Week 13 is through and what a week it was! Let's discuss statistics, punters juking out rushers, game-winners, and more in this week's Labour Day write-up;
Kickers
Overall, the kickers were average this week. They lined up for 20 field goals and made 17 of them. This is good for exactly 85%, which is the league average through 13 weeks. Kickers should feel proud of themselves because for the first time in 4 weeks they finally hit 100% (17/17) of their point after attempts! Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 13 CFL Kicker Power Rankings;
Working top-down;
Rene Paredes (CGY) stays in the First Position of our Power Rankings despite going 1/2 this week against the Edmonton Elks. He made a 25 yard field goal but missed a 40 yarder later in the game. Luckily it didn't matter and the Stamps still came out on top. He will drop under 90% for the first time this season but I expect he will jump back up before the end of the Season. He truly is one of the best kickers to ever play the Canadian Game.
Sean Whyte (BC) had a Bye Week this week but will jump into the Second Position after a lack of production from another kicker.
Marc Liegghio (WPG)! M.A.R.C. L.I.E.G.G.H.I.O!! Liegghio had the best game of his CFL career during his matchup with the Roughriders this week. He ends the night going 2/2 on field goals and 2/2 on PATs. He made one from 40 yards out, and then with the score stuck at 18-17 for the Roughriders and 03:10 left on the game clock, Liegghio absolutely smashes a 55 yard, game-winning, field goal to win the game 20-18 for the Bombers! This marcs not only his longest field goal of the 2022 season but the longest field goal in his CFL career! If you were one of the people calling for Liegghio's release at any point this season, he's making you look foolish. Enjoy this meme I made because I love Marc Liegghio.
Brett Lauther (SSK) will drop 2 Positions this week after under-performing from 40+ yards out. This has been an ongoing issue for the entire season as he is now only 10/15 on any field goal over 40 yards. This week it comes in a heartbreaking fashion as he missed what would have been a game-sealing field goal from 57 yards out. I don't know what I want to see out of Lauther, but his performance just leaves something to be desired. He did manage to go 3/4 on field goals this week, his only miss was from the previously mentioned 57 yards out (which he should have made tbh. He did it in Week 4, so it's an accuracy thing). He did, however, directly influence the donation of 600$ for the KidSport program!
David Can't Miss Côté (MTL) comes back from his Bye Week and makes all 3 of his field goal attempts, and all 3 of his PATs! He had a long of 44 yards and is officially in the lead for # of field goals made between 40-49 yards! He is having an impressive season and will look to continue to impress the critics following his rough patch during Weeks 8-10 where he only hit 66.6% of his field goals.
Seth Small (HAM) didn't really get an opportunity to show how good he is during the Labour Day Classic against the Ti-Cats interdivisional rival. His only kick of the night was a PAT that he made with ease in the Second Quarter. He drops two Positions due to how well his opponents have played.
Boris Bede (TOR) breaks his 100% streak this week, only hitting 2/3 of his field goals. His longest came from just 23 yards out with his miss coming from 43 yards out (He had the distance and forced a single, but was wide-right). Bede is an anomaly this Season and I need to see more consistency from him before he moves up in the rankings.
Sergio Castillo (EDM) was perfect this week but only had 1 field goal from 15 yards out, and 2 PATs. I'm not really sure what to think of Castillo. He definitely doesn't have the same range as some other kickers in the league, i.e. Lauther, but he is consistent from under 40 yards. He will remain where he is for the time being.
Lewis Ward (OTT) had a really good week statistically, going 5/5 on field goals and 3/3 on PATs. He needed this performance after faltering in the last few weeks but there was a catch. The reason he did not move up in the Power Rankings is due to the fact that 3 of his field goals were under 20 yards, and his longest was only 38 yards. This means that while he is still money under 40 yards, he isn't proving that he is any good over 40 yards. Let me remind you that since the 2021 season, he has only made 15 of his 29 attempts on anything further than 40 yards. That is only 51%.
Punters
Not much movement this week but the CFL's punters are absolutely killing it. I really think the Top 6 are on a whole other level when it comes to punting. Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 13 CFL Punter Power Rankings;
Working top-down;
Richie Leone (OTT) had a good game this week, anchoring himself in the Fifth Position for another week. He kicked 5 times for 267 yards (53.4 Avg.) and managed to pin 40% of those inside the 20 yard line. Leone also hit a 86 yard punt, which is a career-long. He's just the best.
Stefan Flintoft (BC) had a Bye Week this week and will not slide from his Second Position. His 40 Net Avg. is just insane. He is also leading the league with an Avg. of 49.3 yards per punt. What he is doing is insane and I just want to point out that I've been saying this for months. If he can get his inside the 20 % stat up above league average (22%) I think he makes a great argument for the First Position.
Marc Liegghio (WPG) is not only a great place-kicker, but he is also an incredible punter. This week he punts 7 times for 311 yards (44.4 Avg.) and 252 Net yards (36 Net Avg). He hits 30 of those over 50 yards and had a play that has gotten a lot of attention from those who aren't already special teams fanatics. In the Second Quarter, with about 06:00 left on the clock, the Bombers trotted out Liegghio to punt the ball away. The problem? Liegghio would be faced with a really difficult decision to make. Once the ball was snapped, there was a free lane that opened up and a Roughrider took to it quickly. Staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, Marc Liegghio stays calm and ponders his options. He decided to be a badass. He jukes, yes you read that right, jukes the free rusher and manages to pop off a 49 yard punt to the SSK 20. Is there anything this guy can't do?
John Haggerty (TOR) is just playing out of his mind these past few weeks. With an average of 49 yards per punt over 70 samples, it isn't hard to see why he is successful. His 33, 50+ yard punts lead the league and account for 47% of his punts. His Net Avg. is around league average and his Inside 20 yards % is as well. If either of these stats gets to the "above-average" category, he will be in the Top 3. Love to see a rookie performing well. Here is his post-game interview after the 28-8 win against the Tiger-Cats, in Hamilton over Labour Day Weekend.
Cody Grace (CGY) played really well this week and did exactly what I wanted to see from him. We know he can kick the ball, sporting a 46.7 yard Avg. and a 38.5 Net Avg . but today he showed us his full repertoire. He was able to hit 43% of his 7 punts inside the 20 yard line, which is exactly what I wanted. He does slide this week, but only because the Top 6 punters in the CFL are all really, really good.
Joseph Zema (MTL) had a stellar game coming off a Bye Week. He punts 4 times for 219 yards (54.8 yards) and 38.8 Net yards (38.8 Net Avg.). 2 of his punts were inside the 20 yard line, and 1 of those was inside the 10 yard line. 2 of those punts were also 50+ yards. He only slides for the same reason Grace did.
Kaare Vedvik (SSK) had an average game for him. 6 punts for an average of 49.3 yards and a Net average of 36.5 Net yards. I want to see more from him. More 50+ yarders and more than 18% of his punts inside the 20.
Michael Domagala (HAM) actually had a really good game today, by his standards. He punted a season-high 10 times, for 47.3 average yards and 38.8 Net average yards per punt. 4 of those were over 50 yards. More weeks like this will see him out of the Bottom 2.
Jonathan Ryan (EDM) is a shell of his former self. Another rough game in my humble opinion. He punted 6 times, for an impressive 48.7 yards per punt but an embarrassing 31.8 Net yards per punt. I want to see if Chris Jones will refuse to admit he made a mistake and keep Ryan on the roster for the rest of the year, instead of reaching out to Matt Mengel, and asking for him to come back.
Thank you for making it this far in my article! Please make sure to let me know what you think. -Big Ups to everyone on Twitter who continues to post great Specialist content. I couldn't do it without you :)
コメント