Jovon has been right on

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/10/2009 (5820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Right around this time of year you’ll notice CFL players being much nicer to the media than usual. It won’t last long but over the next couple of weeks replies from players to reporters will be much warmer than the usual, "What do you want now?"

Heck, following Friday’s mock game the players shared cookies baked by some fans with a couple of reporters. Believe us when we tell you this — football players never share food unless they want something.

And what they want right now is votes.

Reporters around the league are putting together their ballots for the league’s annual awards and the Free Press has two of the seven ballots handed out by the Football Reporters of Canada to Winnipeg media outlets. Here’s a look at where we’re leaning at the moment for Blue Bombers selections:

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER

Jovon Johnson or Fred Reid. Johnson has exploded as a shutdown corner and kick return dynamo. The third-year CFLer ran back a missed field goal for 118 yards in Winnipeg’s win over the Edmonton Eskimos on Oct. 2 in what may have been the most exciting play of the season. The Iowa Hawkeyes product leads the Bombers with 61 tackles and six interceptions.

Reid leads the club in rushing with 1,207 yards and is just back of Calgary’s Joffrey Reynolds for the league lead. Reid ran for 260 yards against the B.C. Lions on Aug. 21 and that performance ranks among the best offensive output all season.

Reid has been solid and carried the Bombers offence when they had no passing game, but Johnson has been this club’s showstopper. He’s our man.

MOST OUTSTANDING CANADIAN

TSN’s Chris Schultz suggested prior to the season that age may be catching up to Doug Brown and he couldn’t have been more wrong. Brown has turned in another brilliant season playing on a defensive line with three rookies. His numbers, 43 tackles and five sacks, are outstanding for an interior lineman that spends most games fighting off double teams.

MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER

Johnson again. Consideration goes to Brown, linebacker Ike Charlton and defensive backs Lenny Walls and rookie Jonathan Hefney, but at the end of the day it has to be Johnson with his lead in tackles and interceptions.

MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

We’re going outside the box here. Veteran Glen January has been excellent while youngster Brendon LaBatte continues to grow and impress as a player. But week in and week out, left tackle Steve Morley has drawn the toughest assignments and stood up to the task. The Bombers are tied for first in the league in sacks allowed with Montreal at 25. Morley takes a big share of that credit.

MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE

Defensive back Jonathan Hefney has been excellent from the opening of this season and added to his game each week. Veteran Shawn Gallant has this to say about his teammate: "Jonathan Hefney is like salt, he’s in everything." Hefney makes tackles, covers well, plays a big role on special teams and never stops jawing. He’s our kind of football player.

MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER

Alexis Serna has established himself as one of the league’s best place-kickers in a home stadium that is regarded as the toughest place in the CFL to kick field goals.

The second-year man out of Oregon State has hit 34 of 41 field goal attempts for an average of 82.9, which is fourth in the league. His average distance per field goal is 34.7, his long is 54 yards and both those numbers are league bests.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca