FOUR BLUE BOMBERS NAMED WEST DIVISION ALL-STARS

[ModAdmin]

FOUR BLUE BOMBERS NAMED WEST DIVISION ALL-STARS


WINNIPEG, MB., October 29, 2025 –  The Canadian Football League today unveiled its 2025 divisional all-star teams, with four members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers named to the West squad.

Honoured as West Division All-Stars are receiver Nic Demski, linebacker Tony Jones, defensive halfback Evan Holm and kick returner Trey Vaval.

The voting for this round was conducted by members of The Football Reporters of Canada, the FRC's national chapter and head coaches in the West Division.

Nic Demski has been named a West Division All-Star for the fifth straight year after pulling in 67 receptions for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing the last two games of the regular season after he suffered a hamstring injury. Those totals led the club and marked the third straight campaign he has cracked the 1,000-yards receiving mark. Demski posted three 100-yard games this year, with a season-high 146 yards on seven receptions in a game against Calgary on July 19th.

Tony Jones earned the first All-Star nod of his career and in his second year with the Blue Bombers. The Texas Tech product led the team with 104 total tackles – 102 on defence, two more on special teams -- while adding three quarterback sacks, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery. His 102 tackles was the sixth-highest in franchise history, behind only Barrin Simpson (112 in 2007, 110 in 2006), Greg Battle (108 in 1989), Henoc Muamba (106 in 2016) and Adam Bighill (105 in 2018).

Evan Holm has been named a West Division All-Star for the second time in his career, having previously been saluted in 2023. Selected as the Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Defensive Player this year, he finished with 55 defensive tackles, adding six more on special teams, and finished with a team-leading four interceptions, six pass knockdowns, a tackle for loss and two forced fumbles.

Trey Vaval has had a sensational rookie season and, in addition to being named the Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Rookie Player and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player, has now earned his first all-star nod.

Vaval led the CFL in punt returns (75) and punt return yards (957) and ranked fifth in kickoff return yards (918, on 37 returns). He also led the CFL in missed field goal return yards with 391, having established a new Blue Bombers record in that department, eclipsing Albert Johnson III's total of 277, set in 2000.

Vaval led the CFL with four kick-return touchdowns this season – two on kickoff returns and one via punt and missed field goal returns. His 128-yard missed field goal return vs. Ottawa in September was the longest in club history and in the same contest established a new CFL single-game record with 199 yards on missed field goal returns.
Vaval also made four starts at cornerback this season and registered 21 defensive tackles, adding four more on special teams, while intercepting his first career pass against Montreal on August 21st.

[Pigskin]

Brady should have been an all-star.

BO20:  15 games.   1163 rushing , 5.79 avg.  546 receiving, 8.95 avg.   Total 1709 yards.

Mills:    18 games.   1409 rushing, 5.64  avg.  292 receiving, 8.85 avg.  Total  1701 yards.

[Tecno]

Brady should have been an all-star.

Mills being healthy for 3 more games may have been the difference maker.

[Pete]

Brady should have been an all-star.

BO20:  15 games.   1163 rushing , 5.79 avg.  546 receiving, 8.95 avg.   Total 1709 yards.

Mills:    18 games.   1409 rushing, 5.64  avg.  292 receiving, 8.85 avg.  Total  1701 yards.

I actually thought Rankin was the better rb this year 1012 rushing 713 receiving total 1725 Plus he was a huge difference maker especially in the 2nd half of season

[bunker]

A sign of the fall off in talent on this team. We use to dominate these awards.

[Tecno]

I actually thought Rankin was the better rb this year 1012 rushing 713 receiving total 1725 Plus he was a huge difference maker especially in the 2nd half of season

Ya, Rankin, and Butler was also very good.  And I guess SSK fans would say Oullette was good.  As a fantasy player I keep close track of which RBs are producing -- they tend to be expensive for their fantasy points.  It probably was very close in the West.

In the East it was easy peasy.  OTT only had aged Stanback not doing much, TOR basically had no run game, and MTL cycled through a ton of mostly nobodies.  So Bell wins in a landslide.

[Tecno]

A sign of the fall off in talent on this team. We use to dominate these awards

But is it the chicken or the egg?  Is it that these players were so good that they made their teams the top teams?  Or that because they are on the top teams the voters give them more weight?  Hard to tell.

It appears that every year they mostly pick from the top teams in each division, throwing in a couple of token picks to the bad teams.

[bunker]

But is it the chicken or the egg?  Is it that these players were so good that they made their teams the top teams?  Or that because they are on the top teams the voters give them more weight?  Hard to tell.

It appears that every year they mostly pick from the top teams in each division, throwing in a couple of token picks to the bad teams.

Teams are at the top in large part because they have more talent. Who really deserved mention on Bombers that did not not get it? Brady maybe. Jones was good, but his tackle total probably benefited from our scheme, and the fact that are DT's aren't very good and don't get tackles. Holm deserved it. Nichols has fallen off a bit. Even if we lucked out a few games and went 12-6, I can't see us getting many more players on the team. As a comparison, in 2021 we had 15 players make the western all star team. IMO Walters has really regressed as GM and should be gone, but I don't expect it to happen. Now watch them win the cup and make a fool of me lol.

[The Fresh Prince Of Belair, MB]

Number of all-stars per team:
HAM-11
MTL-11
SSK-10
CAL-7
BC-6
WPG-4
OTT-3
TOR-2
EDM-0

[dd]

Number of all-stars per team:
HAM-11
MTL-11
SSK-10
CAL-7
BC-6
WPG-4
OTT-3
TOR-2
EDM-0

That seems about right, aside from rankin I couldn't name a football player in Edmonton that stood out this year, still think rankin was robbed of an allstar award