Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Berg vs. Ferg returns for another season on CFL.ca as columnists Pat Steinberg and Marshall Ferguson debate over some of the league’s most contentious storylines. This week, they weigh in on whether a defensive player will win Most Outstanding Player this season.
History has taught us that in the Canadian Football League, any pre-season list of MOP favourites should feature more than just a few quarterbacks. After all, the QBs dominate the all-time list of winners, from the all-time greats like Doug Flutie and Anthony Calvillo to the slightly less obvious like Casey Printers and Kerry Joseph.
And, every now and then, a running back or a receiver will come through and win the award. Chad Owens and Jon Cornish won in 2012 and 2013. Milt Stegall and Geroy Simon each earned the honour once. Mike Pringle, the CFL’s all-time leading rusher, was twice named MOP.
Quarterbacks have won the award 37 of 64 times it’s been handed out, a clip of 58 per cent. But while a non-quarterback win is notable, nothing is as exceptional as when a defensive player takes the honour.
RELATED
» By the Numbers: 2017 receiving leaders
» Reed engineers major coaching change in MTL
» Weekly Predictor: Can Ottawa win without Harris?
In a league where 1,000-yard receivers are common and quarterbacks speak yearly of trying to cross the 6,000 passing yards threshold, only one full-time defensive player has ever won Most Outstanding Player: Solomon Elimimian in 2014.
This season, a couple of defensive players have put up impressive numbers. While Ed Gainey has eight interceptions in 11 games, Alex Singleton is on pace to put up one of the highest tackle totals ever in a single season. Meanwhile, Elimimian is also putting himself in position to chase his own tackles record down the stretch.
Can someone step up to become the second defensive player ever to win MOP? The debate is on in this week’s Berg vs. Ferg:
| BERG VS. FERG: LAST WEEK’S RESULTS |
||
|
|
||
CFL.ca |
||
|
Ferguson – 1,112 (79%) Steinberg – 297 (21%)
|
||
 |
FERG (6-8): THE CFL IS A LEAGUE BUILT ON OFFENCE
Marshall Ferguson, CFL.ca
@TSN_Marsh
The Canadian Football League is built on offence. While I have immense respect for the season Alex Singleton has put together and his ability to make us all gawk at the type of linebacker play which demands this conversation, the reality of CFL awards remains unchanged.
The sexy storylines belong to quarterbacks, receivers and the odd running back.
Andrew Harris has accomplished the same goal of opening our eyes to a new MOP threat this season as Singleton is doing now. Greg Ellington is arguably the most dangerous big-play receiver in the 2017 CFL season and a handful of quarterbacks including Mike Reilly – in the early season – and Bo Levi Mitchell have reminded us why the most outstanding player award so consistently goes to a quarterback in a quarterback driven league.
The award has not been received by a defensive player since 2014 and that was the first time it happened since 1956. The likelihood of a defender winning the MOP again in such short succession after a such a long drought is not only improbable but highly unlikely.
Alex Singleton deserves to win every and any defensive award he can, but this game is about scoring and moving the football. As a result, I believe the Most Outstanding Player award will remain in the offensive backfield this season after Bo Levi Mitchell took home the award last season.
BERG (8-6): HAS ANYONE BEEN MORE VALUABLE THAN ALEX SINGLETON?
Pat Steinberg, CFL.ca
@Fan960Steinberg
BC Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian is the only pure defensive player to ever take home the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award. That happened in 2014 when Elimimian set a new league record for defensive tackles in a single season with 143. Well, I think there’s a a chance Elimimian has company in that conversation, because Alex Singleton of the Calgary Stampeders is having a season worthy of the word outstanding.
At 23, Singleton leads the league with 91 tackles and is on pace for 136 by the end of the year. That number would rank behind only Elimimian as the single largest total in CFL history, which is impressive in its own right. Add to that the fact Singleton set a new league mark last Saturday by recording double digit tackles in three straight games. From Elimimian to Sherritt all the way to Johnson and O’Shea, no one has ever done that before. The word in question here is outstanding, and all of the above qualifies with flying colours.
But the MOP award goes beyond just individual accomplishments; it’s also a measure of how important a player is to his team. Once again, Singleton passes that test with distinction. Calgary is having another banner regular season and, at 10-1-1, they’re the best team in the league once again. However, I’m quite confident the Stamps wouldn’t be where they are right now without the heroics of Singleton.
Consider for a second how many different facets of the game Singleton has been involved in. Not only does he lead the team in tackles, but he’s also racked up three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Singleton is the only Calgary player who can boast at least one notch in each of those important defensive categories. The guy is threatening to single-handedly make a big play on any down, in any situation and at any point in a game.
Furthermore, Singleton helped keep this defence afloat in the early going. The Stampeders were limping on defence to start 2017 and were missing key players like Deron Mayo and Junior Turner over the first few weeks of the season. With a ton of responsibility heaped on him in just his second year, Singleton didn’t miss a beat and has kept that momentum rolling as the group around him got healthier.
As the quarterback of the CFL’s best defensive unit, Singleton is a front-runner for the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player. However, he can’t be ruled out as MOP, either, because he really has been that good. Singleton faces stiff competition here, because players like Matt Nichols, Mike Reilly and Trevor Harris have played such huge parts in their teams’ success this season. But the Stampeders are the league’s best team and they wouldn’t be where they are without Singleton’s banner campaign. I’ll say it again: if that’s not outstanding, what is?
DON’T SIT ON THE FENCE!
While both sides are pretty convincing, someone’s got to take it. Whose argument convinced you the most?
You can vote for this week’s winner both on CFL.ca and Twitter. Meanwhile, continue the conversation by tweeting @Fan960Steinberg and @TSN_Marsh.
The winner will be revealed in the following week’s Berg vs. Ferg.
