Former Vik Alexander is the toast of football in Canada
Former Portland State quarterback Davis Alexander is lighting it up for the Montreal Alouettes (courtesy Troy Wayrynen/PSU athletics)
The leading candidate for the Most Outstanding Player in the Canadian Football League this season played his college ball at a Division I school in Oregon — and he wasn’t a Beaver or a Duck.
Davis Alexander, the quarterback of the Montreal Alouettes, was at Portland State from 2016-21, a six-year stint that included a redshirt first season and the 2020 Covid campaign in which the Vikings played only one game.
Today the 5-11, 210-pound Alexander is drawing raves for his production in leading the Alouettes (11-3) to the best record in the CFL, and a prediction that he will be the league’s MOP.
“It is Davis Alexander’s award to lose,” writes Pat Steinberg of CFL.ca.
“Davis is a freak,” says Marshall Ferguson, play-by-play announcer for The Sports Network in Hamilton, Ontario. “(The MOP) is Davis’ right now. I have enjoyed watching him play so much.”
“I don’t know about awards,” Winnipeg Blue Bombers assistant coach Richie Hall tells me, “but Davis has had a great year.”
Indeed. Through 14 games, Alexander leads the CFL in pass completion percentage (71.4) and ranks second in passing yardage (4,414), touchdown passes (29) and completions (454). Toronto’s Chad Kelly has thrown for 4,777 yards and 31 TDs, but has served up 22 interceptions to only three for Alexander.
“When he was at Portland State, I thought that he would be able to make it in the CFL,” says June Jones, the former PSU quarterback and offensive coordinator who coached three years in Canada. “I watched him on TV the other night, and he proved he can. He will probably get the (MOP).”
“Davis is having an incredible year,” says Matt Leunen, offensive coordinator during Alexander’s time on the Park Blocks. “I have always known he was capable. We saw what he could do at Portland State.”
I spoke with Alexander from his home in Montreal as the Alouettes were on a bye week.
“Things are going pretty well,” he tells me in an understatement. “You can’t imagine having a year like this. We are just trying to keep stacking wins. It has been a dream, honestly. We just have to find a way to keep it rolling, that’s all.”
This season, Alexander set a CFL record by throwing 324 passes without an interception.
“That is definitely meaningful,” says Alexander, the CFL Player of the Month for July. “We talk about turnover margin all the time and how important that is to winning games. We are careful about protecting the ball while also taking shots downfield. We have been really efficient. It has been a lot of fun.”
Alexander was a two-time league MVP and first-team all-state as a senior at Gig Harbor (Wash.) High in 2015. A bit undersized and ignored by the major schools, he committed early his senior season to Portland State. The Vikings were on their way to one of the greatest seasons in their history, going 9-3 with wins over FBS opponents Washington State and Texas State and Big Sky foes Montana and Montana State. Head coach Bruce Barnum, named the FCS National Coach of the Year, took the Vikings to the playoffs.
“I had a great relationship with Coach Barnum and coaches (Steve) Cooper and (Nick) Whitworth when they were recruiting me,” Alexander says. “There was a family feel to the program, and they were the first team to offer me. We had a true connection. The other part of it was, (Portland) was far enough away from home, but my family could still watch me play. That was important to me.”
Alexander started 37 games during his time on the Park Blocks, including three during his redshirt freshman season in 2017. He became a full-time starter as a sophomore in 2018 and ended his career ranked second behind Neil Lomax in nearly every passing category, including yardage (9,200), total offense (10,743), completions (708) and touchdowns (63).
During his sophomore and junior seasons, Alexander rushed for nearly 1,000 collective yards.
“Part of that was running out of sheer fear at times,” he says with a chuckle. “I ended up getting hit quite a lot. I tried to change my game up a little bit and became more of a true pocket passer with the ability to extend after that.”
When I ask Leunen if Alexander’s listed height is accurate, he replies, “They are giving him a couple of inches.”
We laugh, and he says, “Davis plays a lot bigger than what it says on paper.”
Leunen spent 20 years at Portland State — from 2005-09 as a player, from 2010-25 as a coach.
“He is one of the best, if not the best, (quarterback) during my time there,” says Leunen, now an assistant coach at Cleveland High while working for Amazon. “He made a lot of plays. What everybody really liked was his competitiveness. He was a true competitor. He is a hard-working dude who loves football and does everything he can to extend plays and find the open man.
“Canada got a really good quarterback. He can run, he can throw — what can’t the guy do?”
At Portland State, he couldn’t win. In 2017, the Vikings went 0-11. They were 4-7 in 2018, 5-7 in 2019 and 5-6 in 2021. In games in which Alexander started, PSU was 14-23.
“It wasn’t quite the success we wanted from a winning standpoint,” Davis says. “But you don’t remember the games as much as being with your guys, your best friends in college. It was about living life together, going on trips, attacking the same goals every single day while having the best time of your life, honestly.”
Barnum handed the reins to the offense to Alexander and let him do the job.
“I loved playing for Barney,” he says. “He always had our backs. There were some tough circumstances for him, but there was never a doubt about whether Coach Barnum cared for you.”
Alexander decided soon after his senior season that he wasn’t going to try for a spot in the NFL. He signed with Montreal in February 2022, figuring his playing style was well-equipped for the CFL.
“That is what Coach Barnum told me,” Davis says. “That is what June Jones told him, too, because he came to a couple of practices. I always felt like I had one of the strongest arms and the ability to scramble, which fits well with the CFL. It seemed like the perfect fit.”
Jones, offensive coordinator for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1986 and head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017 and ’18, saw game video of Alexander.
“Barnum was high on him, so I looked at him a little closer when I went to practice,” says Jones, whose coaching resume includes stints as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers. “And I said, ‘You may be right on this guy.’ ”
Jones called a coach he knew with the Alouettes and recommended they put Alexander on the “neg (negotiations) list,” which made him eligible as a U.S. player to negotiate a contract with them.
“You have to be an accurate passer in Canada,” says Jones, now retired and living in Honolulu. “You only get three pops at it (three downs to make a first down). You don’t have to be a runner, but if you have good feet to slide around in the pocket and get more space, it is an advantage. He looked like he was that kind of quarterback.”
Alexander made the team but was third-string in 2022 and ’23, playing sparingly. But in ’23, he got a ring. Montreal knocked off Winnipeg 28-24 in the Grey Cup, and though he didn’t get into the game, Davis was a champion.
In 2024, due to an injury to starter Cody Fajardo and lackluster play by backup Caleb Evans, Alexander got to start four games and went 4-0.
He became the starter in 2025 and led Montreal to a 3-0 start before suffering a hamstring injury that forced him to miss 10 games. He came back at the end of the regular season and started the last four games, going 7-0 as a starter for the year.
In the East semifinals against Winnipeg, Alexander completed 24 of 34 passes for 384 yards and a TD in a 42-33 win. In the East finals against Hamilton, he connected 19 of 26 attempts for 210 yards and a score and ran for 64 yards in a 19-16 triumph.
Alexander, who led the Alouettes to the Grey Cup finals in 2025, may win one this season (courtesy Davis Alexander)
That led the Alouettes to a return to the Grey Cup, where they fell 25-17 to Saskatchewan. Alexander was 22 of 34 passing for 284 yards, but with no touchdowns and three interceptions. Davis looks back at it with the glass half full.
“We were down 25-7 and never felt like we were out of it,” he says. Trailing 25-17 with less than three minutes remaining, the Alouettes lost a fumble at the Roughriders’ goal line. The defense got a stop, and Alexander launched a Hail Mary pass from midfield that fell incomplete as time expired.
“We truly felt like we were always in it,” he says. “That speaks to the nature of this team. We lost, but I was able to have 18 or 20 family members and friends at the game. I am thankful that they were there for it.”
This season has been even better. Montreal won its first two games, making Alexander 13-0 as a starter — the best start for a QB in CFL history.
“That was one of the cooler things I have been able to accomplish,” he says. “But we talk about it all the time — it wasn’t about Davis Alexander, it was about the guys around me. No matter how good you play at quarterback, you can’t do it by yourself. It was an incredible honor for all of us. We are all a part of history.”
Leadership skills, toughness and competitiveness make Alexander a favorite with his teammates and respected by opponents (courtesy Troy Wayrynen/PSU athletics)
Alexander has been at his best this season. When I ask teammate Dylan Wynn and Winnipeg defensive assistant coach Richie Hall about him, their comments are remarkably similar.
“The first word that comes to mind when I think of Davis is ‘competitor,’ ” says Wynn, the former Oregon State standout who is in his third season with Montreal and 12th in pro ball — two with the Cleveland Browns and the last 10 in the CFL. “I have had the privilege of playing with a lot of very good quarterbacks. Davis is up there in the competition category. Everything he does is a competition, from games to practice to off-field. The man is a competitor.
“He is intense. He knows how to lead from the front. You know you are going to get everything out of him every play. He is not scared to run somebody over. He is more the hammer (than the nail), and that tends to be not the norm at quarterback. As a D-lineman, I have a soft spot in my heart for him because of how he plays the game.”
To that point, Hall says Alexander has a “linebacker mentality.”
“Davis is a real competitor and leader — feisty and tough,” the Blue Bombers defensive assistant says. “Sometimes we talk about quarterbacks. He doesn’t fit the mold of a natural quarterback. He thrives on contact. He is aggressive. When he steps in the pocket, he is a tough son of a gun. He will take a hit to make a play.”
Wynn, who won a Grey Cup with Toronto in 2017 and has been a three-time CFL East All-Star, is a fan of Alexander the person, too.
“Great dude, great teammate,” Wynn says. “Salt of the earth. Always there when you need him. Hangs out with the guys. In the pros, quarterbacks have a much longer work day than the rest of us. He handles that with grace and leads the team by example, not just talk. He is so passionate about the game.”
Alexander says he has learned much from Jason Maas, the former Oregon QB who is in his fourth season as Montreal’s head coach.
“He is like the dream coach,” Davis says. “He shoots straight, black and white. He is as intense a coach as I have ever been around — there are no days off with Coach Maas, how about that? — but we know how much he loves all of his players. I truly think he would die for any one of us.”
Alexander makes his offseason home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“But I have been trying to get back to Montreal a little sooner every year,” he says. “Last year, I spent about four months in Arizona. This year, I am shooting for three months.”
He has grown fond of the city of Montreal, with a population of 4.4 million in its metropolitan area, 70 percent of whom speak French as a first language.
“Montreal is the best,” Alexander says. “The people here are so nice. The vibe is amazing. My family loves it. We are blessed to be here.”
Does he speak French?
“Not well enough,” he says. “I plan on taking classes in the offseason.”
•
This year’s Montreal team appears to be the best Alexander has played on. The Alouettes are three games ahead of second-place Toronto in the CFL East. A victory over Winnipeg in their next game on October 3 can clinch a first-round bye, with three more regular-season games to play. That would send them into the conference finals for the fifth straight year and get them one win from landing in the Grey Cup — for the third time in five years — on November 15 at Calgary.
“We are in a great spot,” Alexander says, “but we are not taking anything for granted.”
What is the secret to the Alouettes’ success?
“We are probably the most close-knit group in the league,” he says. “We do so much stuff outside of the facility. All the guys love each other. It is truly a culture Coach Maas has worked on for his four years here. We trust each other, and we never try to do too much. Everyone has his specific role. When you have good players around you, you don’t have to try to do too much.”
Alexander, who turns 28 on October 20, is entering his prime years as an athlete.
“Since I didn’t play much my first few years (in Montreal), I feel younger,” he says. “I feel like I am 22 or 23.”
Alexander is making about $400,000 in U.S. dollars this season. That is a pittance compared to players in the NFL, where the minimum rookie salary is $885,000, scaling up to $1.3 million for seven seasons or more.
Does Davis see himself playing his entire pro career in Canada?
“Yeah,” he says. “There isn’t much that would take me to the NFL. I love my teammates. I love this team. They have treated me so well. There might be scenarios where I would consider it, but I am committed and loyal to Montreal. I want to be here for a long time.”
For now, he is living the high life, with a team that could win the Grey Cup, and as the odds-on favorite to win the George Reed trophy as the league’s Most Outstanding Player.
“That, with the Grey Cup, would be the cherry on top,” he says. “It has been brought up. I try not to think about it too much. Coach Maas has emphasized to me, ‘You have to make sure you are still playing playoff football, that you are not turning the ball over.’
“I have social media. I see (talk about his MOP chances) everywhere. I am not immune to it, but there is a lot going on with the team. It is all about winning games and giving us the best opportunity to do that. That’s what I am focused solely on.”
► ◄
Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.
Follow me on BlueSky.
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).
Like me on Facebook.
Find me on Instagram.
