The CFL Season is now 50% complete and there are still a lot of specialists in contention for the Top 3. Let's discuss game winners, misses, Power Rankings, and more in this week's write-up!
Kickers
There was a lot of movement this week for the kickers in the CFL. We saw them line up for 28 field goals, but only make 24 of those attempts. This means they completed 85.7% of their kicks this week, which is actually up from last week's 82.4% on 17 attempts. Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 10 CFL Kicker Power Rankings;
Working top-down;
Rene Paredes (CGY) continues his hot streak throughout the 2022 CFL Season and will remain in the First Position to mark the halfway point. He went 4/5 this week, making 2 of his 3 field goal attempts from 50+. He drilled through a 53 yarder early in the first, which matched his career-long made in week 8. He did miss a 51 yard attempt in the waning moments of the First Half but redeemed himself on a 51 yard try early in the Third Quarter. Paredes also made all 4 of his PATs, which is always lovely to see.
Brett Lauther (SSK) will move up in the power rankings this week but there is a catch. He ended the night with a decent stat-line of 2/2 on field goals and 2/3 on PATs. He also had a long of 46 yards, which was just a beauty. The issue came in the Fourth Quarter when he made a 23 yard chip-shot field goal that was called back due to a Holding penalty against the Elks. SSK continued their drive and scored a Touchdown off of a Cody Fajardo Rush. Lauther then missed his PAT... Yikes.
Sean Whyte (BC) wil l jump 2 spots into the Top 3 this week after performing incredibly well. He hits all 4 of his field goals through the uprights and tacks on another 4 PATs as well. His 16 points were vital in ensuring the BC Lions win over the Stampeders. His 25 yard field goal with 00:04 left in the game pushed them over for the win, edging out the Stamps 41-40.
Marc Liegghio (WPG) drops Two Positions after a disappointing Week. As I am sure everyone is aware, he missed a game-winning, 32 yard field goal with 00:20 left in the game. We did get to experience an always fun Overtime where the Bombers drove down the field to set him up for a game-tieing, 37 yard attempt. He also missed that one... The Bombers lose their first game of the season. Despite this, I don't believe Liegghio is in the Hot Seat. Before this, he was 18/20 (90%) in the 2022 season and 23/29 (79.3%) in his short CFL Career. Kickers will miss kicks. Can those be heart-breaking? Of Course, but, it happens. Take it into the Bye Week and learn from it.
David Côté (MTL) drops into the Fifth Position after his third consecutive week missing a field goal. This week, his 1 miss over 3 attempts came on what should be an automatic 20 yard field goal. He did redeem himself in OT when he drilled through a 43 yarder in the Third, as well as a game-winner from the same distance. Gotta clean up that short game.
Boris Bede (TOR) jumps a spot this week after continuing to turn the bus around. After making 9/12 (75%) field goal attempts through the first 4 games, he has made 12 of his 14 attempts (85%) in his last 4 games. This week, he put on a clinic, going 4/4 on field goals, and 2/2 on PATs. I would love to see this upward trend continue for him and the Argos.
Lewis Ward (OTT) had a Bye Week this week.
Sergio Castillo (EDM) used his Bye Week to hit the reset button and is now 3/3 on field goals and 4/4 on PATs since week 8. His 3 field goals came this week, with a long of 46 yards. Hopefully, we can see this consistency on a long-term level moving forward.
Seth Small (HAM) is making a name for himself in Hamilton. We finally got to see him hit farther than 32 yards out! He went 4/4 with 2 kicks from 40+ yards! If he continues on this trajection, he will be moving up in the Power Rankings in the second half of the season.
Punters
Punters struggled this week, with only 4 specialists having a good game (in my opinion). There is an honorary mention this week, as CGY Stampeders Running Back, Williams Langlais, punted the football in an attempt to score a rouge to tie the game on the final kickoff. It went for an impressive 50 yards and was fair caught by Stefan Flintoft. So, a Net Yardage of 50 yards for him. He currently has the highest Net Avg. among all punters (haha). With lots of movement in the middle of the pack, let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 10 CFL Punter Power Rankings;
Working top-down;
Richie Leone (OTT) had a Bye Week, but will still hold onto the First Position.
Marc Liegghio (WPG) had another great week punting, even if his kicking left a sour taste in the mouths of fans. He punted 6 times and was able to rack up a Net Avg. of 42.2 yards per punt. 3 of those went for 50+ yards. He will look to continue his hot streak into the second half of the season so he has a shot of dethroning Leone.
Joseph Zema (MTL) will also remain in the Top 3 after coming back from a rough Week 9. His 6 punts were good for an Avg. of 49.2 yards and a Net Avg. of 40 yards per punt.
Cody Grace (CGY) has his best game of the 2022 CFL season. He punted 5 times for 253 yards (50.6 Avg.) and 231 Net yards (46.2 Net Avg.). This performance will help him jump 2 positions into the Fourth Position. 60% of his punts were inside the 20 yard line and he pinned the Lions inside the 10 once.
Stefan Flintoft (BC) also had his best game so far, racking up an impressive 326 yards on 6 punts (54.3 Avg.). He also had a Net Avg. of 43.7 yards per punt. Unfortunately, due to competition surrounding him, he will drop one position to Fifth. He also managed to punt a ball 89 yards (The longest in the CFL) for a single, which won the game for the Lions in the end. You love to see it.
John Haggerty (TOR) will also drop one position this week after a rough Week 10. He punted 10 times for a Net Avg. of only 25.4 yards. This is due to his coverage team not knowing how to handle the Tiger-Cats returner. He will look to have a better week against the Stamps in Week 11.
Kaare Vedvik (SSK) had a down week after an off game last time he took to the field in Week 8. He punted 7 times for 333 yards (47.6 Avg.) and 256 Net yards (36.6 Net Avg.) per punt.
Johnathan Ryan (EDM) didn't have a great outing in Week 10, punting 5 times for 216 yards (43.2 Avg.) and 184 Net yards (36.8 Net Avg.). We are going to wait another week or so before judging him too hard. Let him get warmed up and back to game speed. As an aside, he did an interview where he talked about his release from SSK and he may have won me back with his words.
Michael Domagala (HAM) had an O.K game considering how he's been playing this year. Domagala punted 5 times for an average of 46 yards per punt but Hamilton has a big issue at the Punter position. He continues to struggle with his Net Avg., with just 34.1 Net yards on 30 punts. (Lowest in the CFL). I really need to see more from him if he wants to get out of the Ninth Position.
Thank you for making it this far in my article! Please make sure to let me know what you think. Thank you to everyone on Twitter who continues to put out great Specialist content. I couldn't do it without you :)