TORONTO – The Canadian Football League (CFL) announced today that five Toronto Argonauts were named to the East Division All-Star team: RB Brandon Whitaker, OG Tyler Holmes, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Shawn Lemon and K Lirim Hajrullahu.
Brandon Whitaker set a number of career milestones in 2016, including becoming the 41st player in CFL history to rush for 5,000+ career yards. The eight-year CFL veteran finished the season with 1,558 combined yards and seven touchdowns in 18 regular season games. He led the East Division and ranked second in the CFL in rushing with 1,009 yards and three touchdowns on 189 carries, becoming the first Argonaut since Cory Boyd in 2011 to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark.
The versatile back also set a career-high with 81 receptions which he translated into 549 yards and four touchdowns. Whitaker’s 2016 reception total is second to just Robert Drummond (85, 1997) for a player with 150+ rushing attempts. Whitaker and Drummond are the only two players to record more than 75 receptions and 150 rushing attempts in the same season.
Whitaker has now earned an East Division nod four times in the last six years, two of which have come in the last two seasons as an Argonaut. He joins Joffrey Reynolds (CGY) and Jon Cornish (CGY) as the only running backs in the league with four+ divisional All-Star nominations in the last decade while becoming just the seventh Argonauts running back in team history to earn multiple selections as an East Division All-Star.
Tyler Holmes takes home his second career East Division All-Star nod in 2016. The Tulsa product started in all 18 regular season games for the third consecutive season and played an integral role of an offensive line that paved the way for East Division rushing leader Brandon Whitaker.
Chris Van Zeyl started all 18 regular season games for the Argonauts in his eighth season with the club. The Argos offensive captain helped anchor an offensive line that ranked third in the league with 5.2 yards per carry. With his third career nomination, Van Zeyl becomes the 11th Argonauts offensive lineman, and just the fourth offensive tackle in team history, to receive three or more East Division All-Star selections.
Shawn Lemon was a force along the Argonauts defensive line in 2016 after landing in Toronto via trade with Saskatchewan in July. The Argonauts Most Outstanding Defensive Player ranked second in the CFL with 14 sacks and five forced fumbles while adding 23 tackles and a fumble recovery in 18 games. Lemon registered multiple sacks on five different occasions this season, a feat only accomplished by one other player, while recording the team’s highest single-season sack total since 2003.
Kicker Lirim Hajrullahu put together a career year in his first season in Double Blue en route to being named a Division All-Star for the first time in his career. The third-year specialist connected on 37-of-42 field goal attempts this season while averaging 43.9 yards on 112 punts. His 88.1% field goal percentage not only set a career-high, but led the East Division and ranked second in the CFL in the category. The Argonauts Most Outstanding Canadian and Special Teams Player etched his name in team history earlier this season, converting 15 straight field goals across five games to tie Noel Prefontaine for the club’s third-longest streak. His six field goals in Week 3 against the BC Lions marked the second-most in the team’s single-game history, while his 53-yard connection in Week 6 against Ottawa tied a career-long.