It’s easy to say now when you look back on the entire body of work, but Makai Polk spent the first two-thirds of his rookie season getting a feel for what the CFL is like for a receiver playing in Canada for the first time.
There’s the concept of the waggle, then learning its cadence. There’s dealing with an extra defender on this longer, wider field. Then there’s all of the other dynamics that playing professional football on a team for the first time present, like building chemistry with your quarterbacks and learning to work within the offensive scheme.
Through his first 10 games this year, the six-foot-three, 197-pound receiver had 350 yards and two touchdowns off of 28 catches. They were decent numbers for a first-year player. From Week 14 through Week 21, Polk seemed to have exponential growth every time he stepped on the field. He went over the 100-yard mark five times in his final seven games and finished the season as the Argos’ leading receiver, with 1,024 yards.
