CFL.ca Staff
#GreyCup
WINNIPEG – The 103rd Grey Cup will be about star power, as two teams that have plenty of it meet on Nov. 29 in the Grey Cup presented by Shaw in Winnipeg,
Every year CFL.ca provides the top five game-breakers and a pair of X-factors for each team meeting in the season’s ultimate finale, but this year it may be tougher than ever.
The Eskimos enter the Grey Cup on a nine-game winning streak and are led by Mike Reilly and the all-world duo of Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker at receiver – yet they wouldn’t be here right now without an aggressive, playmaking defence.
Ottawa has won nine of its last 11 and is led by an MOP favourite under centre in Henry Burris, while his four 1,000-yard receivers carried the weight in the REDBLACKS’ Eastern Final win over Hamilton. But Ottawa has too many stars to choose from on offence while on defence the REDBLACKS are as stingy as anyone.
As the teams get set to arrive in Winnipeg and kick off the lead up to the 103rd Grey Cup, we ponder who will make the greatest impact in the Grey Cup next weekend.
EDMONTON ESKIMOS
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1. Mike Reilly
It’s cliché to name the quarterbacks number one for each team, but Sunday’s Grey Cup really is a duel of two quarterbacks at the absolute top of their game.
Burris may win Most Outstanding Player but Reilly has played as well as anyone of late, particularly in leading the Esks to a 45-31 win in the Western Final. Reilly threw for 371 yards and scored five total touchdowns in that game without turning the ball over, as the Esks took down the defending Grey Cup Champions in style.
At the end of the day this is going to be either Henry Burris’s Grey Cup or Mike Reilly’s Grey Cup and the third-year Eskimo is going to do everything possible to bring the trophy back to the City of Champions.
2. Derel Walker
Walker leads the CFL in yards per game and has become Mike Reilly’s go-to receiver despite being a 24-year-old rookie. Explosive is the best word to describe the Texas A&M grad, who had 10 or more catches in five games this season including 22 in his last two games overall.
He’s made six catches or more in seven straight games, which means expect a very high volume of targets for the Most Outstanding Rookie favourite in the Grey Cup.
3. Patrick Watkins
It’s hard to pick out just one defender on Edmonton’s league-leading defence, especially as the Eskimos look to curve a REDBLACKS receiving corps that includes four 1,000-yard receivers. But Watkins is one of the few players in the league that can be left on an island in one-on-one coverage and take one of those receivers out of the game.
Watkins will have to be at his absolute best as the Eskimos face their toughest defensive test yet.
4. Adarius Bowman
Bowman draws targets like no other and while his season was up and down, no player in the CFL has more receiving yards over the last two years. The 6-foot-3, 217-pound dynamo caught fire for the Esks and along with Derel Walker forms the most formidable one-two duo in the league.
The challenge with facing Bowman is his ability to win in one-on-one coverage. With Mike Reilly’s strong arm and Walker also in the fold, the REDBLACKS will have a hard time doubling up both receivers – and Bowman can change a game with his big-play ability.
5. Odell Willis
Burris has done a decent job of avoiding sacks this season while the REDBLACKS have been among the best in the league in pass protection. The Esks must disrupt Burris and make him uncomfortable, and a lot of that will be up to Willis.
Willis had a run of three straight games with a sack before the Western Final, while the Esks tied third in the league with 49 sacks this season. The Esks’ leading sacker this season will have to get in Burris’s face because if he has time to locate one of his star receivers, Edmonton’s defence could have a difficult day.
X-Factors
Kenny Stafford
Stafford exemplifies the term X-factor. The first-year Eskimo is the third option in Edmonton’s passing offence yet he quietly led the team with nine touchdowns along with a 15.6 yards per reception average – on roughly half the catches Bowman and Walker each had.
At 6-foot-3, Stafford can win the one-on-one battles just like Bowman and is one of the Eskimos’ biggest red zone threats. Keep an eye on the 25-year-old breakout star in the Grey Cup game.
Deon Lacey
While he doesn’t play a central role on Edmonton’s defence, Lacey seems to have a knack for making big plays. He’s also a special teams monster, leading the CFL in special teams tackles in just his second season as an Eskimo.
Lacey can move around on the Esks’ defence and play both linebacker and on the defensive line and could be a defensive or special teams game-changer in what’s expected to be a close game.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
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1. Henry Burris
Burris has won a two Grey Cups and a Most Outstanding Player honour in his career among numerous other accolades, so why does it feel like his career legacy may be defined by Sunday’s game?
The 40-year-old is used to being the underdog throughout his career much like the REDBLACKS have been all season – and will be again in the Grey Cup against a high-powered Eskimos team. And with that, the future Hall of Famer will again look to prove his detractors wrong.
There may be little doubt to begin with but for Burris’s greatest critics, leading the REDBLACKS to a Grey Cup win over the Eskimos on Nov. 29 would erase any uncertainty surrounding his status as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.
2. Greg Ellingson
So many options in Ottawa, so hard to choose. Ellingson is the go-to target in Henry Burris’s offence right now after picking up 338 yards and four touchdowns on 13 catches in just his last two games.
Ellingson of course had the 93-yard catch-and-run touchdown to lift the REDBLACKS to an Eastern Final victory over Hamilton, a play that is already among the greatest in Ottawa’s football history, up there with the Grey Cup-winning catch Tony Gabriel made in 1976.
The favourite target in the REDBLACKS’ prolific offence can change as fast as the weather in Winnipeg, but for now Ellingson is the number one player to watch.
3. Chris Williams
The best way to describe the former Most Outstanding Rookie is like a ticking time bomb. He’s been a quiet lately, but he could explode at any given moment.
Explosiveness really is Williams’s game as he is arguably the most exciting player to watch in the CFL when the ball is in his hands, and after some time away from the league he quickly reminded us that this year.
In his first season with the REDBLACKS, the highly-touted free agent signing finished third in the CFL with 1,214 yards and five touchdowns on 88 catches (the third most in the CFL, ahead of Eric Rogers) to lead the league’s top-ranked offence.
4. Shawn Lemon
Ottawa’s mid-season addition has a penchant for making big plays in big games, and on Sunday the REDBLACKS will need him at his best against a red-hot Mike Reilly.
Reilly and the Esks are at their best right now offensively after their star pivot completed 31 of 39 passes in a Western Final win over the Stamps, while Lemon makes life difficult for opposing quarterbacks and fits in perfectly on one of the league’s most dangerous defensive fronts.
His role will be keeping Reilly uncomfortable in the pocket and, ideally for the REDBLACKS, making a game-changing play for Ottawa’s defence.
5. Brad Sinopoli
With only 41 yards in his last three games, the Most Outstanding Canadian candidate has gone quiet over the last month of football for the REDBLACKS – but don’t expect things to stay that way for the fifth-ranking receiver in catches this season.
Sinopoli was Burris’s second favourite target in a year when the 40-year-old pivot set the record for completions, so you can bet he’ll be part of Ottawa’s offensive plans in the Grey Cup. After a quiet few weeks for the former Ottawa Gee-Gee, expect Sinopoli to make an impact.
X-Factors
Abdul Kanneh
Kanneh exploded onto the scene in his first CFL season at just 25 years old, tying for a league-high with six interceptions and adding two sacks along with a pair of fumble recoveries. He’s playing against a lot of talent on Edmonton’s offence but he’s also facing a quarterback in Mike Reilly who threw 10 interceptions in a six-game stretch during the regular season.
The 25-year-old could be a sparkplug for a REDBLACKS defence that tied for the most interceptions in the CFL.
Maurice Price
Touted as one of the fastest players in the CFL and one of Burris’s top new targets after arriving in an off-season trade from Calgary, Price quickly fell behind Ottawa’s four eventual 1,000-yard receivers on the depth chart.
All it takes is one play to make a difference though, and against Edmonton’s league-leading defence the REDBLACKS will have spread their offence out and get multiple weapons involved. Price has game-changing ability and while the Esks have to focus on the likes of Ernest Jackson and Chris Williams among others, Price could make a sneaky impact in the Grey Cup for the REDBLACKS.