{"id":130948,"date":"2025-09-09T10:17:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T10:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130948\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T10:17:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T10:17:35","slug":"five-contenders-for-the-cfls-most-outstanding-player-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130948\/","title":{"rendered":"Five contenders for the CFL\u2019s Most Outstanding Player award"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the CFL regular season two-thirds of the way done, it\u2019s time to take an updated look at some of the players who are in the running for the league\u2019s most prestigious award.<\/p>\n

Of the 71 Most Outstanding Players in CFL history, 42 have been quarterbacks, 27 have been running backs or receivers, and only two have been defenders\u00a0(Solomon Elimimian in 2014 and Hal Patterson in 1956).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to assume that the 2025 MOP will come from the offensive side of the ball, more specifically the quarterback position.<\/p>\n

With those parameters set, let’s take an early look at the five front runners for the Most Outstanding Player award.<\/p>\n

Bo Levi Mitchell \u2013 Hamilton Tiger-Cats <\/p>\n

\"\"\/Hamilton Tiger-Cats<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mitchell\u2019s name has been atop this list all season long.<\/p>\n

After coming up just short of the award last season\u00a0despite\u00a0establishing a Tiger-Cats franchise record and new personal-best 5,451 passing yards (the only pivot to eclipse 5,000 yards in the past six years), Mitchell is once again in contention in 2025. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s\u00a035-year-old quarterback\u00a0is putting together another fantastic season, leading the CFL in passing touchdowns (24) and completions of 20-plus yards, while sitting second in total yards (3,653) with only seven interceptions (the third\u00a0fewest\u00a0among quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts).<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be in search of his fifth nomination for the award and will be looking to join an exclusive list of three-time MOP winners (Doug Flutie, Anthony Calvillo, Jackie Parker, Russ Jackson), after winning in 2016 and 2018.<\/p>\n

Trevor Harris \u2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders <\/p>\n

\"\"\/Trevor Harris Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 39 years old, Harris might be playing the best ball of his career. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He is currently leading the CFL\u2019s best team by a wide margin in the 10-2 Roughriders, while having Saskatchewan in the top half of the league in most offensive categories.<\/p>\n

Harris leads the league in efficiency rating (112.2), while sitting in the top three in yards per game (286.6), touchdowns (19), and completion percentage of 20-plus yards.<\/p>\n

The Saskatchewan QB has done all this with his top targets missing. Sam Emilus has missed eight games, Kian Schaffer-Baker got hurt in the season opener after only one target, and Shawn Bane Jr. hasn’t even suited up yet.<\/p>\n

Harris would be just the fourth Roughrider\u00a0to ever\u00a0win the award and he is in search of his first M.O.P. nomination in his career.<\/p>\n

Nick Arbuckle \u2013 Toronto Argonauts <\/p>\n

\"\"\/Nick Arbuckle Toronto Argonauts<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arbuckle has seemingly come out of nowhere to have a career year and is a legitimate Most Outstanding Player candidate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old leads the CFL in passing yards (3,828), is second in touchdowns (23), and third in completions percentage (72.8 per cent), all career highs.<\/p>\n

In fact, Arbuckle is on pace for one of the best Argos QB seasons ever, as he is on pace for 5,742 passing yards, which would surpass Damon Allen\u2019s (5,720) and Ricky Ray\u2019s (5,546) marks.<\/p>\n

The problem? Toronto is currently out of a playoff spot. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Only two players have ever won the award when missing the playoffs (Jimmy Edwards in 1997 and Willie Burden in 1995) and with multiple other candidates on elite teams, Toronto making the playoffs would boost his resume.<\/p>\n

Nathan Rourke \u2013 BC Lions <\/p>\n

\"\"\/BC Lions<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like Arbuckle, Rourke\u2019s case for the league\u2019s most prestigious award would be heavily boosted by a playoff berth, as the Lions currently sit 5-7 with the crossover spot in their grasp.<\/p>\n

Statistically, the Canadian\u2019s numbers\u00a0are as good as it gets. He leads the league in yards per game (329.6), while also sitting top three in touchdowns (19), and completion percentage on throws 20 yards or more. The 27-year-old is also in the top 10 in total rushing yards with 345, while leading the CFL in yards per carry (9.9).<\/p>\n

Rourke was on his way to capturing the 2022 award before he suffered an injury, receiving Most Outstanding Canadian honours that year instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Rourke can stay healthy\u00a0\u2013\u00a0he\u2019s already missed two games with an oblique injury\u00a0\u2013\u00a0he has the talent around him to continue to make noise.<\/p>\n

Vernon Adams Jr. – Calgary Stampeders <\/p>\n

\"\"\/Vernon Adams Jr. Calgary Stampeders<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adams has been instrumental in Calgary\u2019s turnaround\u00a0this\u00a0season, as he has the Stampeders on pace to have one of their best finishes since their\u00a0Grey Cup-winning\u00a0season in 2014.<\/p>\n

The dual-threat pivot is in the top five in passing yards (2,826) and touchdowns (15), while also sitting second in yards per carry with 7.2 (minimum 25 carries).<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old is also one of the most prolific deep ball passers north of the border, leading the CFL in average yards per pass (12.5), while sitting in the top three in completion percentage of 20-plus yards.<\/p>\n

Calgary has started to separate itself as the clear No.2 team in the league, and Adams is a big reason why.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions: Kenny Lawler \u2013 Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Keon Hatcher \u2013 BC Lions, James Butler \u2013 BC Lions, Cody Fajardo \u2013 Edmonton Elks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the CFL regular season two-thirds of the way done, it\u2019s time to take an updated look at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-130948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}