{"id":96054,"date":"2025-08-25T14:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T14:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/96054\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T14:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T14:29:11","slug":"mmqb-7-mid-season-awards-after-week-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/96054\/","title":{"rendered":"MMQB: 7 mid-season awards after Week 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

With some fascinating Week 12 results in the books, the second half of the season is very much in full swing.<\/p>\n

And this year we designated Weeks 10, 11, and 12 to take stock of where things stand at the midway mark.<\/p>\n

After offering up some \u201cnon-traditional\u201d award winners<\/a> and going in-depth on the Most Outstanding Player race<\/a> the last couple weeks, it\u2019s time to wrap up our mid-season review.<\/p>\n

With OK Tire Labour Day Weekend looming, here are our MMQB mid-season awards.<\/p>\n

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\u00bb 3 stats that defined Edmonton\u2019s Week 12 win over Ottawa<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER | BO LEVI MITCHELL | QUARTERBACK | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll keep this short, because we delved into this last week. That said, with Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a> numbers at the helm of a resurgent Ticats team, he remains our choice for the league\u2019s top individual award. With Hamilton idle in Week 12, Mitchell leads the league with 21 touchdown passes and now sits second overall with 3,057 passing yards.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions:<\/p>\n

Trevor Harris<\/a>, Saskatchewan Roughriders
Vernon Adams Jr., Calgary Stampeders.<\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER | JAYLON HUTCHINGS | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | CALGARY STAMPEDERS
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

DL Jaylon Hutchings (#96) ranks third in the league in sacks entering OK Tire Labour Day Weekend (Dave Chidley\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n

The fact Jaylon Hutchings was included last week in our MOP rundown is enough to make him a somewhat easy choice for mid-season MODP. Hutchings has been an absolute monster in the middle of Calgary\u2019s defensive line and sits third with six sacks to go along with 26 defensive tackles.<\/p>\n

The counting numbers only tell part of the story for Hutchings, though. His dominance sees him draw frequent double teams, which has opened things up for teammates like Folarin Orimolade<\/a> and Clarence Hicks. It\u2019s a big reason why Hutchings has consistently been on top of the interior lineman group at Pro Football Focus. And there\u2019s also historical precedent; a defensive tackle hasn\u2019t won this award since Joe Fleming, also of the Stamps, back in 2003.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions:<\/p>\n

Tyrice Beverette, Montreal Alouettes
Jameer Thurman, Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING CANADIAN | NATHAN ROURKE | QUARTERBACK | BC LIONS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back for a full CFL season for the first time since 2022, Nathan Rourke<\/a> has emphatically re-established himself as one of the league\u2019s top quarterbacks. Even during an up and down campaign for the Lions, Rourke now sits third overall with 3,012 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes despite playing fewer games than those around him.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not overlook the fact that Rourke has a significant leg up, as he plays the highest profile position in the sport. But even without the quarterback bump, Rourke\u2019s MOC credentials are as solid as they come. On top of his counting stats, Rourke boasts an impressive 110.1 passer rating and was PFF\u2019s second ranked pivot entering Week 12.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions:<\/p>\n

Brady Oliveira<\/a>, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Stavros Katsantonis<\/a>, Hamilton Tiger-Cats<\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN | JERMARCUS HARDRICK | OFFENSIVE LINEMAN | SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

OL Jermarcus Hadrick has been dominant for the Riders in 2025 (Arthur Ward\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n

Yes, the Riders got victimized by Calgary\u2019s pass rush in Saturday\u2019s 32-15 loss to the tune of four sacks allowed. Prior to that, though, Saskatchewan was surrendering just over one sack per game on average. And Jermarcus Hardrick<\/a>, in his second season with the Roughriders, has been a massive reason why.<\/p>\n

Manning his usual post at right tackle, Hardrick has been a crucial cog on an offensive line that has allowed very few sacks while facilitating a strong run game. To that end, PFF has ranked him as the league\u2019s top tackle for much of the season.<\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE | CHRISTOPHER FORTIN | OFFENSIVE LINEMAN | CALGARY STAMPEDERS
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Rookie OL Christopher Fortin has been a stabilizing force for the Stamps (Arthur Ward\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n

The Stamps knew they had to nail the 2025 CFL Draft a few months ago, and goodness does it look like they\u2019ve done just that. After taking Damien Alford first overall, Calgary used the final pick of the first round on UConn offensive lineman Christopher Fortin. Much like Alford, the selection of Fortin is paying off huge.<\/p>\n

With a clean sheet in Saturday\u2019s win over Sask, the Stampeders have allowed a league best 11 sacks. And right in the middle of this impressive line is Fortin, who\u2019s been starting at centre since early in the season. A key part of Calgary\u2019s stellar run game, Fortin also entered Week 12\u00a0as PFF\u2019s number two ranked centre.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions:<\/p>\n

Derek Slywka<\/a>, Toronto Argonauts
Damien Alford, Calgary Stampeders.<\/p>\n

MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER | ISAIAH WOODEN | RETURNER | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Isaiah Wooden\u2019s wheels have been on display so often in 2025 it\u2019s easy to forget we\u2019re talking about a guy who only appeared in one game last year. And this season there just hasn\u2019t been a returner who\u2019s made a bigger impact than Wooden, which gives him the edge over the competition here.<\/p>\n

Wooden leads the league with three return touchdowns, two via kick returns and the other off a punt. His average of 16.8 yards returning punts also leads the way, as does his 31.1 average on kick returns. And to round it all out, Wooden\u2019s 1,201 total return yards has him sitting first in the league.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions: <\/p>\n

Sean Whyte<\/a>, BC Lions
Trey Vaval, Winnipeg Blue Bombers<\/p>\n

COACH OF THE YEAR | DAVE DICKENSON | CALGARY STAMPEDERS
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

HC Dave Dickenson has helped guide the Stamps to a 7-3 record so far in 2025 (Daniel Crump\/CFL.ca)<\/p>\n

With Dave Dickenson at the helm for a ninth season, Calgary doesn\u2019t boast the league\u2019s best record. But when you consider the Stamps have swept both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan in their season series, their 7-3 overall record looks that much more impressive.<\/p>\n

Plus, we can\u2019t forget how emphatically Calgary has reversed their fortunes. After winning just 11 games combined the past two seasons, the Stampeders have bounced back in 2025 better than most could have imagined. Dickenson\u2019s job seemed to be on flimsy ground after missing the playoffs in 2024. I don\u2019t think that can be said anymore nine months later.<\/p>\n

Honourable mentions: <\/p>\n

Corey Mace, Saskatchewan Roughriders
Scott Milanovich, Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With some fascinating Week 12 results in the books, the second half of the season is very much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-96054","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\/96054","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=96054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}