Tuesday Morning QB (CFL Week 12)
With the start of the NFL season, there is plenty of talk about how the game has evolved into a pass first league.
The CFL has been there for a very long time as the wider field and three downs force the Canadian game to be a passing game.
Teams need to be able to throw the ball if they want to find their way to the Grey Cup as it isn’t really a choice.
As a result, the quarterback position has always been the most important position in the CFL and every team is always looking for that stable leader under centre.
Many teams have been looking for a while and are continuing to look while others have found their guy.
When the CFL season started this year every team seemed to be settled at the position with young guns and veterans taking their spots and all looking like good options.
What was tougher for most teams was the guy behind the guy as the depth in the league at the position was not that great.
It can be tough to keep two quarterbacks in the fold for any team and no matter how much some teams just hope for development nobody ever really knows if their backup can step up.
There is a worry among many teams that if they lose their top guy there isn’t much left behind them.
The Toronto Argonauts got a taste of this when they lost Ricky Ray for a game and saw a terrible performance from Jeff Mathews and Cody Fajardo.
It was the worst nightmare for so many teams throughout the league as they often have great quarterbacks up front but behind is a mystery.
Nobody wanted to go through what the Argos went through and although some teams were better off they all hoped that they could make progress on the season with their starters.
Week 12 changed that plan for a number of teams as three quarterbacks ended the week with questions about when or if they will return.
The bad week for QB started in the first game when the BC Lions saw their starting QB go down and the news the next day was not good.
The entire season has been a debate in BC as Jonathan Jennings began the season as the starter only to go down with injury and give Travis Lulay a chance to start.
From there it was back and forth until Wally Buono made the call to start Lulay for the rest of the year.
Against Montreal, Lulay went down and Jennings came back in but after the game, it became clear that Jennings was going to be the starter going forward.
Lulay tore his ACL in the game and will not be back for the rest of the season meaning that Jennings needs to take over and needs to get over his risk taking if the Lions want to make the playoffs.
Just east was another big loss as the Banjo Bowl saw the Saskatchewan Roughriders lose their veteran starter.
Kevin Glenn went down in the big game and left Brandon Bridge to finish the game.
Glenn was always supposed to be the stabilizing force this year after the loss of Darian Durant and Bridge was generally considered a good QB who wasn’t ready.
The future for the Riders is unknown as Bridge could take over but Glenn is only day-to-day with his injured hand.
If he doesn’t suit up for Week 13, Glenn will give up his spot to one of the most promising Canadian quarterbacks in the CFL in the last few years.
Bridge could start a game or two and if he can start and make better decisions the future might have arrived in Riderville.
Then in the east, the slow-starting REDBLACKS were just getting going and beginning to work their way to the playoffs.
With Trevor Harris getting into a groove in his first year as a starter for the team the REDBLACKS were moving up the standings.
Then the momentum seemed to come to a crash as Harris went down with a shoulder injury that will apparently keep him out for a significant time.
It makes the move that the REDBLACKS made in the off-season a good one as the trade for Drew Tate means that Ottawa has a legitimate backup that they can rely on.
None of these teams were planning on using their backups especially not this late in the year with the playoff race heating up.
Some may have to do it for a while but others might not have to do it at all, either way, it will make the rest of the season interesting for some of them.
It will highlight the importance of the position in the CFL as some teams could begin to falter without their starters while others might just find a special talent for the future.
The next few weeks will determine the future though as some QBs have a chance to show what they have and make an impression and whether they are successful or not will determine the futures for some of these teams.
Fourth Down
CFL Week Staying West
The league created a brand new way to display the best of the league when they created the CFL Week. The week consists of fan events that bring the biggest fans together with the biggest names in the game. It also culminates in the CFL Combine where the top prospects for the league get their chance to impress. The first CFL Week was in Regina and in 2018 the event will take place out west again as Winnipeg will play host.
Returning to the North
The NFL cuts came in and a number of players began looking north of the border for a home to play football again. That was great news for the Edmonton Eskimos who have been hurting all year with injuries throughout their roster. The better news for the team was that Derel Walker didn’t get a chance with an NFL team and so he decided to head back to the City of Champions. If he can work his way back to his performance from a year ago the Eskimos may have gotten a big boost for the playoff run.
Reinforcements in Riderville
The Eskimos weren’t the only team getting reinforcements thanks to the NFL cuts as Saskatchewan got a good piece of their defence back. Jeff Knox Jr. was attempting to make the Buccaneers but couldn’t make it past the final cuts. He returns to the city he spent two seasons with and hopes to add to their impressive resurgence that could result in a playoff berth.
The Sport Addiction 