While Edmonton Elks running back Justin Rankin has been attracting much of the CFL Most Outstanding Player attention through the first quarter of the campaign, he might find himself with some serious competition when all things are done.
To hear SportsCage analyst Arash Madani tell it on his most recent Coast-to-Cast segment on Thursday, it might be Montreal Alouettes receiver Tyson Philpot we all end up talking about by the time the season comes to a close..
And there’s little question that there’s a serious case there after five games of the 2026 season.
"It's important to point out it's five weeks, there's 13 games to go, but we are actually witnessing the greatest single season receiving performance in CFL history and nobody even knows about it,” Mandani said. “This dude's on pace to shatter things that you didn't see ever coming. … It's not just the yards. It's not just the receptions. It's just how dynamic a player that Tyson Philpot is in Montreal's offence. He can stretch the field. He can make the ridiculous catch look routine. He is all of it.”
Here are the numbers.
Through five games, Philpot has 45 catches for 719 yards and four touchdowns. Six of his catches have gone for 30 yards or more, with a long of 56, and his average per catch is 16 yards.
It’s the first two numbers that are the most important because, if Philpot can keep up at this pace, he’ll be well into the record books by the time things are said and done. He's on track to make 162 catches for 2,641 yards receiving.
Check out the chart below for a look at the names Philpot is dancing with when it comes setting those new marks.
“This dude is catching nine balls a game and he is out of his mind,” Madani said. “I'm not taking anything away from Justin Rankin, but, with 13 weeks to go, Tyson Philpot far and away is my MOP right now.”
Making things even more special is that Philpot is doing all this in the earliest stages of his career. While most players take several years to get up to speed in the CFL, the Delta, B.C., product is already torching defences at an incredible rate, with a decade-plus potentially left in his career.
“Like, this dude turns 26 years of age later this month,” Madani said. “Here's a Canadian from suburban Vancouver who is the most explosive player in the league, who's got the best hands in the league. He won a Vanier Cup at the University of Calgary. He was the Most Valuable Canadian in a Grey Cup, catching the game winning pass in the final drive. Like all these things are just such an incredible story, especially for a dude who as of today is still only 25 years of age.”
The scary thing is what this means for the Alouettes, especially if they get some expected reinforcements at receiver in the upcoming weeks.
Currently Philpot and Tyler Snead – with 470 yards receiving – are Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander’s only main targets. But with former near-1,000 yard receiver Cole Spieker set to make his return soon, the Als could become an exceptionally dangerous team to try and defend the pass against.
“If they keep the quarterback healthy, now all of a sudden defences are going to be on alert. Now all of a sudden the Alouettes can pick their poison,” Madani said. “I mean there's so much. It'll be cool to watch as this season unfolds, and the kind of history that Philpot might be able to create.”
Arash had plenty more to talk about on his segment, and you can check it all out by clicking below:
