{"id":61663,"date":"2025-08-11T14:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/61663\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T14:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:46:10","slug":"mmqb-5-non-traditional-mid-season-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/61663\/","title":{"rendered":"MMQB: 5 non-traditional mid-season awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

After one of the most thrilling weeks in recent memory, we\u2019re almost halfway through the 2025 CFL campaign. Week 10 gave us four stellar, buzzer beating finishes and a combined margin of victory of just nine points. It was a perfect example of what this league is all about.<\/p>\n

And, when Friday Night Football goes final later this week, we\u2019ll have hit the official midway mark of this fascinating season. Over the next couple weeks on the MMQB, we\u2019re going to start diving into our mid-season awards. This week\u2019s focus is slightly more \u201cnon-traditional\u201d in nature.<\/p>\n

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\u00bb Lions beat Ticats in overtime after back-and-forth affair on Thursday<\/a>
\u00bb Ren\u00e9 Paredes leads Stampeders to victory on last-second field goal<\/a>
\u00bb Dru Brown<\/a> leads resilient REDBLACKS past Argos<\/a>
\u00bb Cody Fajardo<\/a> fuels Elks\u2019 rally over Als in return to Montreal<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n

BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM | CALGARY STAMPEDERS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think we all expected the Stamps to be better compared to what we saw in 2024. But the extent and immediacy of Calgary\u2019s turnaround has been nothing short of stunning. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 19 years, the Stampeders full-on overhauled much of their coaching staff and personnel over the winter. And there\u2019s been no slow burn with all that change; Calgary sits 6-3 and in the driver\u2019s seat for a home playoff date.<\/p>\n

Already with more wins than all of last season, this instant Calgary renaissance goes beyond just wins and losses. With an almost entirely new group on defence, the Stamps have allowed just 13 offensive touchdowns in nine games. That new group has produced emerging stars, too, with Adrian Greene<\/a> and Jaylon Hutchings leading the way.<\/p>\n

And while blockbuster acquisition Vernon Adams Jr. has come as advertised, new stars are part of the story on offence, too. Rookie Damien Alford has rapidly turned into one of the league\u2019s most dangerous receivers while Dedrick Mills<\/a> has taken the next step at tailback; he leads all running backs with seven touchdowns and sits second overall with 660 rushing yards.<\/p>\n

BIGGEST COMING OUT PARTY | DAMONTE COXIE | RECEIVER | TORONTO ARGONAUTS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Getting a chance to watch the Argos practice daily during Grey Cup week last year, it was hard to take your eyes off Damonte Coxie. The fourth-year member of the Argos is about as talented, dynamic, and athletic as you\u2019ll find amongst CFL receivers and seems to flex those tools without breaking a sweat. But this year he\u2019s taken it to a new level.<\/p>\n

After averaging around 823 receiving yards over the past two seasons, Coxie is on pace to shatter that ceiling. Entering the midway mark, Coxie leads the league with 794 passing yards and has already set a new career high with six touchdown catches. At 27, it feels like Coxie is just getting started.<\/p>\n

NICEST FEEL-GOOD STORY | CODY FAJARDO | QUARTERBACK | EDMONTON ELKS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

With lots of competition, and maybe a little Week 10 recency bias mixed in, it\u2019s been hard not to root for Cody Fajardo<\/a> in 2025. Yes, Fajardo leading the Elks on a six-play touchdown drive in the final minute of Friday\u2019s 23-22 win over Montreal is fresh on my mind. But seeing Fajardo get one over on his old team isn\u2019t the only reason he gets this nod.<\/p>\n

Starting the season in a support role behind Tre Ford<\/a>, Fajardo took the starting reins in Week 8. In his three starts since, Fajardo has completed 76.0 per cent of his passes for 892 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.<\/p>\n

We all understood why the Alouettes opted to trade Fajardo and install Davis Alexander<\/a> as their new starter over the winter. That said, seeing Fajardo live up to his \u201cultimate battler\u201d reputation once again has been awesome to watch.<\/p>\n

BIGGEST OUT-OF-NOWHERE SPLASH | JAYLON HUTCHINGS | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | CALGARY STAMPEDERS
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

DL Jaylon Hutchings (#96) is tied for second in the league in sacks with six (Dave Chidley\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n

The Stamps signed Jaylon Hutchings<\/a> last October with very little fanfare after a short stint with NFL Chicago came to an end. And after recording two defensive tackles in a pair of games late last season, I\u2019m not sure very many expected the Texas Tech product to turn into one of the league\u2019s most dominant interior linemen.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019ve seen. After recording two sacks as a game time decision in Calgary\u2019s 28-27 thriller of a win over Winnipeg, Hutchings now sits tied for second overall with six to go along with 30 defensive tackles. Furthermore, Hutchings entered Week 10 as the league\u2019s best defensive tackle by a large margin according to Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

BEST PERFORMANCE ON A NEW TEAM | KENNY LAWLER | RECEIVER | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the Ticats signed Kenny Lawler<\/a> in free agency, it seemed like a perfect match. The league\u2019s most pass heavy offence steered by Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a>, last season\u2019s most prolific quarterback, just seemed like such a great for a receiver of Lawler\u2019s calibre.<\/p>\n

And funny enough, that\u2019s exactly how things have played out. Lawler leads the league with eight touchdown catches in nine games and sits second to Coxie with 783 receiving yards. Despite having their win streak snapped at six Thursday night, Lawler has been a massive reason why Hamilton sits first in the East Division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After one of the most thrilling weeks in recent memory, we\u2019re almost halfway through the 2025 CFL campaign.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-61663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61663","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=61663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}