CFL all-stars

[B.C.FAN]

Nine Lions have been named to the CFL West Division all-star team, including several that were surprises to me. Keon Hatcher, Alex Hollins, Mathieu Betts, Garry Peters and Sean Whyte were obvious choices, but I didn't expect to see Sukh Chungh, Woody Baron, Manny Rugamba and TJ Lee's names this year. I also would have chosen Vernon Adams over Zach Collaros.

The Canadian Football League announced its Division All-Star selections on Thursday with the BC Lions earning their highest total of Western representatives since the 2011 campaign. A total of nine Leos were voted in by the Football Reporters of Canada.

Offence: WRs Alexander Hollins and Keon Hatcher and OL Sukh Chungh.

Defence: DLs Mathieu Betts and Woody Baron, DBs Garry Peters, TJ Lee and Emmanuel Rugamba.

Special Teams: K Sean Whyte.

Hatcher (1st career selection)- despite a foot injury that kept him out of training camp and the first two games, Hatcher would go on to rack up 1,226 receiving yards- 43 shy of Hamilton’s Tim White for the CFL lead- on 78 receptions. Hatcher recorded a career-high 170 yards in a win over Calgary on August 12 while scoring six touchdowns in the regular season.

Hollins (1st career selection)- it was a breakout year for the speedy wideout whose 1,173 yards were second on the squad behind Hatcher and fourth overall in the CFL. Hollins recorded 78 receptions with an average of 15.0 yards per catch while hauling in a team-leading nine touchdowns across 18 regular season games.

Chungh (3rd career selection)- the pride of Port Coquitlam enjoyed another productive campaign as the Lions’ offensive line helped pave the way for Vernon Adams Jr. to lead the CFL in passing and for the entire offence to finish in the top three of most major categories including points, first downs and net offence. Chungh and the offensive line earned the CFL’s Weekly Honour Roll selection on four occasions.

Betts (1st career selection)- the CFL’s West Division nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player set a new single-season Canadian record of 18 sacks, becoming the first Lion to lead the league in that category since Keron Williams in 2012. Betts also led all Lion defensive linemen with 42 tackles.

Baron (1st career selection)- recorded a career-high eight sacks and added 22 defensive tackles and a forced fumble over 17 regular season appearances. His best outing came in a July 22 win over Saskatchewan with a pair of sacks and four defensive tackles.

Peters (2nd career selection)- the ageless veteran appeared in all 18 contests to extend his ironman streak to 86 since joining the Lions prior to the 2018 season. Peters’ four interceptions were one shy of his career-high while he added 51 defensive tackles.

Lee (3rd career selection)- another versatile veteran in the secondary, Lee suited up in all 18 games for the third time in his career and established a new career-high of 82 defensive tackles to go with three interceptions and one sack.

Rugamba (1st career selection)- made major progress in his second year with the Lions, racking up 58 defensive tackles and a pair of sacks across 17 regular season games.

Whyte (2nd career selection)- it’s yet another honour for the ageless kicker after he was announced as the West nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. Whyte’s 94.3 field goal percentage (50/53) was good for second in the CFL while he also made good on 44 of 45 convert attempts.

Matt Baker article at bclions.com

Full East and West all-star list

[TheLionKing]

Chungh is a big surprise to me.

[B.C.FAN]

I also thought Jalon Edwards-Cooper had an excellent season when healthy. His stats didn't match up with those of Winnipeg's Demerio Houston but he made it hard for teams to throw or run to his side of the field. The coaching staff felt so highly of Edwards-Cooper that they kept him on the same side of the field regardless of whether it was the boundary or field side, while having Garry Peters as the league's top shutdown corner on the opposite side.

[B.C.FAN]

Bryson Vesnaver, who grades CFL player performances for Pro Football Focus, has released his own all-star team, featuring 9 Lions on either the first or second team league wide (he didn’t name divisional stars). This is probably a better representation of the league’s top players.

First team: Keon Hatcher, Mathieu Betts, Garry Peters, Sean Whyte

Second team: Vernon Adams, Alex Hollins, Jarell Broxton, Woody Baron, Quincy Mauger

https://www.pff.com/news/cfl-all-star-t ... layer-2023

[SammyGreene]

Bryson Vesnaver, who grades CFL player performances for Pro Football Focus, has released his own all-star team, featuring 9 Lions on either the first or second team league wide (he didn’t name divisional stars). This is probably a better representation of the league’s top players.

First team: Keon Hatcher, Mathieu Betts, Garry Peters, Sean Whyte

Second team: Vernon Adams, Alex Hollins, Jarell Broxton, Woody Baron, Quincy Mauger

https://www.pff.com/news/cfl-all-star-t ... layer-2023

Surprise! No Chungh or Lee. The analytics back up Betts' record season even more. His agent must be salivating. How much is it going to cost to keep him?

Interesting to see Peter Godber grade out as the top centre in the league. Was Michael Couture really an upgrade? Godber was the first national starting offensive lineman that we had actually developed in years. Great to see him thriving.

Also Purifoy earned second team status at SAM — a position he began the 2022 season with BC before being replaced by Rugamba and shifting to safety.

[PGSSS74]

2023 League All-Stars

Keon Hatcher
Mathieu Betts
Garry Peters, 2nd time
T.J. Lee, 2nd time
Sean Whyte

[B.C.FAN]

Seven Lions have been named to the CFLPA all-star team, voted on by opposing players.

WR Alex Hollins
FB David Mackie (other all-star teams don't include a FB)
DE Mathieu Betts
CB Garry Peters
HB T.J. Lee
HB Marcus Sayles
K Sean Whyte

https://x.com/PeterDyakowski/status/172 ... 16987?s=20

[Gridiron Ernie]

Seven Lions have been named to the CFLPA all-star team, voted on by opposing players.

WR Alex Hollins
FB David Mackie (other all-star teams don't include a FB)
DE Mathieu Betts
CB Garry Peters
HB T.J. Lee
HB Marcus Sayles
K Sean Whyte

https://x.com/PeterDyakowski/status/172 ... 16987?s=20

These CFLPA selections are always what I most look forward to seeing, so far as all-stars are concerned. Players selected by their on-field opponents.
And thumbs up for including the FB position. Why should they be any less deserving of recognition? One of my longtime pet peeves.
About the players named: Interesting that Hollins is in, over Hatcher. I don't disagree, but it is interesting.
I'm maybe a wee little surprised that Biggie still rates as tops among the league's MLBs, but the players will know best. I won't quibble.

[B.C.FAN]

Seven Lions have been named to the CFLPA all-star team, voted on by opposing players.

WR Alex Hollins
FB David Mackie (other all-star teams don't include a FB)
DE Mathieu Betts
CB Garry Peters
HB T.J. Lee
HB Marcus Sayles
K Sean Whyte

https://x.com/PeterDyakowski/status/172 ... 16987?s=20

These CFLPA selections are always what I most look forward to seeing, so far as all-stars are concerned. Players selected by their on-field opponents.
And thumbs up for including the FB position. Why should they be any less deserving of recognition? One of my longtime pet peeves.
About the players named: Interesting that Hollins is in, over Hatcher. I don't disagree, but it is interesting.
I'm maybe a wee little surprised that Biggie still rates as tops among the league's MLBs, but the players will know best. I won't quibble.

I also give more weight to the CFLPA all-star selections because opposing players make the selections. They are also position-specific. They select 2 WRs, 2 SBs and a FB rather than 5 receivers. Hollins is a WR and led the position group in receiving yards and TDs. Dalton Schoen led the league in TD catches and was an obvious choice for slotback. Tim White was the other slotback selected. He led all receivers in yards, 20-yard receptions and 100-yard games had more TDs than Hatcher.

[OV:54-40]

Seven Lions have been named to the CFLPA all-star team, voted on by opposing players.

WR Alex Hollins
FB David Mackie (other all-star teams don't include a FB)
DE Mathieu Betts
CB Garry Peters
HB T.J. Lee
HB Marcus Sayles
K Sean Whyte

https://x.com/PeterDyakowski/status/172 ... 16987?s=20

These CFLPA selections are always what I most look forward to seeing, so far as all-stars are concerned. Players selected by their on-field opponents.
And thumbs up for including the FB position. Why should they be any less deserving of recognition? One of my longtime pet peeves.
About the players named: Interesting that Hollins is in, over Hatcher. I don't disagree, but it is interesting.
I'm maybe a wee little surprised that Biggie still rates as tops among the league's MLBs, but the players will know best. I won't quibble.

I also give more weight to the CFLPA all-star selections because opposing players make the selections. They are also position-specific. They select 2 WRs, 2 SBs and a FB rather than 5 receivers. Hollins is a WR and led the position group in receiving yards and TDs. Dalton Schoen led the league in TD catches and was an obvious choice for slotback. Tim White was the other slotback selected. He led all receivers in yards, 20-yard receptions and 100-yard games had more TDs than Hatcher.

5 pack look is way more common in the CFL than a FB playing (should be called H-back now - sometimes a fullback, sometimes at tight end). IF they want to name a true team, 5 receivers makes more sense IMO, but they could list an extra guy to recognize H-back.

And a lot of player's all-star teams are based on past play or name recognition - like Bighill, who is a bit over the hill now IMO

[TheLionKing]

Who are the tackles ?

[B.C.FAN]

Who are the tackles ?

Jermarcus Hardrick and Stanley Bryant of Winnipeg.