CALGARY - He doesn't catch as many passes or score as many touchdowns as the better-known members of the Montreal Alouettes receiving corps, but Brian Bratton plays a key role nonetheless.

"I would say he's our most valuable receiver because he's the guy who knows every position," receivers coach and former quarterback Marcus Brady said Friday. "If someone goes down, he's the one who has to step in.

"And he's a great team guy. We get the ball to Kerry Watkins or Jamel Richardson or Ben Cahoon and he takes what's left over. But he makes the most of it, which we depend on him to do."

Bratton is one of the unsung heroes on an Alouettes team that went 15-3 this season and faces the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Grey Cup game on Sunday.

Rookie defensive backs Jerald Brown and Billy Parker, along with young tackles Jeff Perrett and Josh Bourke have flown under the radar despite strong play for most of the season, but none has made more of an impact than 27-year-old Bratton.

The third-year wide receiver from Augusta, Ga., was especially prominent in the CFL East Division final last week when he snared two touchdown passes in Montreal's 56-18 win over the B.C. Lions.

He also popped up on highlight reels with a one-handed - and left-handed at that - grab for a long gain on the opening play from scrimmage on Oct. 12 against Calgary.

"The one-handed one, that's No. 1, and the second one last week was up there too," Bratton said when asked to rate his best grabs. "But Cahoon's catches and Kerry and Jamel's catches, you put them all together and it gets us to this point."

Watkins led the Alouettes with 81 catches for 1,243 yards, second in the league to Edmonton's Fred Stamps. Richardson was sixth in the CFL with 1,055 yards on 85 grabs while Cahoon was eighth with a league-leading 89 catches for 1,031 verges - his eighth straight 1,000-yard campaign.

Bratton had 58 catches for 613 yards, similar numbers to the 54 and 636 the third-year pro put up last season.

"I think last year was better," said Bratton, who also returns kicks alongside special-teams star Larry Taylor. "I had some big plays this year that people will talk about, but last year was where I gained confidence from my teammates and coaches.

"I made a mark to where this year I could come back and they could count on me. I never doubted myself, but you have to show it and I think I did."

He certainly impressed Cahoon, a likely future Hall of Famer who is in his 12th season as an Alouette.

"He hasn't received the attention that Kerry, Jamel or me received but his role has been invaluable," said Cahoon. "He knows every position on the field and played them when we needed them.

"And he's made plays consistently. I think he dropped one ball the whole year. That's a pretty nice safety net to have."

Bratton said he doesn't need fame to keep him going.

"I don't know if they go to me less, but they go to me in certain situations," he said. "A lot of things run through the big three, but we're all involved in this offence.

"I'm a coachable player. I'm told what my responsibility is and I go do it. You can see on film or in how the game plays out how important your role is and take pride in it yourself. You don't need anybody else to tell you how important you are."