Three members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders have been named the Western Division representatives for the Canadian Football League (CFL) Awards.
Rolan Milligan Jr. has been named the Western Division’s nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. Logan Ferland has been named the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman and Corey Mace is a nominee for the Coach of the Year.
Milligan Jr. returned to the Roughriders lineup after missing the majority of the 2023 season with a leg injury and his impact has been felt throughout the entire season. The 30-year-old led the CFL in interceptions (8) and had 71 tackles on defence. He was fourth in the league in pass deflections (10). The former Indianapolis Colt was named the top defensive back by Pro Football Week on three occasions (Week 1, 5 and 17). Milligan Jr was the Roughriders nominee for the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player as well.
Ferland has been the Roughriders nominee for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman for the past three years, but for the first time he will be the Western Division’s nominee. The Melfort product played in all 18 regular season games and saw time at four of the five positions on the offensive line. He started 11 games at right guard, one game at right tackle and the final six games at centre. Ferland was named the top offensive lineman by PFF for the month of July and was named the offensive lineman for Week 6.
Mace was named the top coach in the Western Division in his first season in charge of the Roughriders. After missing the playoffs the last two seasons, Mace led Saskatchewan to a 9-8-1 record and a second-place finish. The Port Moody, B.C. product was the team’s defensive coordinator as well and guided the unit to first overall in number of categories including rushing yards allowed, opposition turnovers (49), turnover ratio (+26), forced fumbles (17) and fumbles recovered (14).
The CFL Awards will be announced during Grey Cup Week in Vancouver.
Saskatchewan will try and take their first step towards a Grey Cup appearance on Saturday when they host the BC Lions at Mosaic Stadium, kickoff is 4:30.