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November 10, 2016

Stamps have four finalists for player awards

Four members of the Calgary Stampeders are West Division finalists for 2016 Canadian Football League player awards.

For the second season in a row, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is the West Division nominee for the Most Outstanding Player award. It’s the seventh time in the past nine years a Stamps player has been a finalist for the MOP award.

Calgary’s other award finalists are Jerome Messam (Most Outstanding Canadian), Derek Dennis (Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman) and DaVaris Daniels (Most Outstanding Rookie).

The award finalists are determined through a vote by the Football Reporters of Canada and CFL head coaches. The winners will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 24 during Grey Cup week festivities in Toronto.

Player Award East Division finalist Most recent Stamps winner
Bo Levi Mitchell Outstanding Player Ernest Jackson (Ott) Jon Cornish (2013)
Jerome Messam Outstanding Canadian Andy Fantuz (Ham) Jon Cornish (2015)
Derek Dennis Outstanding Offensive Lineman Jon Gott (Ott) Brett Jones (2014)
DaVaris Daniels Outstanding Rookie Jason Lauzon-Seguin (Ott) Brett Jones (2013)

 

Here is a closer look at the Stampeders’ nominees:

Bo Levi Mitchell (Most Outstanding Player): Mitchell led the Stamps to a 15-1-1 record in his 17 starts including a 14-game winning streak and a 16-game unbeaten streak as he improved his CFL-record winning percentage to .853. He led the CFL with 32 touchdown passes and he was one of just three QBs this season to crack the 5,000-yard mark (5,385). He also threw 11 two-point converts. Mitchell completed 412 of 606 passes and threw just eight interceptions. He had 11 games with at least 300 passing yards and threw at least one touchdown pass in 16 of his 17 starts. Mitchell also carried the ball 16 times for 40 yards. He is a West Division all-star and was the CFL’s player of the month for both July and August.

Jerome Messam (Most Outstanding Canadian): Messam, a West Division all-star, won the CFL rushing title with a career-best 1,198 yards and led the league in rushing touchdowns with 11. He also led the league with five 100-yard games and his average of 5.8 yards per rush was tops among all players with at least 60 carries. Messam set career highs with 54 catches and 485 receiving yards and scored twice on two-point conversions. He is a previous winner of the Most Outstanding Canadian award, taking home the honour in 2011 as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos.

Derek Dennis (Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman): Dennis earned West Division all-star honours after playing all 18 regular-season games this season including 15 starts at left tackle, two at left guard and one at right guard. He was an integral part of a Stamps unit that allowed the fewest sacks in the CFL in 2016 with 20 (11 fewer than the second-best team in that category) and also helped tailback Jerome Messam run for a league-leading 1,198 yards.=

DaVaris Daniels (Most Outstanding Rookie): The Notre Dame product didn’t make his professional debut until Week 9 but he quickly made up for lost time. In just 11 games, he wound up second on the team in both receptions (51) and receiving yards (885). Despite spending eight weeks on the practice roster, he was fifth in the entire league with nine receiving majors and, pro-rated over an 18-game schedule, his yardage total would have been good for third place in the CFL. He was second in the league with an average of 17.4 yards per catch including nine grabs that went for at least 30 yards. Daniels had four 100-yard games and three games with two touchdowns. He also had two catches for two-point conversions during his rookie season and added two carries for 34 yards.