Mike O’Shea: Willie Jefferson still ‘most dominant defensive lineman’ in CFL

Samantha Keen/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Willie Jefferson has already matched his sack total from last season, recording three in his first five games this season.

However, according to his head coach, the sacks are secondary — he’d still be the best pass-rusher in the CFL without recording a single one.

“Willie could have no sacks right now, and he’d still be the most dominant defensive lineman in the league,” said Mike O’Shea.

“I just think people spend too much time staring at his stat line, but he’s always affected the game. He’s always been that guy, so there’s numbers now to it, which I don’t really care about the numbers. He is making a mess back there. Whether it adds up to a sack or not, offences need to account for him, and every single game, he’s creating havoc, whether it adds up to a stat or not.”

O’Shea’s comments were made in the immediate aftermath of a 30-21 win for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night. Jefferson recorded two sacks in the victory, drawing him within one of the league lead.

Sacks are arguably an overrated statistic, as they don’t always illustrate how impactful a pass rusher is from play to play. With that said, it’s not just the sacks that are way up for Jefferson this season — it’s the pressures, too.

Through four games, Pro Football Focus (PFF) credited Jefferson with 21 pressures on opposing quarterbacks, which ranked second-best league-wide.

Though O’Shea didn’t see a drop off last year, PFF did. The analytics firm credited Jefferson with only 37 pressures in 2025, a rate of 2.2 per game. This was a significant reduction from the previous three years, when he averaged 3.8 per game from 2022 to 2024.

Over his first four games of 2025, Jefferson averaged 5.3. It’s a small sample size, but it’s an indication that his play has not only returned to previous levels but exceeded them.

“I just want to be dominant for my team, and just keep getting to the quarterback,” said Jefferson. “My young guys are keeping me young. I want to show them what it is to be great, what it is to be consistent, what it is to be dominant. I want to be able to lead by example.”

The biggest reason for Jefferson’s early-season renaissance is arguably the addition of Jake Ceresna, who signed with the team in free agency. The two-time All-CFL selection is tied for the league lead in sacks with four, and has drawn extra blockers away from Jefferson at times, giving him more room to work off the edge.

Even with Ceresna’s presence along the defensive line, Jefferson still believes he draws more extra blockers than any edge rusher in the CFL.

“I feel like I’m the most double-teamed defensive end in the league,” said the 35-year-old. “When they want to double-team Jake and give me the one-on-one, it’s my opportunity to win, but if they want to double-team me or send the line to me, then it gives the other guys on the line opportunity to win.”

Jefferson also believes he’s playing the run better this year. He has eight tackles on the season, which is already more than half of what he tallied in 2025.

“I’m just trying to be an all-around force,” he said. “First down, trying to stop the run. Second down, trying to get off the field. Whatever I can do to help this team win, to help our defence be dominant, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Winnipeg’s defensive line underwent an overhaul this past offseason.

Jake Thomas retired to become the team’s defensive line coach with Cameron Lawson stepping up into the starting role Thomas vacated. Ceresna starts alongside him in the interior, while rookie David Reese appears to have won the other starting defensive end spot, which initially went to Kydran Jenkins after training camp.

According to O’Shea, the unit’s cohesiveness and direction is helping them all achieve success together.

“I think we have a group of defensive linemen that understand the value of working together, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Jake Thomas is pushing them in that direction every single day.”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-2) will visit the Ottawa Redblacks (0-5) on Sunday, July 19 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Blue Bombers are coming off a 30-21 win over the Toronto Argonauts, while the Redblacks lost 40-17 against the Edmonton Elks.

The weather forecast in Ottawa calls for a high of 27 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 680 CJOB in Winnipeg or TSN 1200 in Ottawa.