Two clear players were battling for Edmonton’s most outstanding player award, Mike Reilly and Brandon Zylstra.
Many injuries have happened to every part of the Eskimos roster but the two constants on offence all season long were the franchise pivot and No. 1 receiving target.
Reilly should break the team record for passing yards in a single season (Ricky Ray 5,663 in 2008) in Week 20 and what he’s done to make the Eskimos a Grey Cup contender has been really impressive. He’s got a career-best 30 touchdowns passes and added nine more on the ground plus recorded his second straight 5,500 passing yardage season and paces signal callers league-wide in that category.
Like Reilly, Zylstra’s production is elite, 10 out of 17 games he’s had 100 yards or more and leads the CFL in receiving yardage (1,615). Every week the Concordia College product has been reliable for Reilly as the next closest receiver has 715 yards for Edmonton. 12 receptions for 30-plus yards ranks second in the league. But the quarterback throwing him the ball was the proper call for Eskimos MOP.
Over on defence Kenny Lader was a shoo-in for Edmonton’s most outstanding defensive player due to a number of reasons, the versatile defender led the team in tackles, interceptions and forced fumbles while playing the most difficult position on that side of the football: strong-side linebacker.
The Esks offensive line has been steadied by Matt O’Donnell and his consistent play all season long. But even though Canadian linebacker Adam Konar missed time (six games), he was a key defender when healthy. That’s really the only other contender for outstanding Canadian to O’Donnell on the team.
Edmonton’s kicking game was a merry go round and there wasn’t a consistent returner so Canuck draft pick Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga earned the special teams honour, being a sure tackler – 13 specials team tackles – surely helped him land the award.
A couple rookies came to the forefront, pass-catching playmaker Duke Williams and Kwaku Boateng who showed well in his first-year despite falling to the fifth round in May’s CFL draft. Meanwhile, the Auburn alum put up 715 yards in 13 games but it wasn’t enough to displace Boateng. Boateng, the Wilfrid Laurier University grad, has played in every Eskimos game in 2017, doing damage on special teams and notching four sacks in rotational time at defensive end, which earned him top rookie status, deservingly so, in Edmonton.
