Bombers place seven players on West Division all-star team

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This article was published 30/10/2024 (367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were named the best at their respective positions in the Canadian Football League’s West Division for 2024.

Running back Brady Oliveira, receiver Nic Demski, offensive tackle Stanley Bryant, guard Liam Dobson, defensive end Willie Jefferson, cornerback Tyrell Ford and defensive back Deatrick Nichols topped the voting done by members of The Football Reporters of Canada, the FRC’s national chapter and head coaches in the West Division.

It’s the first divisional all-star nod of Dobson and Ford’s careers. Oliveira earned the honour for a second consecutive year, and it’s the third and fourth time Nichols and Demski have been named, respectively.

The two most veteran players, Jefferson and Bryant added to their decorated resumes with their seventh and ninth selections, respectively.

Winnipeg tied the Edmonton Elks for the third-most all-stars among clubs this season. The Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders tied for the most with nine.

It’s the fourth season in a row in which the Bombers have had at least seven players named to the team, and the club’s 42 total selections since 2021 are the most of any team in the three-down loop. Toronto is the closest with 39.

Winnipeg had 11 players make the team last season and nine in 2022, but all seasons still pale to the whopping 15 Bombers named an all-star in 2021.

That’s not to say there was anything dull about the respective seasons that this year’s group produced in the Manitoba capital.

Oliveira, who was also named the Bombers’ nominee Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian, led the league in rushing and scrimmage yards for the second consecutive season, finishing with 1,353 ground yards, another 476 through the air, while scoring four times.

It was a career year for Demski, a nine-year vet, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau for the second consecutive season. The hometown product’s 1,039 receiving yards led all Winnipeg receivers and his 76 receptions set a new personal best in a single season.

Bryant added to his case as the best offensive lineman in CFL history, something head coach Mike O’Shea has expressed on numerous occasions about his left tackle. The four-time Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award winner was also nominated for that honour for the seventh time in his career after helping pave the way to Oliveira’s rushing crown and protecting the blindside of quarterback Zach Collaros, who tossed for a career-high 4,336 yards.

Dobson’s first all-star nomination comes in his first season as a full-time starter. Dobson, the Blue Bombers’ first pick, third overall, in the 2021 CFL Draft, started all 18 regular-season contests and was a pillar along an offensive line that struggled with injuries all year.

Speaking of pillars in the trenches, Jefferson was just that in his 10th season, fifth with the Blue and Gold. The star defensive end appeared in every game this year, racking up a team-leading six sacks and adding one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 10 pass knockdowns, along with 25 defensive tackles. Jefferson was also named a division all-star from 2017-19 and 2021-23.

Nichols and Ford led Winnipeg’s secondary, combining for 10 interceptions. Nichols accounted for three picks, including his first to be returned for a touchdown, and finished with a career-high 48 tackles, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Meanwhile, Ford was a ballhawk in his first season as a starter, recording seven interceptions and adding 12 pass knockdowns. The Bombers’ 2022 first-round pick is the club’s nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player as he also registered 54 defensive tackles and another 14 on special teams.

The Bombers are enjoying a bye week before they host either the B.C. Lions or Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Division Final at Princess Auto Stadium on Nov. 9.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam