We all know that the publicity machine in pro sports hums away, non-stop, giving the stars their due.
But sometimes the process can miss out on some worthy candidates, who are doing great work just below the surface being skimmed by that machine.
With that in mind, here’s a list of underated CFL players, one from each team.
SEVEN MCGEE | KICK RETURNER | BC LIONS
I doubt he’s underrated in British Columbia. But beyond that? League-wide? Seven McGee’s name would appear down the list when it comes to the CFL’s most feared kick returners. But it shouldn’t.
The reason for that would probably be the lack of sexy splashes in the form of touchdowns; last season, McGee had one major, on a 93-yard punt return.
But look at those overall numbers. McGee’s rookie season saw him rack up 516 punt return yards and 1,196 kick-off return yards. In 14 games.
He finished seventh in the CFL in combined yards without a single touch on offence.
KENNETH LOGAN JR. | DEFENSIVE BACK | EDMONTON ELKS
Kenneth Logan Jr. said “I’LL TAKE THAT!”
Edmonton gets their fourth interception of the game!#CFLGameday
📅: @GoElk vs. Argonauts LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, CTV
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/K5SXDuRxop— CFL (@CFL) September 13, 2025
Kenneth Logan Jr. didn’t even join the Elks until the 2025 preseason was over, but he was a quick enough study that he got his first start in Week 4 and played in 16 games in his rookie season.
And what a great season, even if the likes of fellow defenders such as Kordell Jackson, Joel Dublanko, Chelen Garnes and Tyrell Ford got more attention.
Logan led the Elks with 15 special teams tackles but also made his mark on the defence, with 47 tackles, three sacks and three interceptions.
MICAH TEITZ | LINEBACKER | CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Calgary defence steps up again!
Micah Teitz gets the pick and flips the momentum!#CFLGameday
📅: @calstampeders vs. Lions LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/CEYaO1AbXF— CFL (@CFL) October 5, 2025
There was a time when Micah Teitz was not an underrated player, named the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Canadian back in 2021.
But since then, Teitz has not been so celebrated. His first season in Calgary, in 2024, was not a banner one, that’s true.
But in 2025, Teitz was quietly quite productive, totalling 48 tackles and an interception, starting at both middle linebacker and weakside, when injuries knocked out Calgary starters.
Teitz signed an extension with the Stamps this off-season and may be looking at a bigger role in Calgary in 2026.
NICK WIEBE | LINEBACKER | SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Linebacker Nick Wiebe had 20 special teams tackles for the Riders in 2025 (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
Like Seven McGee is in BC, Nick Wiebe is probably fully-valued in Saskatchewan, but maybe not so much league-wide. Not yet, anyway.
Drafted in 2024, most of Wiebe’s rookie season was swept away by a knee injury and the surgery and rehab that followed.
Last season, Wiebe arrived as one of the league’s best special teams tacklers, racking up 20 in 16 games and being named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
TOMMY NIELD | RECEIVER | WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
All Tommy Nield has ever done, since being drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in 2021, is catch most of the balls that are thrown his way.
His career catch percentage stands at 72.4, including a 79.2 mark last season, while with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He’s not going to get 100+ targets like the star receivers do, but could he get 80? If so, Nield could be in line for an 800-yard season.
Whatever the number of balls thrown his way, you can bet Tommy Nield is gonna catch three quarters of them.
GORDON WHYTE | LONG SNAPPER | HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
Long snapper Gordon Whyte was drafted 67th overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2019 CFL Draft (Ticats.ca)
It is so important to a football team to have a man who can fire that ball back with velocity and accuracy, even if they don’t get a lot of publicity for it. Like offensive linemen, long snappers don’t get their name called that often unless they’ve made a mistake.
Since 2021, Gordon Whyte has anchored the Ticats’ special teams operations, and he hasn’t had his name called very often at all.
Except on his 22 career special teams tackles, or when he finally had to miss some action in 2025 (he’d played in every Ticat game since 2021) and it could be seen how valuable he is to the team.
ISAAC DARKANGELO | LINEBACKER | TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Linebacker Isaac Darkangelo is going into his third season with the Argonauts (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
With Wynton McManis gone to Hamilton in free agency, 2026 offers Isaac Darkangelo the opportunity to be underrated no more.
Darkangelo’s first CFL season — in 2024 — actually saw him released by the Argos midway through before he was re-signed a few weeks later.
In 2025, and with McManis on the injured list for a stretch, Darkangelo got the opportunity to get on the field more often and he showed great promise with 60 tackles while tying for the league lead with four forced fumbles.
He continued to produce on specials as well, with 22 tackles.
LUCAS CORMIER | LINEBACKER | OTTAWA REDBLACKS
Another look at the DIVING interception from Lucas Cormier! WOW!#CFLGameDay
🗓️: Lions vs. @REDBLACKS LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN
🇺🇸: CBSSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/Bs6lDnhHkJ— CFL (@CFL) September 6, 2025
The Ottawa REDBLACKS might be stacked at linebacker, but they need to find ways to get Lucas Cormier on the field more often.
In signing Canadian A.J. Allen in free agency, the REDBLACKS bolstered their weakside linebacker position and in Cormier, they have a more than adequate replacement should Allen lose any time to injury.
Cormier popped n 2025, when given more playing time on defence, nabbing an interception and chipping in with a sack as well as 32 tackles in 10 games.
GEOFFREY CANTIN-ARKU | LINEBACKER | MONTREAL ALOUETTES
STUFFED!
Geoffrey Cantin-Arku gets in for the sack! #CFLGameDay
🗓️: @MTLAlouettes vs. Elks LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, RDS
🇺🇸: CBSSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/gymhlGa0Oz— CFL (@CFL) June 20, 2025
The release of middle linebacker Darnell Sankey — nearly two months ahead of free agency — had many asking whether the Alouettes’ braintrust had lost their minds.
But the Als figure they absolutely must have Cantin-Arku on the field as much as humanly possible, after the 27-year-old native of Lévis, QC made 38 tackles, forced three fumbles, picked off a pass and tallied four sacks in limited reps in 2025.
He did the same kind of thing in 2024, too.
The Alouettes are not underrating him. It appears no one else ought to either.
