Ricky Ray for East MOP?

[ArgoRavi]

Soon it will be time for the esteemed football reporters of this country to vote on the outstanding player nominees. When one looks at the candidates for MOP in the East Division, is there anyone other than Ricky Ray who can be considered at this point? While some might say that Ray would get it by default - and the man has certainly had his critics on this forum - he has actually put together a pretty impressive season while missing most of his starting receivers for most of the season.

Ray is currently second in passing yards to Drew Willy (Willy has played one more game though and only has a 74 yard lead), is first in TD passes, is first in completion percentage among regular QBs, and is second in passing efficiency at a solid 96.3 which only trails Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell who is at 99.0. Ray has thrown 11 INTs which is a bit high for him during his Toronto tenure but not a particularly high total considering how much he throws the football. Ray has also led a Toronto offence that has produced an East leading 25.67 points per game which trails only Calgary (27.77) and Edmonton (26.23) in the league.

With the Argo offence getting healthy, Ray has a chance in the coming weeks to not only further solidify himself as the East's top player but to possibly make the case as being the league's MOP. What Ricky Ray has accomplished so far this season is nothing short of remarkable IMO.

[Wobbler]

Seems pretty obvious at this point. The only plausible alternative is Brandon Whitaker (league rushing leader and with 1,038 yards from scrimmage so far), but he's a pretty distant #2 IMO.

[jerrym]

I think it depends on what happens in the remaining games. Certainly the leading candidates are Ray (who I would rank # 1) and Whitaker. However, the award is often partly decided by how high in the standings one's team finishes, even though it is a MOP award and not a MVP award. Furthermore, the winner often is the one who creates the best impression over the final month of the season.

[paulwoods13]

It's a wide open race and there's still time for Collaros to enter the discussion as well. Possibly Chip Cox, too.

[Argo57]

Collaros is right there with Ray IMO.

[gilthethrill]

Jon Cornish will be the CFL rushing leader at years end. Zac Collaros won't be able to touch Ray due to all the time he missed due to injury.

[Argocister]

....... Zac Collaros won't be able to touch Ray due to all the time he missed due to injury.

That may depend upon how far Collaros takes the tabbies.
On the other hand, I'm reading the stats Argo Ravi listed..... I'm thinking, they must be a good team! (As we sit third today😨

[paulwoods13]

Zac Collaros won't be able to touch Ray due to all the time he missed due to injury.

Ray missed eight games last season and was a finalist. I believe Collaros has missed five games.

[AngeloV]

Ray missed eight games last season and was a finalist. I believe Collaros has missed five games.

Collaros has also thrown more interceptions already this year than Ray did in all of last season. Collaros really didn't play well last night, and has yet to play a good game away from THF thus far. I don't think he has a hope in hell of getting the nod, and in fact will say that Chad Owens if he keeps his average game up the rest of the season (can anyone believe he is 7th in the league in receiving yardage?) will be a more likely choice.

[ArgoRavi]

That may depend upon how far Collaros takes the tabbies.
On the other hand, I'm reading the stats Argo Ravi listed..... I'm thinking, they must be a good team! (As we sit third today

What has hurt the Argos more than anything this season is fumbles. There have been far too many fumbles at the most inopportune of moments. Obviously, the receiver injuries have been huge. Although the Argos have had one of the best offences in the league this season, if they were healthy and scoring even one or two more points per game the team would probably be at least 6-6 right now.

[Double Dare]

We shall see ... there are many that can achieve MOP.

[zontar]

Whitaker should be in the discussion too.

[Will]

It is too early to make any conclusions on East MOP based upon the way that the east has played out to date. There is still a distinct possibility that the Argos are on the outside looking in at the end of the season.

[argotom]

No question this stretch drive in the East will determine the MOP candidate.

[AngeloV]

Chad Owens if he keeps his average game up the rest of the season (can anyone believe he is 7th in the league in receiving yardage?) will be a more likely choice.

Chad Owens is now up to fifth in the league in receiving yardage. That is remarkable when you consider that he has only played in 6 out of 13 games.


Whitaker should be in the discussion too.

I have to disagree. I don't think Whitaker has been that good this season. He's only averaging 4.5 yards a carry, which is tied for lowest in the league with Chevon Walker among the top 19 rushers. He has also fumbled a bit this year and only has about 240 yards receiving. If Montreal didn't have a good defence, they would have zero wins this season. Chip Cox or John Bowman should be Montreal's nominee.

[ArgoRavi]

Ray continues to make a solid case for East MOP after Friday night's thrilling come from behind win over Hamilton. He leads almost every passing statistic and is trailing Bo Levi Mitchell in overall efficiency by the slimmest of margins (99.0 vs. 97.9). Here are the up-to-date passing statistics: http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Passing/year/2014/type/reg

[QBall]

Swayze Waters. Currently #1 in punting average and kicking points. He's been money all season and the only consistent entity on this team. He's dragged our ass out of the fire numerous times with huge kicks and well aimed kicks that left have bounced and rolled out inside the opponent's 5 yard line.

[paulwoods13]

Swayze Waters. Currently #1 in punting average and kicking points. He's been money all season and the only consistent entity on this team. He's dragged our ass out of the fire numerous times with huge kicks and well aimed kicks that left have bounced and rolled out inside the opponent's 5 yard line.

Waters has had a fantastic season, but his punting last night was terrible. Averaged 39 yards a punt (10 yards below his average) and he shanked one out of bounds for a penalty. Regardless, tho, there is no way Waters is even the Argos' nominee for MOP, much less the East's. It will be Ricky or Chad, whomever is better the next two or so weeks.

[ArgoRavi]

Frank Zicarelli is on board: http://www.torontosun.com/2014/10/11/ricky-ray-on-target-for-first-mop

[jerrym]

Waters has had a fantastic season, but his punting last night was terrible. Averaged 39 yards a punt (10 yards below his average) and he shanked one out of bounds for a penalty. Regardless, tho, there is no way Waters is even the Argos' nominee for MOP, much less the East's. It will be Ricky or Chad, whomever is better the next two or so weeks.

As much as I admire Waters kicking, I agree that it is highly unlikely that he would be the Argo's nominee for MOP because kickers are rarely viewed as the most critical part of team success, if for no other reason than the fact that the defence and offence must put the team in position to kick points. When it comes to Ricky and Chad, I think Ricky has the upper hand in that the CFL is QB driven and Ray has played in every game, keeping the Argo boat from sinking when all their regular receivers were injured. Chad has been superlative when he has played - the problem is he has missed a considerable part of the season. Furthermore, as a receiver, Owens success also means that Ray has had success on the same play. As a returner, whether it is because other teams are keying on him or because he has lost some acceleration (although he is still very good), Chad is not having the spectacular returns for TDs that were almost routine when he first came to the Argos. So, unless Chad scores some critical TDs over the rest of the season on returns (and even then I don't think he would be an automatic MOP choice), I expect Ray to win the Argo nominee race and to be the favourite for the Eastern award.

[Wobbler]

Ray is projected to attain 4934 passing yards, which would be his most productive year since 2008. That's... pretty impressive under the circumstances.