Top-graded CFL players of Week 9: Highlighting the league’s best performers

The CFL season is heating up, and each week, we’re diving into the numbers to spotlight the league’s top performers.

Thanks to consistent demand from fans, we’re bringing you the top 10 highest-graded CFL players who played significant snaps, based on PFF’s grading system.

From quarterbacks dissecting defenses to defensive linemen wreaking havoc in the trenches, these are the athletes who stood out above the rest in Week 9. We'll be highlighting this group every single week of the season so that CFL fans can keep track of the top-tier talent making an impact across the league.

Want to dig deeper into the data? Click here for full season-level PFF grades across the CFL.

Grading Highlight of the Week: EDGE Willie Jefferson, Winnipeg

Three-time Grey Cup champion. Six-time CFL All-Star. Winner of the 2019 Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. Willie Jefferson is a future CFL Hall of Famer — no question. But at 34 years old and in his 11th CFL season, it would be understandable if he were starting to slow down.

That seemed to be the case early this season. Through his first six games, Jefferson totaled just 11 quarterback pressures, two batted passes and a 64.8 overall grade.

But Week 9 told a different story.

Jefferson exploded with a 99.3 game grade, the highest single-game grade PFF has ever awarded in four years of grading the CFL.

He rushed the passer 42 times in the game and recorded a sack, a quarterback hit, six hurries and two additional pass-rush wins. His 23.8% pass-rush win rate was the highest of the week. His lone sack was a strip sack, which teammate Jay Person recovered and returned for a touchdown.

He also recorded four batted passes, an absurd total that brings him to 44 in the PFF CFL era (since 2022). The next closest player has just 12.

Jefferson continues to prove he’s ageless, and performances like this only add to his already incredible legacy.

Quarterback

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Trevor Harris	Saskatchewan Roughriders	52	87.7
Cody Fajardo	Edmonton Elks	49	79.6
Bo Levi Mitchell	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	61	79.5
P.J. Walker	Calgary Stampeders	60	64.6
Nick Arbuckle	Toronto Argonauts	50	63.9
Chris Streveler	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	53	58.4
Dru Brown	Ottawa Redblacks	55	58.2
McLeod Bethel-Thompson	Montreal Alouettes	41	44.3

Running Back

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Justin Rankin	Edmonton Elks	43	77.9
A.J. Ouellette	Saskatchewan Roughriders	49	76.5
Greg Bell	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	51	69.4
Travis Theis	Montreal Alouettes	24	68.2
William Stanback	Ottawa Redblacks	39	67.2
Brady Oliveira	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	59	66.1
Sean Thomas Erlington	Montreal Alouettes	27	59.1
Jeshrun Antwi	Calgary Stampeders	20	55.9
Deonta McMahon	Toronto Argonauts	38	55.8
Dedrick Mills	Calgary Stampeders	23	50.4

Wide Receiver

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Kiondre Smith	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	64	80.7
Eugene Lewis	Ottawa Redblacks	51	73.3
Damonte Coxie	Toronto Argonauts	50	72.7
Dohnte Meyers	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	72.0
Nic Demski	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	57	71.5
Tyler Snead	Montreal Alouettes	50	70.7
Tim White	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	58	68.5
Jerreth Sterns	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	52	68.2
KeeSean Johnson	Saskatchewan Roughriders	54	67.8
Kurleigh Gittens Jr.	Edmonton Elks	49	67.7

Tackle

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Kendall Randolph	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	59	73.7
Jermarcus Hardrick	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	72.4
Payton Collins	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	71.5
Quinton Barrow	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	64	69.5
Brett Boyko	Edmonton Elks	54	68.3
Nick Callender	Montreal Alouettes	42	65.8
Joshua Coker	Calgary Stampeders	60	64.7
Brendan Bordner	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	64	62.5
Eric Lofton	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	59	59.8
Martez Ivey	Edmonton Elks	54	57.7

Guard

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Jacob Brammer	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	69.2
Zack Fry	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	64.9
Sage Doxtater	Toronto Argonauts	50	62.8
Donald Ventrelli	Montreal Alouettes	50	62.6
Anthony Vandal	Toronto Argonauts	50	61.1
Liam Dobson	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	64	60.1
Gregor Mackellar	Edmonton Elks	54	60.1
Dariusz Bladek	Ottawa Redblacks	31	60.0
Drew Desjarlais	Ottawa Redblacks	57	59.7
Mark Korte	Edmonton Elks	54	58.7

Centre

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Logan Ferland	Saskatchewan Roughriders	58	67.9
Peter Nicastro	Toronto Argonauts	50	67.6
David Beard	Edmonton Elks	54	62.2
Peter Godber	Ottawa Redblacks	57	57.7
Coulter Woodmansey	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	64	56.8
Cyrille Hogan-Saindon	Montreal Alouettes	32	56.5
Chris Kolankowski	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	59	55.6
Christopher Fortin	Calgary Stampeders	60	51.4

Interior Defender

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Caleb Sanders	Saskatchewan Roughriders	23	84.9
Michael Wakefield	Ottawa Redblacks	33	79.6
Jaylon Hutchings	Calgary Stampeders	38	75.4
Daniel Okpoko	Ottawa Redblacks	27	75.1
Anthony Lanier II	Toronto Argonauts	40	71.9
Cameron Lawson	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	25	71.2
Miles Fox	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	46	70.1
Mike Rose	Saskatchewan Roughriders	33	68.8
Jordan Williams	Toronto Argonauts	36	68.6
Muftah Ageli	Ottawa Redblacks	23	67.6

Edge Defender

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Willie Jefferson	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	45	99.3
Lorenzo Mauldin IV	Ottawa Redblacks	47	78.8
Bryce Carter	Ottawa Redblacks	59	75.8
Malik Carney	Saskatchewan Roughriders	32	75.1
James Vaughters	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	50	72.0
Clarence Hicks	Calgary Stampeders	36	70.7
Brandon Barlow	Edmonton Elks	49	70.3
Folarin Orimolade	Calgary Stampeders	45	68.5
Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund	Montreal Alouettes	58	68.3
Charles Wiley	Calgary Stampeders	32	67.0

Linebacker

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Jameer Thurman	Saskatchewan Roughriders	42	90.6
C.J. Reavis	Saskatchewan Roughriders	46	82.3
Wynton McManis	Toronto Argonauts	54	81.3
Tony Jones	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	42	80.0
Geoffrey Cantin-Arku	Montreal Alouettes	49	77.6
Derrick Moncrief	Calgary Stampeders	56	77.5
Isaac Darkangelo	Toronto Argonauts	39	75.8
Kyle Wilson	Calgary Stampeders	33	73.0
Jovan Santos-Knox	Ottawa Redblacks	58	71.7
Aaron Casey	Toronto Argonauts	32	71.4

Cornerback

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Tarvarus McFadden	Toronto Argonauts	59	83.5
Jamal Parker Jr.	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	28	72.9
Jamal Peters	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	54	72.6
Marcus Sayles	Saskatchewan Roughriders	50	71.8
Tevaughn Campbell	Saskatchewan Roughriders	50	68.5
Alijah McGhee	Ottawa Redblacks	50	67.9
J.J. Ross	Edmonton Elks	64	67.7
Godfrey Onyeka	Calgary Stampeders	57	66.8
Benjie Franklin	Toronto Argonauts	59	66.0
Tyrell Ford	Edmonton Elks	61	65.8

Halfback

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Amari Henderson	Ottawa Redblacks	60	78.5
Deatrick Nichols	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	50	73.6
Kobe Williams	Edmonton Elks	64	73.3
Jaydon Grant	Calgary Stampeders	51	73.2
Sheldon Arnold II	Calgary Stampeders	52	72.9
Deandre Lamont	Ottawa Redblacks	59	68.4
Rolan Milligan	Saskatchewan Roughriders	50	64.5
Evan Holm	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	50	63.3
Wesley Sutton	Montreal Alouettes	53	62.5
DaMarcus Fields	Saskatchewan Roughriders	49	62.5

Safety

Name	Team	Snaps	Overall Grade
Bennett Williams	Ottawa Redblacks	60	73.3
Arthur Hamlin	Montreal Alouettes	50	72.5
Jake Kelly	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	35	72.3
Nelson Lokombo	Saskatchewan Roughriders	49	71.7
Stavros Katsantonis	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	49	69.0
Damon Webb	Calgary Stampeders	57	56.7
Tyshon Blackburn	Toronto Argonauts	51	52.7
Chelen Garnes	Edmonton Elks	64	45.0