By Marshall Ferguson
The 112th Grey Cup has come and gone, but the performances still linger long in the mind.
Saskatchewan is celebrating the game’s ultimate prize, but as we head towards the holiday season, you know there are many players from all teams soaking up the praise for their performance in one, two, or in Montreal’s case three playoff games, as they attempted to run the table in 2025 with full participation and fell just short.
Here are my names of note who should be smiling knowing their play at the most important time of year was admirable.
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THE TRENCHES
Okay, I can’t allow this list to be a bunch of receivers and quarterbacks, and the best way to evaluate line play currently is through Pro Football Focus, who have been able to bring tangible data to a group of positions traditionally difficult to evaluate outside of the eye test.
In PFF’s pass blocking grades in the playoffs, Hamilton’s Brandon Revenberg (83.2) led the way, as the East Division’s nominee for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman maximized his Eastern Final reps. As did Winnipeg’s Patrick Neufeld (82.4) in the Eastern Semi-Final and Calgary’s Christy Nkanu (81.8) did in the Western Semi-Final.
On the topic of run blocking it was BC’s Chris Schleuger (81.5) who topped the playoff charts followed by Saskatchewan’s Jacob Brammer (81.2) and, again, the young Stampeders draft pick Christy Nkanu (78.0).
Meanwhile, Montreal’s Donny Ventrelli led the playoffs in plays where he was a key figure (31), thanks in part to playing more games than anyone else, followed closely by his teammate Nick Callender, who had 27.
On the other side of the ball, Calgary defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings (81.5) and Miles Brown (78.8) topped PFF’s playoff pass rush grades in their lone playoff appearance in BC. This, of course, is thanks in large part to Hutchings’ playoff-leading three sacks.
In the close but not quite category, Roughriders rush end Habakkuk Baldonado led the playoffs with 12 quarterback hurries, three better than BC Lions standout Mathieu Betts. All of this led to Baldonado topping the CFL playoff push when you combine sacks, hits and hurries, despite only having one of each in the first two categories.
It was a battle close to the ball in all three rounds, and everyone named above played their part.
THE PHILPOT BROTHERS
The Philpot brothers are a special breed for more than their family lineage and unique story. They can straight up play ball and consistently do so in the biggest moments. In 2025, the Philpots ranked as two of the top five receivers in PFF receiving grade as Tyson (fifth at 72.3) and Jalen (first at 82.2) showed they continue to push what’s possible and have an extremely bright future.
With free agency just around the corner, one has to wonder if we’ll ever see them play together and what combining their dynamic approach to the game for the first time since their University of Calgary days would look like.
DESTIN TALBERT | DEFENSIVE BACK | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
Destin Talbert finished the year as PFF’s top-ranked defender in the playoffs (Geoff Robins/CFL.ca)
Destin Talbert might have only played one playoff game, but he had plenty of reps as the Tiger-Cats starting boundary half and finished the post-season as PFF’s top graded defender (91.5) just ahead of Saskatchewan’s Marcus Sayles (89.6).
Although it’s worth noting Sayles’ 108 snaps to Talbert’s 50, as Sayles had a CFL playoff-leading two interceptions over his two post-season appearances and had a workload of more than double that of Talbert’s due to Saskatchewan’s Grey Cup run.
STEVIE SCOTT III | RUNNING BACK | MONTREAL ALOUETTES
We all know the ground game is key come playoff time, and when quarterbacks weren’t stealing touchdowns at the goal line, the highest graded rusher in the playoffs was Montreal’s Stevie Scott III (85.2).
Factoring in his increased role due to the Davis Alexander hamstring injury and quick rise through the depth chart, the idea of Scott leading names like Greg Bell and AJ Ouellette is an interesting takeaway from 2025 and perhaps a window into 2026.
NATHAN ROURKE | QUARTERBACK | BC LIONS
The top-graded player overall, on either side of the ball, in 2025’s playoff push was… you guessed it: the Most Outstanding Canadian and Most Outstanding Player.
Nathan Rourke’s offensive grade was 87.2 and his passer rating (89.7) was ahead of Grey Cup champion Trevor Harris (83.8), despite the loss to Saskatchewan in the Western Final.
I know I wasn’t the only person who watched the Grey Cup and wondered what Rourke and co. could have done on that stage. We’ll have to wait to find out, but his snap-to-snap performance led the playoffs.
SASKATCHEWAN DEFENCE
Mining for data to research and write this article, I realized there is just no way around it. They might not have had the best grades in this or that, but the Roughriders defence was the most cohesive and impressive unit in the playoffs.
Montreal’s Tyrice Beverette led the playoffs with first contact on tackles 17 times while his running mate Darnell Sankey led the playoffs with eight tackle assists. Another Alouette, Najee Murray, was tied for the playoff lead in tackles (16) with Beverette and Saskatchewan’s Jameer Thurman, but it was the sum of the parts which got Regina a title.
Malik Carney led the playoffs in combined tackles for loss or no gain (four), Jameer Thurman was a special and steadying force, Marcus Sayles had the pair of picks mentioned earlier, and Baldonado was relentless in his approach off the edge. In the secondary, 10 players had more targets in primary coverage than a Roughriders defender (Tevaughn Campbell and Rolan Milligan Jr. with seven) and Saskatchewan led the CFL playoffs in pass rush grade (71.7).
Add it all up and you get an impressive unit brought together by a wonderful scheme and coaches who knew how to utilize it all the way to a championship.