The CFL's Most Outstanding Player award has a way of settling arguments and starting new ones in equal measure. This year, the finalists offer a trio of stories that resist easy comparison: a quarterback who has joined his franchise's most exclusive statistical company, a receiver who has rewritten the record book for Canadian pass-catchers, and a veteran who has finally led his team to the top of the West. The only certainty, as the league announced Wednesday, is that a first-time winner will lift the George Reed trophy.
Davis Alexander, in his second full year as Montreal's starter, passed for 5,257 yards and 35 touchdowns against just four interceptions, completing 72.1 percent of his attempts . He became only the second Alouette to cross the 5,000-yard mark, joining Anthony Calvillo, a name that carries the weight of legend in Montreal . He also led the league with 37 completions of thirty yards or more, a statistic that speaks to both arm strength and ambition. Alexander's season was not merely productive; it was efficient in a way that few quarterbacks in the league's history have matched.
His primary target, Tyson Philpot, is the second finalist, and his case is built on volume and consistency. Philpot led the CFL in receptions with 124—the third-most all-time—receiving yards with 1,809, thirty-yard receptions with 14, and yards after the catch with 750, while sharing the league lead in touchdown catches with 13 . He also set league records for most catches and yards in a season by a Canadian player, a distinction that carries particular weight in a league that has long celebrated its domestic talent . Philpot is also a finalist for the league's top Canadian award, a rare double nomination that underscores the breadth of his season.
Cody Fajardo, the third finalist, offers a different narrative. At thirty-four, he set career highs in passing yards with 4,788 and touchdown passes with 25, while adding 517 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground . More importantly, he led the Edmonton Elks to their first West Division title since 2015 . Fajardo was a runner-up for this award in 2019, and his return to the finalist circle after seven years speaks to a career that has refused to follow a predictable arc. He is not the most statistically dominant of the three, but he is the one whose season most directly translated into team success.
The absence of a clear frontrunner is not a weakness of the field but a reflection of what the CFL is in 2026. Alexander and Philpot played together, their successes intertwined in a Montreal offense that was among the league's most productive. Fajardo's claim rests on a different foundation: leadership, resilience, and a division crown that few predicted. The voters will have to weigh volume against context, individual brilliance against collective achievement.
What makes this year's race particularly notable is the presence of two Montreal teammates as finalists. Alexander and Philpot are not merely colleagues; they are collaborators, each dependent on the other for the numbers that brought them here. Philpot's 1,809 yards do not happen without a quarterback who can find him, and Alexander's 5,257 yards do not happen without a receiver who can turn short completions into long gains. If either wins, the other will have a legitimate claim to have contributed.
The winner will be announced at the league's awards ceremony in the coming weeks. For now, all three finalists can claim something that no vote can take away: a season that demanded attention. Alexander joined Calvillo. Philpot rewrote Canadian records. Fajardo brought Edmonton back to the top of the West. The trophy will go to one, but the season belongs to all three.
Image note: The images accompanying this article are AI-generated illustrations and do not depict the players or the award ceremony.
Sources: CFL.ca, TSN, The Lethbridge Herald
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