There’s someone who’s barely been mentioned for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award as the season hits its halfway point, and Glen Suitor would like that to change.
“The (passing) precision with Trevor Harris is putting him with (Montreal’s) Davis Alexander – for different reasons – to the top of my discussion for MOP,” the CFL analyst said on the SportsCage on Tuesday.
“I think Trevor has just climbed up there in the last couple weeks to a point where he’s been so good. We’re taking him for granted, and we should stop that because his pace is for 6,000 yards-plus.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback got the offensive game ball from the team for surpassing 40,000 career passing yards in a 42-20 win over the Ottawa Redblacks last Friday. That milestone was part of a 401-yard, two-touchdown performance.
Impressive enough. Even more so considering the Riders didn’t use a single pass catcher that played in their Grey Cup win last November.
“The young receivers just had to really be in the right place at the right time, and they were going to get the ball delivered to them,” Suitor said. “(Dylan) Djete had a great game. (D’Sean) Mimbs played well in his opportunity when he got a chance to be targeted.
“When you have a guy with that much control of the game – over his game, over their offence and their schemes – there was no hesitation. There was no bouncing around.”
The Riders were without two of their top three receivers in Kian Schaffer-Baker and Sam Emilus because of knee and ankle injuries, respectively. Suitor said losing that kind of big-play ability often “cripples teams.”
Harris managed the game well and got the ball to six different teammates through the air. That he did that against the winless Redblacks shouldn’t be a demerit, Suitor said.
“If that’s any other team and they’ve lost all of their playmakers, basically, you’re in trouble,” Suitor said. “It took him a bit to get going offensively, and let’s give credit to the opponent at times. But the precision, knowing exactly where to throw it – sometimes before he gets it from the snap – that’s just the experience and the pre-snap reads that Trevor Harris is going through.
“Of the top guys we’re talking about (for MOP), Trevor seems to be left out of it sometimes – and I don’t know why. I think it’s the taken-for-granted syndrome.”
Watch the full segment below.
