Ferguson: It’s time to sink or swim for Trevor Harris

Being a professional football quarterback is not easy. Doing it at a high level is even tougher. Playing at that high level consistently over an entire season is the ultimate challenge.

Trevor Harris has become a professional quarterback and has played at a high level for bursts of time. Now his challenge becomes doing it consistently. It’s a special task accomplished by special men. During the 2000’s you could set your watch – when people wore analog watches – to Anthony Calvillo throwing for over 300 yards or Kevin Glenn getting moved to a new home after a solid showing – some things you can still rely on.

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It takes consistency to remain an unquestionably viable starter in the CFL. Last year, with Ricky Ray out due to injury, Trevor Harris took the reins and took off statistically in Scott Milanovich’s offence.

In Harris’ first true opportunity to be a starter in 2015, he began the season averaging 279 yards, thee touchdowns, 74 per cent completion rate and just 0.6 interceptions per game. Those are outstanding statistics by any standard, which made his start this season seem all that much more special.

Just when you thought Harris couldn’t improve on his ridiculous 2015 start, he improved by a sizeable amount in almost every statistical category. Through his first three starts in Ottawa this year, Harris averaged 361 yards, three touchdowns, an 80 per cent completion rate to go with a barely visible 0.3 interceptions per game.

These numbers all point to a quarterback that has figured out the game in his fifth CFL season and that could be true, but 2015 serves as both a career launching point and a cautionary tale.

Over the last eight games of 2015 in Toronto, Harris’ numbers plummeted to average of 236 yards per game and 1.6 touchdowns per game while completing just 68 per cent of his passes. It seemed he struggled to sustain his early-season success and felt the grind of leading a team for the vast majority of the season.

TREVOR HARRIS: 2015 BY THE NUMBERS

Harris has again regressed to the mean this year after a hot start, which might make Ottawa football fans wary of their playoff chances, but I believe there are several differences from 2015 to 2016 for Harris and his prospective productivity.

Last year, Harris battled through injuries and didn’t take any true time off. It’s not that this is a necessity: you don’t pay quarterbacks top dollar with the intention of giving them a mandatory two-week vacation. The CFL is a 20-week grind though and history has shown quarterbacks who are either forced or asked to step aside for a time are more likely to last when it matters.

Harris’ leg injury at Saskatchewan this July forced him to miss nearly a month of meaningful football, but I believe it was a blessing in disguise. For a quarterback in just his second year as a true starter, having a couple of weeks off to evaluate his game and structure of the offence is more valuable than grinding it out every single week.

Another difference from 2015 to 2016 with Harris is the pressure being placed on him by a legendary veteran. In 2015, Ricky Ray was the assumed starter the moment he returned from injury. While Harris’ poor performance down the stretch as outlined earlier didn’t help, the knowledge that you will be replaced as soon as possible is bad for quarterback psychology (Please see Jeremiah Masoli’s performance in his last start before Zach Collaros returned to Hamilton).

This season there is another all-time CFL quarterback behind Harris in Henry Burris. The difference here is that Burris has already been given ample chance in 2016 to prove he deserves the job until he wants to leave. Smiling Hank hasn’t been smiling all that much. As a result, Harris knows he can carry the REDBLACKS through the ups and downs of a post Labour Day run towards the Grey Cup.

Trevor Harris and Mike Reilly after Ottawa’s Week 1 overtime win (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

The third and final difference which should allow Harris to return to form: his surroundings, specifically the receivers. Last year, while Harris was dealing with ego and fresh faces in his Argos receiving corps, the REDBLACKS were accumulating four 1,000 yard receiving seasons. The strength of Ottawa’s offence is the sum of its parts. The REDBLACKS can strike to all angles and corners of the field which makes them very difficult to defend.

Harris and the REDBLACKS face the greatest challenge in the CFL this weekend. The Calgary Stampeders are the league’s elite team and last year around this time Harris went 26-of-44 for 260 yards, just one touchdown and three poorly-timed interceptions against Calgary.

If the REDBLACKS and Harris want to get back on track, they need to spread the ball around like it’s 2015, give Harris time in the pocket and somehow, some way find a way to run the ball despite numerous injures in the backfield.

The stretch run begins now. Will Harris crumble like last year and be replaced by Burris, or flourish and take Ottawa to the Grey Cup? My money is on his continued progression and a healthy playoff run.