One more pick: Why Tyrell Ford deserves to be voted All-CFL

10/03/2024 12:00 PM

TORONTO — Being named All-CFL is something that very few players get to enjoy.

It celebrates a season where a players’ hard work translates into on-field dominance. It’s about consistently winning your matchups and stepping up to lead your team to victory, and while a lot of players could make their case for a nomination, only a few can actually get there.

That could be the case for Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Tyrell Ford in 2024. The Waterloo native has put together an excellent season with the Blue and Gold patrolling the football skies in Canada.

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We can go by traditional stats to make Ford’s case. The defensive back is second in the CFL in interceptions with six (behind only Saskatchewan’s Rolan Milligan Jr. with seven, whose case for an All-CFL bid is also as strong as they come) while helping Winnipeg rank first in passing yards allowed per game (233.6).

But that only tells half the story. Sometimes interceptions are a matter of a player being in the right place at the right time, a stroke of luck you might say. That’s why it merits a deeper investigation into why exactly you should vote for Ford as a 2024 All-CFL.

Among players that were targeted 20 times or more, only Toronto’s Tarvarus McFadden (46.4), Saskatchewan’s Marcus Sayles (47.8) and Edmonton’s Darrius Bratton (51.0) have allowed a lower completion percentage than Ford (51.3). Of those, only McFadden has a higher forced incompletion percentage (32.1) than Ford (24.3), albeit the latter has been targeted 74 times to only 28 for the former.

That means defences have tested Ford time and time again and he has stepped up to the challenge. As a cornerback, you’re only as good as your worst play and Ford has worked hard to make sure those are as few and far between. Among players that have been targeted at least 60 times, Ford laps the field in forced incompletion percentage, with Milligan Jr. coming in second with 17.5.

Ford’s passer rating allowed (72.2) also only trails Saskatchewan’s duo (Sayles 49.3, Milligan Jr. 50.8), even though his 16.6 average depth of target is the highest among all players with 60 or more targets. That means opposing offences have tested Ford deep more often than any other player in the league and he’s still keeping them to a low passer rating by batting down balls or collecting them at every opportunity.

Making the All-CFL team doesn’t necessarily require team success, but it sure strengthens Ford’s case. The National defender is one of the best players in a unit that ranks first in points per game allowed (21.0), first in net yards of offence (330.9) and first against the pass. The Bombers have surged all the way back to the first spot in the AMSOIL Power Rankings thanks in great part to a dominant defence headlined by Ford.

Ford’s play has himself currently holding the top Pro Football Focus defensive grade (91.4), just ahead of the Roughriders duo of Sayles and Milligan Jr. The Bombers cornerback also holds the top coverage grade among all players (91.7) regardless of how many snaps they played. Add to that the fact that Ford has only committed two penalties all season and you have potentially the strongest case for an All-CFL bid among defenders in 2024.