The Winnipeg Blue Bombers come into the 111th Grey Cup hot off a game where their stars shone brightly in a 38-22 Western Final win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Receiver Kenny Lawler, for instance, had a seismic game, grabbing three touchdown passes and catching one other Zach Collaros-delivered ball for a total of 177 yards.
With a performance like that, it might be easy to overlook an emerging star like Ontaria Wilson, the Blue Bombers’ nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie in 2024.
Wilson, though, could very well be a key figure in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Argonauts, at BC Place in Vancouver.
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With 71 receptions in his first year, the 25-year-old was a thousand-yarder right out of the gate (1,026) and was an emergent force during a portion of the season where Lawler was injured and out of the Winnipeg line-up.
“I feel like I had a pretty good season,” said the personable native of Ashburn, GA. “I had goals at the beginning of the year. I’ve hit a couple of them, and I’m just happy to be here.”
Wilson was a bit of a slow burner at the beginning of the year, but he hit the launchpad for keeps during a Week 6 game against the Calgary Stampeders. That was a game in which he grabbed 13 passes on 16 targets, piling up 201 yards and a touchdown in a 41-37 victory.
In that game – and in the time since – Wilson has demonstrated that he can bless the Winnipeg offence in many ways; with speed, with tough catches in traffic, and with his ability to get up and get the ball, leaving a string of frustrated defensive backs in his wake.
The stats at Pro Football Focus (PFF) bear these things out.
HE CAN TAKE THE TOP OFF
Wilson is a speed merchant but it’s not just flat out speed that has led him to be fourth in the CFL in explosive plays. The bar for explosive receiving plays is set at 15 yards by PFF, and Wilson has 31 of them so far this year.
Some of that is all about velocity, but it’s not just the jump he gets on backpedalling defensive backs that leads to success. Some of it is precision.
Teammate Kenny Lawler weighs in: “I think he’s a very fast receiver, but with good routes. I think he’s a guy that is very athletic, with a great sense of the game.”
Confidence comes into it as well. Wilson has a strong belief in what he can do, athletically, against even the best defensive backs in the CFL.
“I’ll say just when I line up looking at a guy across from me, in my head, I know ‘I’m gonna beat this guy, this guy can’t guard me.’ That’s all I say.”
HE CAN WIN THOSE JUMP BALLS
Wilson believes his background in another sport has helped him excel in pulling down contested catches against defensive backs. During the 2024 season, PFF ranks Wilson as tied for 10th, league-wide, when it comes to battling for – and winning – jump ball competitions.
“Everybody’s body is different,” Wilson said, “so you got to kind of find what works with your body. And I would say, coming from playing a lot of basketball, I know how to put my body in positions to shield a ball, and for me to get the ball.”
“He’s crafty, fast and a sleeper when it comes to those 50/50 balls,” said Lawler.
HE CAN SHED TACKLES LIKE CRAZY
PFF ranks Wilson fifth in the CFL when it comes to missed tackles forced by a receiver, with a total of 21. It’s part of a skillset that allowed him to accrue 298 yards after catch during the regular season.
“A lot of my teammates are like, ‘you look real slippery when you have the ball in your hand.’ So I guess I’m just… I can make my body small.
“Get skinny and make guys miss.”
Wilson can make catches in traffic and then emerge from the fray.
“It’s more like a reaction,” he replied when asked if he has any special pre-rehearsed tactics or moves that he employs against would-be tacklers.
Football happens fast and Wilson lets instinct take over.
In two games against the Argos this season, the man whose nickname is “Pokey” caught 11 of 13 balls thrown at him for a total of 162 yards and a touchdown. And it was the Argos that he torched for his longest catch of the year, a 55-yard strike back on July 27.
After a successful rookie season, Wilson looks ahead to Sunday’s game with a clear sense of what his identity as a receiver is.
“I would say just me coming into the game and just doing what I’ve done all season,” he began. “Make the explosive plays that come to me, catch the contested catches, break tackles, and just be a complete player.”
The stats back him up. Wilson can be all of those things in any given game.