Long gone are the days when each CFL team seemed to fight to have one Canadian receiver on the field to help fulfill the ratio rules.<\/p>\n
Just in time for Canada Day week, Canadian receivers are putting up some of the best numbers in recent memory.<\/p>\n
As we enter Week 5 of the season, six of the top-10 receivers in terms of yardage are from Canada, including the top-ranked Tyson Philpot of the Montreal Alouettes.<\/p>\n
Philpot (University of Calgary) is one of four in the top 10 from the U Sports ranks. He’s joined by former Guelph teammates Kiondre Smith (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and Kian Schaffer-Baker (Saskatchewan Roughriders) and Laval’s Kevin Mital (Toronto Argonauts).<\/p>\n
The other Canadians in the top 10 played in the NCAA \u2014 Justin McInnis (B.C. Lions, Arkansas State) and Samuel Emilus (Roughriders, Louisiana Tech).<\/p>\n
This decade, the maximum number of Canadians to finish a season in the top 10 in this category is three.<\/p>\n
There have been other Canadian standout receivers in the past \u2014 Peterborough, Ont. native Brad Sinopoli twice was named the league’s top Canadian (2015 and ’18), and guys like Ben Cahoon, Ray Elgaard and Dave Sapunjis were as good as it gets \u2014 but the current depth is at a new level.<\/p>\n
There are also Canadian receivers on the rise \u2014 Ottawa Redblacks sophomore Keelan White of North Vancouver had two touchdowns and showcased spectacular hands last week, and Lions rookie Nick Cenacle of Montreal has a pair of touchdowns in two games.<\/p>\n
“This is kind of the year that he’s probably been waiting for and everybody else has been waiting for over there,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said of White ahead of Saskatchewan’s game in Ottawa on Friday.<\/p>\n
“Him coming out of school, (you could see) the type of player he could be. He’s certainly proven to be that guy this year. I’m sure they’re excited about it. The kid’s a competitor and a good receiver.”<\/p>\n
With four Canadian wide receivers currently on NFL rosters \u2014 Joshua Palmer (Buffalo Bills), Elic Ayomanor (Tennessee Titans), John Metchie (New York Jets) and Jared Wayne (Houston Texans) \u2014 it’s a fantastic time for the position in this country.<\/p>\n
Hamilton Tiger-Cats star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has had a perfect quarterback efficiency rating (158.3) the past two games, putting him in an exclusive club.<\/p>\n
Only seven others have gone perfect back-to-back with a minimum 15 pass attempts \u2014 and five of them are in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Ricky Ray, Anthony Calvillo, Warren Moon, Ron Lancaster and Russ Jackson).<\/p>\n
The others are 1991 Argonauts Grey Cup-winning QB Rickey Foggie and College Football Hall of Famer Glenn Dobbs.<\/p>\n
Only Moon went on to record a third consecutive perfect game.<\/p>\n
Mitchell, coming off a bye week, will be hard-pressed to accomplish that feat as he goes against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ top-ranked pass defence on Sunday in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Don’t expect Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie and former Ottawa starting QB Dru Brown to exchange pleasantries when Brown’s Blue Bombers are in the nation’s capital for a game on July 19.<\/p>\n
Dinwiddie, in his first year in Ottawa, replaced Brown with Jake Maier as starter prior to the season. Brown then asked for his release, but the Redblacks waited until last week to trade him back to his former team \u2014 the Blue Bombers, where he is again the backup to Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n
In explaining his decision, Dinwiddie pointed to arm strength as a big reason why the Redblacks are going with Maier and recent signing McLeod Bethel-Thompson.<\/p>\n
Brown responded to Dinwiddie’s comments this week.<\/p>\n