Toronto Argonauts QB Chad Kelly Highlights CFL 2023 Season Award Winners
The CFL gave out awards for multiple categories Thursday night, including Coach of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the Year.
The last award given out was the newly-named George Reed Most Outstanding Player award presented to Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly. The former Ole Miss standout threw for 4,123 yards with 23 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. He also ran for 248 yards and was second in the league with eight rushing touchdowns.
The night started with the Most Outstanding Rookie award being given to Toronto Argonauts defensive back Qwan’tez Stiggers. He completed his first season in the league playing in 16 games, recording 56 tackles and five interceptions.
The next category was for the Most Outstanding Defensive Player and was handed out to BC Lions defensive lineman Mathieu Betts. It was a dominating season for Betts, as he had 44 tackles, three for loss, a league-leading four forced fumbles and another league-leading 18 sacks in 18 games. Betts’ sack total was six more than three second-place finishers.
Most Outstanding Special Teams Player went to Argonauts return specialist Javon Leake. Throughout the season, Leake was the best returner in the CFL, leading the league in punt return yards with 1,216 and four touchdowns. He also had 793 kickoff return yards.
Toronto offensive tackle Dejon Allen winning Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman. Allen was named for a CFL East All-Star for the second straight season and for the first time as a CFL All-Star.
Coach of the Year was given to Toronto's Ryan Dinwiddie. In his third season as coach, Dinwiddie led the team to 16 regular season wins, which is the most in franchise history.
The Most Outstanding Canadian award was given to Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira. Oliveira led the CFL in rushing yards with 1,534 yards and in rushing touchdowns with nine in 18 games.
The Argonauts finished with a league-high five individual awards.
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Anthony Miller has been covering professional spring football since 2019 including XFL, USFL, and CFL. He was a local news reporter in Texas before transitioning to sports. Other sites he writes for includes College Football Network and NTZ Network.