CFL receiver rankings and summaries ahead of week 8. Week 7 stars of the week. Nate Behard, Marken Michel, and Justin Hardy are named to the 3 stars of the week.
Stars of Week 7:
1st Star: Nate Behar (OTT)
10 targets, 8 catches, 81 yards, 15 YAC, 1 touchdown, and one 2-point convert.
again the most targetted receiver for Calgary in the overtime loss to Ottawa. Begelton has been tremendously valuable for the Stampeders and has been their clear WR1 since Malik Henry suffered a season-ending injury. It’s no surprise to see a high-quality of play performed by the 6th year veteran.
as a star since he came into the lineup in week 2. Jones is in his 2nd year in the CFL but was in the NFL system for 5 years prior to that. He was tied for first in targets for Saskatchewan in the loss to BC.
Week 7 vs Edmonton: 3 targets, 2 catches, 42 yards
Schoen had a catc
h where he went up in double coverage and made the catch despite taking a hit as he made the catch.
Schoen did see a reduction in targets with Lawler now with the blue and gold. With Schoen and Lawler playing together will probably both have games with few targets as there is a lot of talent in the Winnipeg receiving room. Winnipeg receivers will have more big play opportunities as defenses struggle on which receiver to focus on as the primary target for Winnipeg.
Kenny Lawler had an absolutely fantastic catch in the first quarter adjusting to the ball for a difficult over-the-shoulder catch. It looked like the ball was pretty close to touching the ground but Winnipeg quickly ran another play before Edmonton considered possibly challenging it.
Lawler had a catch in which he went up for a pass and quickly brought the ball in to secure the catch before absorbing a hit.
Lawler looked rea
lly good in his first game back with Winnipeg after dealing with immigration issues. He was the most targetted receiver for Winnipeg in the win against Edmonton.
6 – Keon Hatcher – BC Lions – Previous Ranking: 4
3 GP, 18 Receptions, 246 Yards, and 1 Touchdown
Week 7 vs Saskatchewan: 5 targets, 4 catches, 74 yards
Hatcher was the 2
nd most targeted receiver for BC in the win over the Riders. 46 of his 74 yards were YAC. Hatcher has been very good since coming back into the lineup after missing the first 3 games due to injury. He has been playing at an extremely high level in his third CFL season.
On the bye week in week 7. Grant has been a star so far in his 5th season and has been filling the void left by injuries in the Montreal receiving room perfectly. He plays a strong game and has shown himself to be a real challenge for defenders to tackle.
Week 7 vs Saskatchewan: 3 targets, 1 catch, 2 yards
Rhymes is going into the bye week after a quiet game of only 2 yards in a game that Vernon Adams Jr. left due to injury. Quieter games will happen from time to time for the BC receivers simply due to the fact that there is just a lot of talent for the ball to be spread around to. Rhymes is still the league leader in receiving touchdowns.
heading">9 – Nic Demski – Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Previous Ranking: 10
Demski broke loose in the 3rd quarter catching a deep pass in which he scored a 70-yard touchdown. We will see moving forward how much production the Winnipeg receivers will all be getting. Demski may see a reduction in his targets with Lawler now playing for Winnipeg.
Hardy was the 2nd most targetted receiver for Ottawa in the overtime win over Calgary. In the last 2 games in which Dustin Crum had his first 2 CFL starts, Hardy has caught 12 of his 15 targets for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns. After a slow start to the season for Ottawa’s offense, it seems like things are really turning a corner for the RedBlacks.
heading">12 – Tim White – Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Previous Ranking: 7
6 GP, 19 Receptions, 333 Yards, and 2 Touchdowns
Week 7 vs Toronto: 4 targets, 0 catches, 0 yards
A surprisingly quiet day for Tim White as he did not record a catch. The week prior he had 2 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Taylor Powell did target him 4 times in his first career start. It sounds like Bo Levi Mitchell may be back in the lineup soon at quarterback as he was a limited participant in practice Tuesday.
Behar has also been a benefactor of Dustin “Cookie Monster” Crum taking over the quarterback position for the RedBlacks. In the last 2 games, Behar has caught 18 of his 24 targets for 168 yards and a touchdown. He has been the most targetted receiver by Crum since he took over under center for Ottawa. Behar has been elite in the last 2 games.
After a quieter day in week 6, he came back with a 100-yard game. Odoms-Dukes has been a big part of Calgary’s offense this season.
heading">15 – Duke Williams – Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Previous Ranking: 15
5 GP, 23 Receptions, 368 Yards
Week 7 vs Toronto: 8 targets, 6 catches, 65 yards
Williams had a good game for Hamilton in week 7. He was the 2nd most targetted receiver in Taylor Powell’s first CFL start at quarterback. 32 of his 65 yards were YAC.
heading">16 – Alexander Hollins – BC Lions – Previous Ranking: 17
ad a touchdown in which he was hit quickly after the catch twice. He spun the second tackler off and ran in for 6. He was the 2nd most targetted receiver for Toronto and had the most receiving yards in the win over Hamilton.
ed 6 times in the loss to BC but only 2 of them resulted in a catch. Emilus and the Riders will travel to Toronto this week to play the Argonauts on Saturday.
roduction has been much better with Dustin Crum playing now for Ottawa. He was the third most targetted receiver for Ottawa in the win over Calgary. In the last 2 games, Acklin has caught 11 of his 14 targets for 111 yards.
n targets for Toronto in their win over Hamilton. He was the most targeted for Toronto in week 6 during which he had 4 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. Chad Kelly has done a good job distributing the ball around and it seems any one of the 5 Argonaut receivers can have a big game at any time.
22 – Steven Dunbar Jr. – Edmonton Elks – Previous Ranking: 13
7 GP, 27 Receptions, 330 Yards, and 1 Touchdown
Week 7 @ Winnipeg: 2 targets, 2 catches, 13 yards
Dunbar was only t
argetted twice in the loss to Winnipeg but he did catch both of his targets.
23 – Terry Godwin – Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Previous Ranking: 35
6 GP, 25 Receptions, 287 Yards
Week 7 vs Toronto: 9 targets, 7 catches, 103 yards
Godwin was the mo
st targetted receiver for Hamilton in what was Taylor Powell’s first start at quarterback. He led the team in yards with 103 and had 30 YAC.
most targetted receiver for Edmonton in the loss to Winnipeg. He also scored the Elks’ only touchdown as he got open on the sideline running a go route for an 80-yard score.
Week 7 vs Saskatchewan: 2 targets, 2 catches, 31 yards
Lucky has missed
2 games due to injury this season. He had over 1,000 yards last season and has been reliable this season. It’s a matter of time before he has a big game. Most of his games have been quieter from a statistical perspective with his biggest game so far being against Winnipeg in week 3 in which he had 5 catches for 72 yards.
26 – Kurleigh Gittens Jr. – Toronto Argonauts – Previous Ranking: 37
een gradually getting back to the level of production he had last season. He missed the start of this season to an injury. In week 7 he was the most targetted receiver for Toronto and has played really well in particular these last couple of games. He also had the most YAC for Toronto with 23.
27 – Clark Barnes – Toronto Argonauts – Previous Ranking: 38
starting to emerge as a great young receiver in the last couple of games. Last week saw him have his first career touchdown as well as a career-high in yards. The rookie out of Guelph is looking like a great 3rd round draft pick.
ived 3 targets in the loss to Winnipeg. In the week before he was targeted 9 times so this could likely go up again this week. Ffrench has played very well so far in his first CFL season. Edmonton is playing the stingiest defense in the CFL this week in the BC Lions so they will need a big game out of Ffrench and the rest of the Elks.
ikely be seeing fewer targets now with Lawler in Winnipeg. Wolitarsky has been excellent for Winnipeg in their first 7 games and has been very reliable. He’s also been very good at getting open in the endzone for Winnipeg so far this season.
quieter year so far by his standards. He could be in store for some big plays as defenses now have to worry about also covering Kenny Lawler in addition to the already talented Winnipeg receiving room.
Cottoy is one tough receiver to tackle. 17 of his 29 yards were YAC. He has not had many big games on the stats sheet but when the ball is in his hands he’s going to maximize the play by trying to run people over.
Watson had the 3rd most receptions for Saskatchewan but was kept pretty limited by BC. 27 of his 37 yards were YAC. Mason Fine was not really stretching the field against the Lions’ defence who were not giving him much to work with.
Caught all 3 of his targets in week 7. He was also targeted 3 times the week before and caught all 3 of those. He may continue to see somewhat of a reduction in targets with the overall receiving room being much healthier.
39 – Kiondre Smith – Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Previous Ranking: 42
6 GP, 18 Receptions, 165 Yards
Week 7 vs Toronto
: 6 targets, 4 catches, 40 yards
Kiondre Smith was the third most targetted receiver in the loss to Toronto.
Forbes-Mombleau has been gradually seeing an increase in his number of targets and appears to be progressing into a player who is capable of taking on a bigger role for his team. He has been playing very well in his 2nd CFL season.
41 – David Ungerer III – Toronto Argonauts – Previous Ranking: 33
4 GP, 10 Receptions, 174 Yards, and 3 Touchdowns
Week 7 @ Hamilton
: 1 target, 1 catch, 13 yards
Was only targetted once in the win over Hamilton which he caught for 13 yards. He played as a 2nd string receiver last week and appears to be in a lesser role with the Toronto receiving room being healthier.
McInnis has been playing in a 2nd string role the last 2 games with the receiving room now healthy so he has a lower rate of statistical production. He is still being cycled into the game and is
Was the least targetted receiver among the Calgary starters in week 7. He will have some big plays in the near future. High potential player drafted by Calgary in the first round of the 2023 CFL draft.
McCrae is listed as a running back but he has been playing receiver these last few games. In week 7 he was listed as a 2nd string receiver with Lawler joining Winnipeg so he likely will be in a reduced role moving forward. He did also have 2 rushes for 9 yards.
Jonathan Clink joined CFL News Hub in early April of 2023. His primary responsibilities are covering the BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes.
He self awarded himself the CFL Rookie Journalist of the Year in 2023 following the 2023 CFL season. He also proclaims himself to be a "really cool guy". He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and lived a large portion of his childhood in Northwest Ontario. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and misses being being able to have 4 months of skating every winter.
Clink has written over 240 articles for CFL News Hub. He was the publication's boots on the ground at the 2023 Grey Cup in Hamilton.
Clink has always had an obsession for sport and has a background in other sports as well having played hockey all his life and soccer, basketball, and lacrosse in high school. As a young child he used to log his hockey statistics after every game which is either an indication that he was destined for the role or perhaps and indication that he is rather strange.
