Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Nearly two months into the season there’s been very little separation in the Canadian Football League.
While the Eskimos continue to roll with a perfect 7-0 record, the Riders have jumped back into the West Division race and all the meanwhile, three wins separate first from last in the East.
Who should start at quarterback in BC? And is it time for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to take a look at Johnny Manziel?
We ask the questions, you answer in this week’s edition of The Weekly Say:
1. Who should start in Week 9 for the BC Lions?
How do you know you’ve got a full-blown quarterback controversy on your hands? For one, you don’t know who’s starting on a week to week basis. Jonathon Jennings and Travis Lulay both struggled in a one-sided loss to Saskatchewan in Week 8 and now Wally Buono has reached a crossroads.
On one hand, Jennings was one of the best quarterbacks in the CFL in 2016 and might be the league’s most physically-gifted pivot. On the other, he’s struggled this season while Lulay has re-captured his 2011 MOP-winning form.
The Lions’ arch-nemesis in Calgary is up next and if both Lulay and Jennings are healthy, Buono will have to decide which one gives him the best chance to win. It’s no one-game, winner-take-all, to be sure, but Friday night’s game is a very important early-season clash in BC. So who are you taking under centre?
2. Will the Alouettes hold on to win the East?
It appears that the Alouettes’ big off-season has paid off as the team sits at the top of the East (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Darian Durant has brought a much-needed steady hand to the Als’ offence while Noel Thorpe’s defence has picked up exactly where it left off despite some key subtractions. And now, in the wide open East where anyone can win, the Montreal Alouettes have picked up the early edge over their divisional counterparts.
Winning the East would be a feather in the cap for Kavis Reed in his first season as a general manager but it’s becoming a realistic outcome — especially as the REDBLACKS and Ticats continue to struggle in the early going, combining for one win thus far.
Do you envision the Alouettes hosting an Eastern Final in November?
3. Is Matt Nichols the most ‘clutch’ quarterback in the CFL?
Saturday’s win over Hamilton improved Matt Nichols’ record to 15-5 since becoming the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ starting quarterback, with a large number of those wins earned by within a single score. Of course, they don’t ask how, just how many and winning football games is easily the best tangible skill any quarterback can possess.
While a 39-12 win over the Ticats was not stressful for Bombers fans like other games this season, the team’s remaining four wins have all come by a single score including three games by three points or less. And since becoming the starting QB last season, the Bombers are 7-2 in games decided by a single score.
Nichols has never shied away from the big moment. But is he the most clutch quarterback in the CFL?
4. Should the Ticats bring in Johnny Manziel?
Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel has become a popular topic of discussion (The Canadian Press)
As the Ticats’ winless start continues, the whispers turn into audible conversation about Johnny Manziel and whether he’ll ever make his way to the Canadian Football League.
At this point it seems possible. In the off-season, the Ticats’ GM Eric Tillman opened up about Manziel, describing him as a player of ‘extraordinary gifts’. Manziel, meanwhile, a former Texas A&M star, has yet to find an NFL team.
A year ago the possibility was likely blocked by Zach Collaros, considered one of the league’s brightest stars. Have things changed? Could Manziel land north of the border some time this season?
5. Are the Riders ready to contend in the West?
Have the Saskatchewan Roughriders arrived? That’s the question after an impressive 41-8 blowout victory over the Lions over the weekend, the kind Chris Jones likely envisioned when he signed up with the team a year and a half ago.
Jones came to Regina with high expectations after bringing a Grey Cup to Edmonton and while Riders fans understood patience was required, a season and a bit of losing was already starting to wear thin.
At 3-4, the Riders have closed the gap in the West but was Sunday’s win an anomaly or a sign of things to come?
6. Will Kenny Shaw make an immediate impact on Ottawa’s offence?
Kenny Shaw is back in practice and ready to play his first game as an Ottawa REDBLACK (Chris Hofley/Ottawa REDBLACKS)
When Ernest Jackson and Chris Williams left the defending Grey Cup Champions, the belief was that GM Marcel Desjardins got a steal with the additions of Diontae Spencer and Kenny Shaw. Just like a few years ago when he stocked up at receiver, a pair of value picks were primed to pay off in Ottawa’s high-octane offence.
Things haven’t unfolded that way so far in 2017. While Trevor Harris has thrown for big-time yardage, Ottawa’s offence ranks eighth in the CFL with 361.8 yards per game. Diontae Spencer hasn’t gotten the ball a lot and, so far, Kenny Shaw has yet to play in a game.
Shaw’s return could arrive this week, giving the REDBLACKS an explosive threat at the boundary wideout position. Will it be the jolt their offence has been looking for?
7. Is Mike Reilly the mid-season pick for Most Outstanding Player?
We’re nearing the mid-season point in the CFL season and that means the perfect time for projections and mid-season awards. If the season ended now, the Edmonton Eskimos (7-0) would be the class of the CFL, Jerome Messam would win the rushing title while Trevor Harris would be the league’s passing yards leader.
One of the most coveted honours in the CFL — outside of the Grey Cup, of course — is the Most Outstanding Player. Ricky Ray has never won one in his career and neither has Mike Reilly, although both have been champions.
With Reilly leading the undefeated Edmonton Eskimos through an endless well of injuries, is the Green and Gold pivot the easy choice for mid-season MOP?
8. Will Charleston Hughes win the sack title in 2017?
Charleston Hughes ranks second in the CFL with six sacks so far this season (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Ranked second among active players in career sacks, Charleston Hughes continues to work his magic on the Stamps’ D-line at age 33. Hughes’ six sacks this season rank second in the CFL behind only injured Argonaut Victor Butler, leaving the 10th-year veteran on pace for double-digit sacks for the fifth time in six seasons.
The veteran pass rusher faces plenty of competition — veterans Jamaal Westerman and Odell Willis each have six sacks while Shawn Lemon and John Bowman aren’t far behind — but at his current pace, Hughes has a strong chance of finishing atop the CFL sack leaderboard.
9. Is Cody Fajardo the Argos’ quarterback of the future?
While Ricky Ray continues to heal from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for Week 8, Jeff Mathews and Cody Fajardo are, at least temporarily, leading the Argos’ quarterback huddle.
Mathews was pulled after an ineffective half vs. the Als while Fajardo stepped in and provided a spark, showing the upside that’s excited Argos fans for a year now.
Ray could return as soon as Week 9 but finding a franchise quarterback of the future should be near the top of Marc Trestman’s list. With that said, while the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Fajardo has shown upside — especially with his ability as a scrambler — does the 25-year-old possess the qualities to be the Argos’ quarterback of the future?
