Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Zeroing in on the top storyline of Wednesday’s Argonauts/REDBLACKS game is not hard.
It’s the battle of the quarterbacks.
It’s Trevor Harris vs. Ricky Ray. That’s because the Argos chose Ray over Harris as they plotted strategies for the 2016 season. Well, sort of.
Sure, there are other items of intrigue; Ottawa football teams have lost their last eleven games in Toronto. Both the Argos and REDBLACKS are playing on a short week — Ottawa’s a day shorter than Toronto’s. As well, it is going to be as hot as a tailgate grill at kickoff, with a temperature of around thirty degrees and a humidex reading of near thirty-eight. At least there’s going to be a slight breeze, which should serve to give everyone the full blast-furnace football experience.
In that crucible, it will be the better of the two quarterbacks that sets the tone for this early season battle for first place in the East.
The drama of a former understudy trying to outshine the hall of fame bound veteran might make things even more sweltering than the humidex suggests.
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The Argos believe Ricky Ray is progressing as hoped heading into Week 4 (The Canadian Press)
Harris, who strongly guided the 2015 Argos during Ray’s absence until a late-season swoon led the team to press a still unhealthy Ray into action, became a breakout star in the process. Now, in different colours, he is all the rage of CFL pivots in the early going of this season. His numbers are ridiculous: He’s completing passes at 80 per cent, throwing for nine touchdowns and 1,083 yards. He’s thrown just one interception and his quarterback rating is listed at 143.9, not far off perfect.
“We wish him the best but we’ll be out there to beat him,” said Argos’ general manager Jim Barker, who was asked if it’s frustrating to see a quarterback he helped develop shining brightly for another team. “All I focus on is the guys that we have here,” he replied.
The Argos’ plan was to have both Ray and Harris under contract for this season once it became apparent that Ray was going to be alright health-wise. Prior to that time, according to Barker, the Argos had offered Harris what the GM termed a better contract, dollar-wise, than the one the 30-year-old now has with Ottawa.
“We actually offered him more than he got,” said Barker of an offer tendered during the 2015 season, adding: “I was shocked by it (Harris turning it down), but that’s the way it goes in this thing.”
With Ray subsequently being signed to a contract that would see him paid more the more he plays, the Argos went about trying to sign Harris to a similar deal during the off-season. You know the rest. Harris took Ottawa’s contract offer, starter Henry Burris went down with an injury in Week 1 and Harris has been torching defences since. Of course, Barker is unsurprised by that after seeing Harris do the same sort of thing for Toronto to begin the 2015 season.
“I see him as the same guy,” said Barker. “He’s got composure in the pocket and he’s pretty accurate. This year it’s not as shocking to people because he did play pretty well for us last year.”
If you think that the way Harris has been slinging has Barker and the Argos squirming over what might have been, he says that thinking is wrong.
“I never think of it as ‘how would it be if we had him?’ That’s a zero issue. I don’t look at it that way. I look at it like he’s the quarterback for Ottawa and we’re trying to get better each week.”
If the Argos have become a bit of a quarterback factory, with Harris and Hamilton’s Zach Collaros emerging as stars, you could find that ironic. Some would say “it’s about time.”
For years and years and years the Toronto Argonauts had been building any success they’d enjoyed around quarterbacks that were signed and developed by other teams. Grey Cup Championships were centred around the likes of Condredge Holloway, Joe Barnes, Matt Dunigan, Doug Flutie, Damon Allen and in 2012, Ray. All began their careers with other clubs who helped them flourish. Now that the worm has turned, Barker says there isn’t much you can do other than feel good about the work put in to make it so.
“I feel pride in that,” he said of Harris and Collaros becoming household CFL names. “And I think Scott’s (head coach Scott Milanovich) done a great job in developing and the scouts have done a great job in finding these guys. It’s something you pride yourself on.”
That’s where Barker says he’s situated, emotionally, as Harris leads the REDBLACKS’ high-powered offence onto BMO Field. Looking ahead, not back, even if some observers have made the premature suggestion that the Argos erred in keeping Ray over Harris. For them, Barker has a warning: Ray is just warming up.
With a completion percentage of 68.9 per cent, 751 passing yards, five touchdowns, one interception and a QB rating of 108.1, Ray has good numbers. It’s just that compared to the glittering stats Harris has booked, they pale.
“I think he’s rusty,” Barker said of Ray’s performance so far in 2016. “I think he hasn’t played week in and week out in two years. So, I think he’s gonna get better every week.
“I kinda like having that guy on our side.”
“I think he’s rusty . . . he hasn’t played week in and week out in two years. So, I think he’s gonna get better every week.”
Jim Barker
Can Trevor Harris get the win against his former team on Wednesday night? (CFL.ca)
Still, if Harris outguns Ray in this game, the Argos will have to deal with the “shouldn’t have let that guy go” camp, even if the team didn’t “just let him go.” They’ll march on, though, because that’s what you do and if Barker is correct in his assertion that Ray still has plenty of upside to show as he shakes off the rust, there won’t be a problem.
As well, if he’s right about Ray’s back-up, 26-year-old Logan Kilgore, the team has its next Collaros or Harris just about set to step up.
“We feel like Logan is ready now,” said Barker. That, if he is called upon, he can go in and he’ll perform at a high level. He hasn’t had an opportunity, yet, to do what Trevor did. When he gets his opportunity, people are gonna see what kind of a talent he is.”
That’s for then. This is now, however, and Wednesday night’s game between the Argos and REDBLACKS is all about Ray and Harris.
