Dave Chidley/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Week 1 of the CFL season is in the books and there were plenty of big performances from players on both sides of the ball.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros threw for three touchdowns and 354 yards in his season debut and had the highest PFF passing grade of all quarterbacks (85.2).
Montreal Alouettes defensive back Ciante Evans had a stellar opening game of his season, hauling in two interceptions, a knockdown and two tackles (one for a loss). His performance earned him the highest coverage grade of all DBs with a 86.5. Ottawa REDBLACKS linebacker Avery Williams had the highest run defence grade at 90.1.
Who else made the top 10 in each position group?
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» Player and Team Grades Powered by PFF
PFF utilizes extensive review of game footage to provide additional context for every action on the field. Highly-trained PFF staff break down every game, player and play to provide over 200 unique data points, which are used to compile Player Grades – a numerical representation up-to-100 of performance at their specific position.
For more information on PFF, Player Grades, the Grading Scale and more, please visit pff.com/grades.
QUARTERBACK
(Grades are based on quarterbacks who played a minimum of 10 pass attempts)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Passing Yards Per Attempt | Big Time Throws* | Completion Percentage | PFF Passing Grade |
| 1 | Zach Collaros (WPG) | 11.4 | 2 | 67.7% | 85.2 |
| 2 | Cody Fajardo (MTL) | 13.1 | 2 | 70.0% | 73.9 |
| 3 | Vernon Adams Jr. (BC) | 8.3 | 2 | 77.8% | 66.3 |
| 4 | Trevor Harris (SSK) | 5.4 | 1 | 60.6% | 57.8 |
| 5 | Bo Levi Mitchell (HAM) | 5.6 | 0 | 52.9% | 48.8 |
| 6 | Nick Arbuckle (OTT) | 5.0 | 1 | 54.3% | 48.7 |
| 7 | Jake Maier (CGY) | 4.6 | 0 | 55.6% | 45.9 |
| 8 | Taylor Cornelius (EDM) | 8.1 | 0 | 52.0% | 33.2 |
*throws graded a 1 or higher
RECEIVER
(Grades are based on receivers who played any amount of receiving snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Receptions | Yards | YAC | Explosive Pass Plays* | PFF Receiving Grade |
| 1 | Nic Demksi (WPG) | 6 | 113 | 22 | 1 | 79.2 |
| 2 | Eugene Lewis (EDM) | 5 | 148 | 87 | 4 | 79.0 |
| 3 | Austin Mack (MTL) | 4 | 120 | 17 | 3 | 76.9 |
| 4 | Tre Odoms-Dukes (CGY) | 7 | 75 | 46 | 2 | 73.6 |
| 5 | Dominique Rhymes (BC) | 8 | 109 | 17 | 3 | 73.0 |
| 6 | Drew Wolitarsky (WPG) | 3 | 57 | 6 | 2 | 68.0 |
| 7 | Duke Williams (HAM) | 3 | 56 | 18 | 1 | 66.7 |
| 8 | Kaion Julien Grant (MTL) | 2 | 62 | 40 | 1 | 65.2 |
| 9 | Dalton Schoen (WPG) | 5 | 60 | 16 | 2 | 64.7 |
| 10 | Alexander Hollins (BC) | 6 | 85 | 36 | 10 | 64.5 |
*plays 15+ yards
RUNNING BACK
(Grades are based on running backs who played a minimum of five rushing snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Missed Tackles Forced | Explosive Runs* | Rushing First Downs | PFF Rushing Grade |
| 1 | James Butler (HAM) | 2 | 2 | 6 | 70.7 |
| 2 | Taquan Mizzel Sr. (BC) | 0 | 3 | 4 | 70.0 |
| 3 | Ka’Deem Carey (CGY) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 68.7 |
| 4 | Brady Oliveira (WPG) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 68.6 |
| 5 | Jamal Morrow (SSK) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 66.1 |
| 6 | Frankie Hickson (SSK) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 65.0 |
| 7 | Kevin Brown (EDM) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 58.4 |
| 8 | Devonte Williams (OTT) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 57.5 |
| 9 | William Stanback (MTL) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 51.1 |
*explosive plays rushing 10+ yards
OFFENSIVE LINE
(Grades are based on offensive linemen who played a minimum of 25 pass blocking snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Pass Blocking Snaps | QB Pressured Allowed* | Pressure Percentage Allowed** | PFF Pass Blocking Grade |
| 1 | Andrew Peirson (BC) | 41 | 0 | 0.0% | 86.0 |
| 2 | Stanley Bryant (WPG) | 33 | 0 | 0.0% | 85.7 |
| 3 | Peter Godber (SSK) | 37 | 0 | 0.0% | 83.0 |
| 4 | Coulter Woodmansey (HAM) | 37 | 0 | 0.0% | 81.9 |
| 5 | Evan Johnson (SSK) | 37 | 1 | 2.7% | 79.9 |
| 6 | D’Antne Demery (CGY) | 39 | 1 | 2.6% | 78.2 |
| 7 | David Beard (HAM) | 37 | 0 | 0.0% | 76.4 |
| 8 | Andrew Garnett (EDM) | 31 | 2 | 6.5% | 75.0 |
| 9 | Jarell Broxton (BC) | 41 | 1 | 2.4% | 74.5 |
| 10 | Kent Perkins (BC) | 41 | 2 | 4.9% | 74.4 |
*sacks + hits + hurries
**QB pressures allowed/pass blocking snaps
DEFENSIVE LINE
(Grades are based on defensive linemen who played a minimum of 10 pass rush snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Sacks | Total Pressures Generated* | Hurries** | PFF Pass Rush Grade |
| 1 | Ted Laurent (HAM) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 92.4 |
| 2 | Anthony Lanier II (SSK) | 1 | 7 | 5 | 90.2 |
| 3 | Woody Baron (BC) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 79.8 |
| 4 | Willie Jefferson (WPG) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 77.2 |
| 5 | A.C. Leonard (EDM) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 73.9 |
| 6 | Mustafa Johnson (MTL) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 73.8 |
| 7 | Celestin Haba (WPG) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 71.5 |
| 7 | Mathieu Betts (BC) | 1 | 6 | 4 | 71.5 |
| 9 | Almondo Sewell (MTL) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 71.4 |
| 10 | Josh Banks (BC) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70.5 |
*sacks + hits + hurries
**forcing a quick throw, flushing the QB, forcing QB to step up, forcing a throwaway, preventing a QB from stepping up
DEFENSIVE BACK
(Grades are based on defensive backs who played a minimum of 25 coverage snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Targeted In Coverage | Receptions Allowed | PFF Coverage Grade |
| 1 | Ciante Evans (MTL) | 5 | 1 | 86.5 |
| 2 | Demerio Houston (WPG) | 5 | 1 | 83.9 |
| 3 | Garry Peters (BC) | 3 | 3 | 80.1 |
| 4 | Nick Marshall (SSK) | 0 | 0 | 79.5 |
| 5 | Desmond Lawrence (WPG) | 2 | 2 | 76.6 |
| 6 | Rolan Milligan (SSK) | 2 | 2 | 76.3 |
| 7 | Najee Murray (MTL) | 3 | 3 | 76.1 |
| 8 | Marcus Sayles (BC) | 3 | 3 | 75.0 |
| 9 | Ed Gainey (EDM) | 3 | 3 | 73.8 |
| 10 | Marc-Antoine Dequoy (MTL) | 2 | 2 | 72.7 |
LINEBACKER
(Grades are based on linebackers who played a minimum of 10 run defence snaps)
| Rank | Name (Team) | Run Defence Snaps | Stops* | PFF Run Defence Grade |
| 1 | Avery Williams (MTL) | 13 | 4 | 90.1 |
| 2 | Jameer Thurman (HAM) | 30 | 5 | 80.4 |
| 3 | Chizi Umunakwe (OTT) | 14 | 2 | 76.8 |
| 4 | Larry Dean (SSK) | 15 | 1 | 73.2 |
| 5 | Enock Makonzo (EDM) | 19 | 1 | 72.7 |
| 6 | Nyles Morgan (EDM) | 22 | 3 | 72.1 |
| 7 | Chris Edwards (HAM) | 19 | 1 | 71.7 |
| 8 | Adam Konar (EDM) | 22 | 1 | 71.3 |
| 9 | Frankie Griffin (OTT) | 13 | 0 | 71.2 |
| 10 | Tyrice Beverette (MTL) | 14 | 1 | 71.0 |
*solo tackle or sack that leads to an offensive failure (45% or less of distance on 1st, 60% or less on 2nd)
