CFL Rookie of the Year

With the playoffs approaching, the CFL has announced its list of players who are eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. Here they are:

http://3downnation.com/2017/10/17/el...-rookie-award/

The good news is that the Argos have two players who have a good chance of winning the award IMO. At this point, I would pick Martese Jackson who is second in PR yardage among all players, 4th in KR yardage and second overall in return yardage, in addition to having 130 yards in receptions and 22 in rushing.
Wilder, despite having gained the vast majority of his rushing yards in the last 4 games that he has played, is first among rookie RBs with 624 rushing yards and 7th overall, as well as having 357 yards in receptions, which is more than all the veterans above him in rushing yardage with the exception of Harris and former Argo Jeremiah Johnson. However, I think he would need to get off the one game injured list and have a couple of good games rushing to keep his name fresh in the minds of voters in order to win the award.
BC kicker Ty Long is having an excellent rookie season, ranking first in punting average (48.0), 4th in FG % (87.2%) and 5th in FG (34). However, a kicker has never won the Frank Gibson award since it was first given in 1972, so I think he is highly unlikely he will win.
No rookie QB has ever won the award since 1982 and none of this year's batch is even in the running.
Among the top rookie receivers, Calgary's Marken Michel leads with 780 yards, followed by Edmonton's Duke Williams (715), and Ottawa's Joshua Stangby (478). However, Martese Jackson and Wilder have got more press recognition with their spectacular performances in some games, so I would favour them unless Michel or Williams do the same in the remaining games. Stangby is not in the same league as the two leading rookie receivers.
Among defenders Hamilton's Richard Leonard lead with 64 total tackles, 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 3 recovered fumbles, as well as 1 TD. He is followed by the Als' Brandon Dozier with 64 TT, 0 INT, 1 sack, 2 FF and 1 FR, in addition to 1 TD; Ottawa's Corey Tindal with 59 TT, 2 INT, and 1 sack; and BC's Micah Awe with 56 TT and 1 FF. The Argos' Dylan Wynn has 32 TT and 6 sacks. Awe has earned a reputation as a headhunter that has made him unpopular and even earned criticism from HC Buono, so I don't think he would get chosen even with more spectacular stats because of his unpopularity. Of the remaining defenders I would give the edge to Leonard over Dozier because of his four interceptions.
However, history tells us that, as in most things when it comes to awards, offence is favoured over defence with offence winning 31 out of 45 awards since 1972, so I would still favour Martese Jackson at this point.

The list of Rookie of the Year Awards since 1972 gives a hint of one reason why Western teams have dominated the CFL in the last two decades. Since the Argo's Derrell Mitchell won the award in 1997, only one Eastern player (Chris Williams in 2011) has won the award in 19 years. One might argue that there is a Western bias because there are five out of nine teams are located in the West. However, this kind of tilt much more reflects that the Western teams have generally done a much better job of recruiting new players into the league. Below is the list of rookie winners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFL%27...g_Rookie_Award

With his 112 yards rushing and his 85 yards receiving against Winnipeg, Wilder has put himself back in strong contention ahead of Martese Jackson for rookie of the year IMO. He is now sixth in rushing with 736 yards and his 442 receiving yards ranks third among RBs. His other major competitor is likely to be the Tiger Cats Richard Leonard.