 loss to Winnipeg. Since then, the Lions have brought back Nathan Rourke and he’s already started his first game, which renders the rest of the season for Adams quite uncertain.
None of that takes away from what Adams has accomplished, however. In nine appearances, Big Play VA sits top-three in virtually every quarterback category. That includes passing yards (2,469), passing touchdowns (14), quarterback rating (103.9), and yards-per-attempt (9.5). At one point, we were talking about Adams being on pace for 6,000 yards, which just underlines how stellar his first half has been.
MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER: ROLAN MILLIGAN JR., SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
If Milligan continues to play as well as he has, we might be seriously talking about Saskatchewan’s standout defensive back in the MOP conversation when it’s all said and done. For the first half of the season, though, Milligan is our choice for top defensive player as he follows up his brief, but impressive, work from 2023.
Slotting in at boundary halfback all season, Milligan leads the CFL with six interceptions. When you count in his work in pass defence and special teams, Milligan also sits near the top of the league in total defensive plays and leads the Riders with 49 defensive tackles. For an award typically dominated by linebackers and defensive ends, Milligan’s first half is truly worthy of recognition.
MOST OUTSTANDING CANADIAN: JUSTIN MCINNIS, BC LIONS
We’re in a golden age for Canadian offensive playmakers thanks to the likes of Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira, Montreal’s Tyson Philpot and Saskatchewan’s Samuel Emilus, among others. And in 2024, breakout receiver McInnis is just a cut above the rest of the pack. Now in his fifth CFL season and second with the Lions, McInnis has arrived.
In 10 appearances this year, McInnis leads the CFL with 875 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. The Montreal product took full advantage of a significant playing time bump to start the season. As a result, even with fellow receiver Keon Hatcher healthy and back in the fold, McInnis looks set to remain one of BC’s main targets the rest of the way.
MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER: JANARION GRANT, TORONTO ARGONAUTS
This just feels right, doesn’t it? Since bursting onto the scene in 2019, Grant has been the CFL’s most dangerous returner when healthy. Unfortunately, Grant has battled injuries at different times over the last half decade and was limited to just nine appearances last year. Now with the Argos after four seasons in Winnipeg, though, Grant has returned to the top of the mountain.
Grant leads the league with 605 punt return yards and a whopping three touchdowns. He sits second in the kick return game with 670 yards and has added another major. When you add it all up, Grant is the only player to have scored a touchdown in both return disciplines and his 1,275 total return yards is emphatically No. 1 overall.
MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: NICK CALLENDAR, MONTREAL ALOUETTES
The left side of Montreal’s offensive line has been as good as it gets this season and both left tackle Callender and left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage got plenty of consideration for this one. As the anchor of this line, I leaned slightly towards Callender, but it was close. After earning an East Division All-Star nod while starting all 18 games last season, Callender has picked up right where he left off.
The 9-1 Alouettes have allowed 20 sacks this season, which has them tied for fourth overall. Callender and this offensive line have also helped pave the way for one of the league’s highest scoring offences that sits near the top in numerous offensive categories including passing yards, rushing yards per attempt, and average yards per play.
MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE: SHEMAR BRIDGES, HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
It’s been a banner year for rookie receivers and it’s Hamilton’s Bridges leading the way. In his first 10 CFL appearances, the 26-year-old Bridges is third overall with 729 receiving yards and sits tied for third with four touchdowns. The fact he leads all Tiger-Cats receivers is saying something knowing this group also consists of Tim White and Steven Dunbar Jr.
Bridges has also been the league’s best volume receiver in 2024. He leads CFL with 86 targets and 63 receptions and has been a huge part of Bo Levi Mitchell’s resurgence at quarterback. With Winnipeg’s Ontaria Wilson and Ottawa’s Kalil Pimpleton showing no signs of slowing down, the rookie receiver race looks to be a fascinating one the rest of the way.