WINNIPEG, MB., October 31, 2018 – The Canadian Football League announced today the team winners for the 2018 CFL Player Awards. Players were selected by voting members of the Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) and CFL head coaches.
Linebacker Adam Bighill has been named the club’s Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Bighill has been simply spectacular since joining the club as a free agent in May. The seven-year CFL vet is tied with Calgary’s Alex Singleton for the CFL lead with 126 defensive plays, including 104 tackles, a league-best four forced fumbles, four sackes, eight tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. This is Bighill’s third MOP nomination and fourth team defensive-player nomination – all previously with the B.C. Lions — and in 2015 he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player. The vote as the Bombers Most Outstanding Defensive Player was unanimous.
Running back Andrew Harris was a unanimous choice as the club’s Most Outstanding Canadian Player. This marks the third consecutive top Canadian award since he joined the club in 2016. Harris has already set a career high in rushing this season with 1,355 yards – including a career-high 161-yard effort against Toronto on July 21st – while adding another 58 receptions for 451 yards. His 11 touchdowns ranks third in the CFL. Harris is the CFL’s reigning rushing champ and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian Player last year.
Left tackle Stanley Bryant has again been named the Bombers Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman for the second consecutive season and his third nomination in the last four years. Bryant has been a team nominee in this category four times, including in 2013 as a member of the Calgary Stampeders and was honoured last year as the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman. He is part of an offensive unit that leads the league in scoring and in rushing.
For a third consecutive season, kicker Justin Medlock earned the vote as the club’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. The CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in 2016, Medlock has followed that with solid work in 2017 and 2018. Medlock has connected on 89.4 per cent of his field goals (42 of 47) and is the only kicker in the CFL to be perfect on convert attempts (52 of 52). He continues to work on his craft as a punter, as evidenced by his league-best 13 punts placed inside an opponent’s 10-yard line.
Defensive back Marcus Sayles has been named the club’s Most Outstanding Rookie. Sayles ranks third on the club in defensive plays in 15 games played, 14 of them starts, with 65 tackles, two forced fumbles, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. He also blocked a punt in a win over Edmonton in September.
