Reilly captures CFL’s outstanding player award

Mike Reilly is the CFL’s outstanding player.

The Edmonton Eskimos quarterback received the honour Thursday at the CFL’s annual awards banquet. Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray was the finalist.

Reilly, 32, started all 18 regular-season games and led Edmonton (12-6) to five straight wins to end the regular season and clinch third in the West Division despite a plethora of injuries. The six-foot-three, 230-pound Reilly led the CFL in passing (5,830 yards) and tied Ottawa’s Trevor Harris for the league lead in TDs (30).

Reilly also ran for 12 TDs and had 39 completions of 30-plus yards, both league-best marks. Edmonton led the CFL in net offence (406.8 yards), offensive points (27.2 per game) and offensive touchdowns (52) while allowing a league-low 29 sacks.

Also winning awards were running back Andrew Harris (Canadian) and Stanley Bryant (lineman) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, linebacker Alex Singleton and kick-returner Roy Finch (special-teams) of the Calgary Stampeders as well as running back James Wilder Jr. (rookie) and Marc Trestman (coach) of Toronto.

Harris had a CFL-best 105 catches, the most ever by a running back. He also led the league in rushing (1,035 yards) as Winnipeg (12-6) earned its first home playoff game since 2011.

The six-foot-five, 308-pound Bryant anchored a Winnipeg offensive line that created holes for Harris and protected quarterback Matt Nichols.w