Montreal Alouettes’ DL Mustafa Johnson named CFL’s top performer for Week 18 by PFF

Montreal Alouettes’ defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson has been named the CFL’s top performer for Week 18 by Pro Football Focus (PFF).

The second-year pro out of Colorado recorded three tackles and one sack in the club’s 29-3 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks. He earned a grade of 91.9 on a total of 32 defensive snaps, including a 90.4 grade on 23 pass rush attempts. The 24-year-old now has 35 tackles and five sacks over 16 games this season.

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Toronto Argonauts’ quarterback Chad Kelly was named the league’s top offensive performer after he completed 11-of-16 pass attempts for 165 yards in his team’s 35-12 win over the Edmonton Elks, earning a grade of 90.4. Kelly also carried the ball once for 14 yards before he was replaced by Cameron Dukes in a relief role.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had the league’s highest-graded offensive line of the week, garnering a grade of 74.4 during their 34-26 overtime win over the B.C. Lions. Right guard Tui Eli was the highest-graded individual player (67.0), followed by right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick (63.2), and sixth man Liam Dobson (63.1).

The CFL partnered with PFF for the first time ahead of the 2023 season. The American company uses game footage to review every player on the field and grades their individual performances on a scale from zero to 100.

The league unveils the top-graded players from PFF each week. Offensive and defensive players must play a minimum of 25 snaps to be eligible and special teams players must play at least 10. Ties are broken by the number of snaps played.

The top-graded players from each position were as follows for Week 18.

QB | Chad Kelly | Toronto Argonauts | 90.4

RB | Jamal Morrow | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 75.8

REC | Omar Bayless | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 73.9

OL | Nick Callender | Montreal Alouettes | 75.6

DL | Mustafa Johnson | Montreal Alouettes | 91.1

LB | Wynton McManis | Toronto Argonauts | 86.9

DB | Stavros Katsantonis | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 84.1

K/P | Sean Whyte | B.C. Lions | 76.3

ST | Nic Cross | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 91.5

The top ten graded offensive and defensive performances from the 2023 season thus far are as follows.

94.0 | Week 14 | QB | Zach Collaros | Winnipeg Blue Bombers

93.4 | Week 6 | QB | Chad Kelly | Toronto Argonauts

92.9 | Week 12 | DB | Marc-Antoine Dequoy | Montreal Alouettes

92.9 | Week 16 | QB | Dustin Crum | Ottawa Redblacks

92.9 | Week 9 | QB | Zach Collaros | Winnipeg Blue Bombers

92.5 | Week 3 | DB | Royce Metchie | Toronto Argonauts

91.9 | Week 16 | DL | Bryce Carter | Ottawa Redblacks

91.8 | Week 8 | DB | Kabion Ento | Montreal Alouettes

91.8 | Week 16 | DL | Christian Albright | Saskatchewan Roughriders

91.7 | Week 11 | QB | Tre Ford | Edmonton Elks

Courtesy: CFL​