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TORONTO — We know Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker are good because they’re the first- and second-ranked receivers in the CFL, but how good are they?
A closer look at the numbers reveals that the Eskimos’ receiving duo might be the best in league history.
Together, Bowman and Walker have moved into number one all-time on the single-season receiving yards list for two teammates, passing Jeremaine Copeland and Ben Cahoon:
In short, Bowman and Walker have been outstanding this season.
Walker built on his Most Outstanding Rookie campaign of a year ago with 1,589 yards and 10 touchdowns this year to go with 14.6 yards per catch — all career-highs for the superstar sophomore. Bowman, on the other hand, continues to get better with age, putting up a career-high 1,761 receiving yards and surpassing the 1,300-yard mark for the third straight season.
Mike Reilly got the nod as the team’s Most Outstanding Player on Wednesday and deservedly so, but it’s fair to say Walker and Bowman could easily share the award.
No two teammates have ever been this productive and the last time anyone’s come anywhere close was in 2003. Anthony Calvillo threw for a league-leading 5,891 yards that year — currently the seventh-highest single season total in CFL history — while Cahoon and Copeland were responsible for 3,318 of those yards.
It was hard to imagine anyone better . . . until now.
Of Reilly’s 5,554 passing yards this year, Walker and Bowman have combined for 3,350 yards — 60 per cent of the Eskimos’ total passing output. Reilly might be the team’s MOP, but it’s hard to imagine just where Edmonton would be without its dynamic duo of receivers — quite possibly the best the league has ever seen.
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