{"id":948544,"date":"2026-10-27T20:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948544\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T20:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:22:11","slug":"lions-rourke-bombers-oliveira-alouettes-philpot-finalists-for-cfls-top-canadian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948544\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions’ Rourke, Bombers’ Oliveira, Alouettes’ Philpot finalists for CFL’s top Canadian"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke is in the running to defend his CFL top Canadian award.<\/p>\n

Rourke was named as a finalist for the honour Tuesday. He was the league’s top Canadian and outstanding player last season.<\/p>\n

Rourke, of Victoria, threw for 4,614 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing 70.5 per cent of his passes. He also ran for 356 yards \u2014 averaging 11.5 yards per carry \u2014 and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg running back Brady Oliveira \u2014 the CFL’s top Canadian in 2023-24, and its outstanding player in 2024 \u2014 and Montreal receiver Tyson Philpot are the other finalists.<\/p>\n

Oliveira was the CFL’s top rusher this season, with 1,493 yards, and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. The Winnipeg native recorded his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard campaign while adding 42 catches for 348 yards and scoring eight total TDs (seven rushing, one receiving).<\/p>\n

Philpot led the CFL in receiving, with 124 catches for 1,809 yards, and was tied with teammate Tyler Snead for most TD grabs (13 apiece). Philpot, of Delta, B.C., set new Canadian standards for receptions and yards, accomplishing both feats in 16 games.<\/p>\n

Top offensive lineman, rookie finalists<\/p>\n

Winnipeg’s Jarell Broxton and Montreal Alouettes Nick Callender and Pier-Olivier Lestage are the top lineman finalists.<\/p>\n

Toronto receiver Tyler Kahmann, B.C. linebacker Parker McKenna and Bombers defensive back Major Williams will vie for the outstanding rookie honour.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Major Williams celebrates an interception in a game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in July. (Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Broxton started 17 games this season with Winnipeg and helped pave the way for Oliveira. Broxton ranked second among offensive tackles, with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 75.2 (minimum of 100 snaps).<\/p>\n

Callender started 12 games for a Montreal offensive line that allowed a league-low 19 sacks. He led the CFL with a PFF pass-block grade of 84.2 (minimum of 100 snaps).<\/p>\n

Lestage started 17 of 18 games with Montreal. The Saint-Eustache, Que., native helped the Alouettes lead the CFL in yards per game (420.9) and yards per play (7.5).<\/p>\n

Kahmann was one of four Argonauts receivers this season to crack the 1,000-yard mark. He had 77 catches for 1,092 yards and eight TDs.<\/p>\n

McKenna appeared in all 18 of B.C.’s games this season, registering 75 defensive tackles and six on special teams. He also had four tackles for a loss, a sack and two forced fumbles.<\/p>\n

Williams made 18 starts this season for Winnipeg. He ranked second on the team in defensive tackles (77, one for loss) while adding nine special-teams tackles and three interceptions.<\/p>\n

The CFL will reveal the finalists for outstanding player, top defensive performer and outstanding special-teams player Wednesday. <\/p>\n

The league won’t be honouring its top players at an annual awards ceremony this year. Instead, the winners will learn of their accomplishment through surprise presentations that will be shared online. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-948544","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\/948544","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=948544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}