bluto

I think that likely @Booch's picks would be the likely winners. Adarius Pickett should win. He was the league's standout defensive player but I can't see anything stopping the Betts hype train. (I confess to my bias on this one as I won the auction for his signed orange pre-game jersey that he wore in Winnipeg). Also I think Dejon Allen should win for O-Line. Toronto QBs were the cleanest in the league by a wide margin (19 sacks given) and we had 113 on the ground per game with the most rushing TDs and 20+ gains. Nothing against Hardrick, just presenting the case for Allen since O-Linemen's praises go mostly unsung.

EDIT: @Jcon already queried

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/11/01/oliveira-kelly-headline-cfl-award-nominees/ 2023 CFL AWARD NOMINEES Player Brady Oliveira (WPG) v Chad Kelly (TOR) Defensive Player Mathieu Betts (BC) v Adarius Pickett (TOR) Canadian Brady Oliveira (WPG) v Marc-Antoine Dequoy (MTL) Offensive Lineman Jermarcus Hardrick (WPG) v Dejon Allen (TOR) Special Teams Player Sean Whyte (BC) v Javon Leake (TOR) Rookie Kai Gray (EDM) v Qwan’tez Stiggers (TOR) Coach of the Year Mike O’Shea (WPG) v Ryan Dinwiddie (TOR)

They were almost universally picked to be the basement dwellers after how the offseason went for them. Credit where it's due, and an instructive lesson.

Other way around?

There've been some blood curdling years... no doubt.

East > West this season. So... Yeah.

Imagine having your dynasty broken by the runt of the litter who then goes 16-2 as an encore...

As ever, you have a short memory. Go back to the Champions @ Bombers GDT and have a read thru of what a B- Argo roster selection and a vanilla playbook did at IGF. Edit: and maybe you aren't afraid of losing to the Argonauts (and good for you if so) but go back to the threads of November 21, 2022 to see what sort of psychic wound a GC loss can inflict on the unprepared. It ain't nothing. My nine year old self still recalls the sting.

It's Halloween... this is the day to try hexxing us! True. But do go on about how awful we are. Those comments will likely never ever come back to haunt you or any others who want to shittalk a 16-2 team who you may see in a few weeks.

Cling to that while you can, but I guess we'll see if that's true or not after Finals weekend. Edmonton didn't win theirs.

I would never say that it is a given. King of the glass-half-empty pessimists that I am. Only that on the day that either of Montreal or Hamilton show up to BMO with their best team playing their best game, the Argos are still solid favorites and rightly so.

Ambles is a good player. Was a numbers victim here.

Not this year anyways.

Yeah, our starting field position has been better than our opposition's for 18 straight games. I have no idea how to check if that's ever been done before, but it seems like such an anomaly. Easy to put all of that on Leake's level of play (and he has been outstanding), but credit has to be shared with having the best kickoff guy (Bede), the two best punters (Bede and Haggerty) and our defence (of course). As game plans go, it works pretty good.

Yeah... But maybe they're due...

Crum is tough to haul down.

Addae got in there! Good for him. Thought it fell into Ungerers hands watching it in real time.

I actually was talking with a guy I tailgate with today about this. After kicking it around awhile we both sort of felt that both Winnipeg and Toronto really ought to get there... But the 4 "other" teams are actually pretty significant banana skins. Any given Saturday is real. Yeah. Same as he ever was. Flatters to deceive with unworldly measureables... But targeted twice, one catch. Has to do better than 50% to be in our gameday squad when healthy. (Like he was there)

Popular sentiment around here. Almost as popular as "they'll get upset in the East Final". We'll see.

Hoping the RBs have Punta Cana brain.

Genuinely disappointed in MBB that this didn't turn into more of a thing.

You came first and earned the rest. Use it.

See, I'd wondered if Milanovich and Shivers may have a reunion.

That's wild. Is it the temperature or the change in pressure?