Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defensive back Deatrick Nichols has been named the CFL’s top performer for Week 18 by Pro Football Focus (PFF) with a grade of 92.3.
The two-time CFL all-star made two defensive tackles, two pass knockdowns, and one interception to help his team defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a score of 31-10. The 30-year-old has now made 42 defensive tackles, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles on the year.
The highest-graded offensive player of the week was B.C. Lions’ quarterback Nathan Rourke, who earned a score of 89.7. He completed 20-of-24 pass attempts for 218 yards in his team’s 32-15 win over the Calgary Stampeders and ran three times for 24 yards along the ground.
The Blue Bombers had the highest-graded offensive line of the week with a score of 80.8. Left guard Liam Dobson received the best individual score at 78.8, followed by centre Chris Kolankowski at 76.2 and right tackle Eric Lofton at 74.8.
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 | Nathan Rourke | B.C. | 89.7
- RB | Brady Oliveira | Winnipeg | 79.9
- REC | Nic Demski | Winnipeg | 73.9
- OL | Liam Dobson | Winnipeg | 78.8
- DL | Bryan Cox Jr. | Saskatchewan | 90.3
- LB | Redha Kramdi | Winnipeg | 81.2
- DB | Deatrick Nichols | Winnipeg | 92.3
- RET | Loucheiz Purifoy | Edmonton | 68.4
- K/P | Jake Julien | Edmonton | 78.2
- ST | Trevor Hoyte | Hamilton | 90.2
The top ten graded offensive and defensive performances from the 2024 season thus far are as follows.
- 94.6 | W2 | QB | Vernon Adams Jr. | B.C.
- 94.0 | W1 | QB | Jake Maier | Calgary
- 93.9 | W11 | QB | Trevor Harris | Saskatchewan
- 93.6 | W5 | QB | Vernon Adams Jr. | B.C.
- 93.1 | W17 | QB | Zach Collaros | Winnipeg
- 93.0 | W3 | QB | McLeod Bethel-Thompson | Edmonton
- 92.7 | W9 | DB | Royce Metchie | Toronto
- 92.5 | W16 | QB | Trevor Harris | Saskatchewan
- 92.5 | W1 | DL | Jared Brinkman | Toronto
- 92.3 | W18 | DB | Deatrick Nichols | Winnipeg
