CFL Week 6 Defensive Line Rankings: Argonauts and Roughriders stay at the top

• Toronto’s unit shines again: The Argonauts fielded the CFL’s top-graded defensive line for the third time in six weeks.

• Tiger-Cats move up to No. 3 despite being on a bye: The Alouettes’ continued slide pushes Hamilton into the top three.

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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

1. Toronto Argonauts (No Change)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Robbie Smith
Field DI: Jared Brinkman
Boundary DI: Jordan Williams
Boundary EDGE: Derek Parish

• Jordan Williams was a top-five pass-rusher in Week 6. He earned a 76.5 PFF pass-rush grade across his 21 pass-rush snaps, with a sack and two more pressures for a 14.3% pressure rate and an 18.2%  pass-rush win rate.

• Toronto fielded the CFL’s top-graded defensive line for the third time in six weeks. The unit earned grades of 78.8 overall, 70.9 in run defense and 75.8 in pass rush in Week 6.

2. Saskatchewan Roughriders (No Change)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Anthony Lanier II
Field DI: Micah Johnson
Boundary DI: Miles Brown
Boundary EDGE: Bryan Cox Jr.

• The Roughriders had a down week by their standardsm earning grades of 68.3 overall, 67.8 run in defense and 65.2 in pass rush. It was still the team’s second-best pass-rush performance this year. The unit produced three sacks, 12 total pressures, a 22.4% pressure rate and a 37.3% pass-rush win rate.

• Anthony Lanier II was once again the top run defender of this group. Last week, he earned a 72.5 run-defense grade with no negatively graded plays.

3. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Up 1)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Nick Usher
Field DI: DeWayne Hendrix
Boundary DI: Casey Sayles
Boundary EDGE: Brandon Barlow

• Despite being on a bye week this past week, the Tiger-Cats move up due to the Alouette’s continued slide.

4. British Columbia Lions (Up 1)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Pete Robertson
Field DI: Christian Covington
Boundary DI: Jonah Tavai
Boundary EDGE: Sione Teuhema

• Jonah Tavai was this past week’s top pass -usher. He earned a 90.5 pass-rush grade with a sack, four total pressures, a 28.6% pressure rate and a 26.7% pass-rush win rate.

• British Columbia jumped past Montreal and moved into the top four in terms of overall grade (74.6). Their run-defense and pass-rush grades also both rank third in the CFL, too.

5. Montreal Alouettes (Down 2)

Base Defensive Set: Odd Front

Field EDGE: Mustafa Johnson
NT: Derek Wigan
Boundary EDGE: Dylan Wynn

• Some major changes to the defensive line this week were unable to help the Alouettes stop their fall down the rankings. Montreal was the lowest-graded unit overall last week. They earned grades of 61.3 overall, 60.5 in run defense and 63.7 in pass rush.

• Both Wigan (57.0) and Wynn (55.2) failed to make a positive impact in the pass rush, combining for zeros across all pass-rush categories.

6. Calgary Stampeders (No Change)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Ryan Leder
Field DI: Mike Rose
Boundary DI: Josiah Coatney
Boundary EDGE: Clarence Hicks

• Clarence Hicks got the promotion this week and again delivered an excellent pass-rush display. He was the second-highest-graded pass-rushing lineman in Week 6, earning an 85.8 pass-rush grade with five total pressures, a 22.7% pressure rate and a 27.3% pass-rush win rate.

• Unfortunately for Calgary, the other switch they made this week at edge defender did not have the same positive impact. Ryan Leder finished with a 57.9 PFF overall grade and struggled in the run game to the tune of a 49.6 run-defense grade.

7. Ottawa Redblacks (Up 1)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Bryce Carter
Field DI: Michael Wakefield
Boundary DI: Cleyon Laing
Boundary EDGE: Lorenzo Mauldin IV

• Ottawa recovered from its slide and earned a 71.4 overall defensive grade after the unit’s best pass-rushing performance of the season so far (76.5 pass-rush grade).

• Wakefield (80.7) and Mauldin (80.5) led the way with 80.0-plus PFF pass-rush grades. They combined for a sack, 10 pressures, an 18.6% pressure rate and a 43.9% pass-rush win rate.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Down 1)

Base Defensive Set: Even Front

Field EDGE: Owen Hubert
Field DI: Jamal Woods
Boundary DI: Jake Thomas
Boundary EDGE: Willie Jefferson

• The Blue Bombers switched to running an even front on a majority of their snaps this week. It did not have much of an effect on their overall grades, with Winnipeg’s line ranking seventh in Week 6 with a 63.7 overall grade.

• Jamal Woods was the top-graded pass-rusher from this unit last week. He earned a 72.8 pass-rush grade with four total pressures, a 17.4% pressure rate and a 17.4% pass-rush win rate.

9. Edmonton Elks (No Change)

Base Defensive Set: Odd Front

Field EDGE: Elliott Brown
NT: Shawn Oakman
Boundary EDGE: Romeo McKnight

• The Elks’ defensive line earned its best grades of the season in Week 6. The unit posted grades of 69.1 overall, 69.9 in run defense and 64.2 in pass rush.

• Shawn Oakman made his first start for the Elks this past week and earned grades of 74.8 overall, 69.2 in run defense and 71.4 in pass rush.

• Romeo McKnight returned to the lineup for the first time since Week 2 and was stellar. He was the top-graded run-defending defensive lineman in the CFL across Week 6, with an 84.0 grade.