By The Numbers: Bye week unlikely to hurt Adams Jr.'s MOP campaign
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Just seven games into the 2024 CFL season, Vernon Adams Jr. has made a strong case for himself as the league’s best quarterback while leading the BC Lions to a 5-2 start heading into the bye.
Adams, 31, broke out last season with 4,796 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 333 completions, which led to being the third-ranked player on TSN’s 2024 CFL Top 50 Players list prior to the start of the season.
This year, the University of Oregon product leads the Canadian Football League with 14 touchdowns and 2,395 passing yards, 450 yards more than the next closest quarterback. He also ranks inside the top three in completions (159), QB rating (108.7), yards per pass attempt (9.9), and interception percentage (2.1) among signal callers with more than 100 passing attempts on the season.
He is currently on pace to throw for over 6,000 yards, and would join Doug Flutie, Anthony Calvillo, Kent Austin, and David Archer as the only quarterbacks in league history to eclipse that mark.
“I’m just preparing harder, I guess,” said Adams. “I’m more locked in, I’m familiar with what [offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic] wants to call in certain situations. He does a great job with us, as a team, getting us prepared and having us ready for the looks we’re going to see in the game.
“I’m eight, nine years in now, you know what I’m saying? I feel like I’m getting better and better, and that’s all I want to do is just keep getting better.”
With his dominant play this season, it’s no surprise that Adams is the betting favourite to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award. What may be surprising is how heavily favoured he is to win MOP honours this early into the season. According to FanDuel, the Lions’ pivot is a -110 favourite for the award, while Cody Fajardo, +600, and teammate Alexander Hollins, +1500, round out the top three. Every other player’s odds stand at +1900 or longer.
“I’ve never worked with VA until we traded for him, but he’s been excellent ever since he came in,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell. “He was forced into a situation where he literally had to step in on a moment’s notice and learn a playbook, and learn a team, and do all that, and [he’s] won several important games for us.
“He’s been good from the get-go, but I think he keeps getting stronger as it goes… we’re totally lucky to have him.”
Pair the best quarterback in the Canadian Football League with two legitimate number one receivers, and it's easy to see why the Lions are the only team in the CFL averaging over 400 yards of total offence per game this season.
Justin McInnis, a five-year veteran, leads all pass catchers with 48 receptions, 780 receiving yards, and six touchdowns, while Alexander Hollins, now in his third year with BC, has recorded 39 receptions, 663 yards, and four scores, all good for either second or third in the league behind his teammate.
But Adams is ultimately what makes the Lions offence click, and what makes him the likely runaway MOP winner after just seven weeks into the 2024 season.