Another week, another CFL quarterback injury. This time it was Winnipeg QB Drew Willy who went down with a hit to the head in Thursday night’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (Luckily, Willy was back at practice today, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.)
In this week’s roundtable, featuring members of Sportsnet.ca’s CFL panel on three hot-button issues, we discuss whether the league needs to take action to protect its pivots, as well as look at the surprising Ottawa Redblacks, who are 2-0 and tied with the Toronto Argos for the league’s best record.
Which backup QB has been most impressive?
Donnovan Bennett: Rakeem Cato came off the practice roster to play lights out and Kevin Glenn has more wins in the last five years than anybody, but I reluctantly have to go with Trevor Harris. He threw some dirtballs to some wide-open receivers in situations, but he’s undefeated in two road games against good defences. He’s exceeded all expectations by a long shot.
Justin Dunk: Rakeem Cato, hands down. No one outside of the Montreal locker room thought the Alouettes would be able to knock off the 2014 Grey Cup champs with a true rookie quarterback. Cato was decisive and accurate in his first-ever CFL start.
Arash Madani: The easy answer is Trevor Harris—the 85-yard touchdown drive in 68 seconds to force OT in the hornets’ nest that is Mosaic Stadium, to follow-up his show over Edmonton. But the Argos registered their third first down of the second half more than 25 minutes into the game in Regina, and twice Harris was short on throws to open receivers in big spots. Darian Durant isn’t coming back, and Kevin Glenn is called the best insurance policy in the CFL for a reason—33-of-40 for 477 and two touchdowns is tremendous.
Jamie Thomas: It would be easy to say Rakeem Cato here, but I like the Argos’ Trevor Harris because of a bigger body of work. The win against the Eskimos was an impressive debut and he followed it up with another victory at Regina. The poise he showed on the tying TD drive in the fourth and then in OT was nothing short of brilliant.
With the number of starting-quarterback injuries mounting, does the league need to do more to protect QBs?
Bennett: No, I’ve always rejected the notion that the knee or brain of a QB is worth more protection than that of a running back or receiver. If we want to increase player safety it should be across the board. The rules in both the CFL and NFL are already heavily slanted to protect signal callers. All of the hits on QBs that caused injury were either clean or unavoidable. Willy’s hit looks bad in slow motion but when a tall QB ducks it’s impossible to change your strike path in milliseconds. In the case of Darian Durant he was hurt with no contact at all.
Dunk: In a contact sport like football, injuries are inevitable at all positions. It’s a fluke that so many quarterbacks have been hurt to begin the season. That said, blows like the one Adrian Tracy delivered on Drew Willy, who was in a vulnerable and defenceless position, need to be punished harshly.
Madani: They can start by actually penalizing vicious helmet-to-helmet blows and roughing the passer when it’s blatantly obvious. Look at the shot that took out Dan LeFevour in Week 1, then Drew Willy in Week 2—neither, incredibly, had a flag thrown in those spots. A fine is not a deterrent. Penalizing the team at the point of the infraction, then suspending the player, does.
Thomas: Yes. It concerns me that some feel the hit that knocked Drew Willy out in Week 2 was merely unfortunate. The Ti-Cats’ Adrian Tracy led with helmet and should have been penalized. The league needs to punish those types of hits.
The Ottawa Redblacks matching their win total from last year in Week 2 is _______?
Bennett: Conceivable. Adding Chris Williams alone is good for a couple wins. What is more surprising is that despite being close in most contests Ottawa only managed to win two games a year ago when the expansion draft was set up for Ottawa to succeed right away.
Dunk: Awesome. Fans in the nation’s capital deserve it after rabidly supporting the Redblacks through a trying 2-16 first year.
Madani: A credit to the franchise’s front office for the roster re-construction to prepare themselves for year two. The Redblacks won the off-season by seriously upgrading their roster, adding receivers who actually run the right routes, a returner that will eventually change games and a lock-down left tackle who won’t tolerate any crap around Henry Burris. Burris says the Redblacks are playing with a high level of confidence, which comes as a result of Sir Vincent Rogers protecting his blind side, and his new receivers (Jackson, Sinopoli, Price) being difference makers.
Thomas: Fantastic. Marcel Desjardins and Rick Campbell should be applauded for their work early this season. After how things worked out with the Renegades, Ottawa football fans deserved better—now, while it’s early, it looks like they will get it.
