Eight Als eligible for CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award

MontrealAlouettes.com

MONTREAL – With the regular season winding down fast and only three weeks left on the 2011 CFL schedule, chatter across the league is growing about the year’s standout players.

The CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award is one that may be foreign to most Alouettes fans, but that’s to be expected when the last player in franchise history to earn the honour was running back Dwaine Wilson back in 1984 when the team was called the Concordes.

On the surface, the Als boast a first-year starter that should for all intents and purposes be the CFL’s top rookie this season. It turns out however that star tailback Brandon Whitaker is technically ineligible due to his scant four appearances between 2008 and 2010 and his time spent on the practice roster.

When the CFL says rookie, it means rookie. To be up for this award voted on by the Football Reporters of Canada and CFL head coaches, a player must not only have never dressed for a single CFL or NFL game, but could also not have even been on a CFL team’s active roster while that team played a game.

Here’s a look at the complete list of Alouettes eligible for the award this season. Think anyone from this year’s crop of Als freshmen can end the drought? Let us know on Facebook.