Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
The Toronto Argonauts and the rest of the CFL are breathing a little easier today. The team’s Sunday afternoon update on quarterback Ricky Ray was promising and all indications suggest he’ll make a full recovery following Saturday’s scary incident in game against the Calgary Stampeders. In the grand scheme of things, that’s all that matters.
From a football perspective, though, the big topic revolves around Ray’s return to the field. While that still seems secondary right now as Ray recovers, the silver lining for the Argos is they were prepared for something like this heading into the season. Thanks to December’s trade with the Edmonton Eskimos, Toronto has the perfect backup waiting in the wings. He also just happens to be their intended quarterback of the future.
James Franklin was acquired by the Argos in one of the off-season’s biggest moves for a reason. It was a very calculated decision by General Manager Jim Popp and one he didn’t necessarily have to make at the time. Knowing the situation his team is in now, Popp is likely relieved he had a trade chip like offensive lineman Mason Woods to ensure the deal got done.
Remember, Toronto brought Franklin in prior to knowing Ray’s status for the 2018 season. Popp very well could have waited to see whether his future Hall of Fame cornerstone was going to come back for another season before making a decision at quarterback, but he didn’t.
Bringing in Franklin made a lot of sense at the time. After three seasons as Mike Reilly’s understudy in Edmonton, Franklin was the top candidate to be the league’s next everyday starter, and for good reason. Despite limited action, his numbers were extremely strong with the Eskimos and there was a great deal of interest from around the league.
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It was a win-win situation for both the club and the player. If Ray had opted to retire after a banner 2017, Toronto had their guy to step into the void right away. And, in the case Ray decided to come back for another year, the team had a capable backup they could bring along slowly behind one of the greatest of all time. And someone who could step in if an injury was to occur.
The Argos got beat bad on Saturday night. They were never really close in their 41-7 loss to the Stamps and it’s hard to put any stock in Franklin’s limited work in a game that was already out of reach. Instead, I’m fascinated to see how Franklin performs with the proper preparation assuming he gets the next start for Toronto.
The timing works about as well as one could hope. After an 0-2 start, the Argonauts are on a week three bye, which gives Franklin some crucial time to get ready for his big debut. Oh, and Toronto’s Week 4 opponent just happens to be his former team, which should add just a little more motivation.
No one wants to see what happened to Ray and his recovery is the truly important thing here. But, the Argos are in a spot where they don’t need to panic from a football perspective. The team made their big move in December and, even though the circumstances are unfortunate, now we’ll start to see how it pays off.
Knock-knock
Last week’s Berg vs. Ferg debate seemed to be timed pretty darn well. Marshall Ferguson and I each nominated a quarterback ready to enter the league’s “elite” club at the position and both guys selected made us look pretty good.
Both Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli (my pick) and Trevor Harris in Ottawa put together outstanding performances in Week 2 and made strong cases for themselves. The CFL’s top quarterback tier consists of the recovering Ray, the aforementioned Reilly, and Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell; but both these guys are knocking on the door.
In his season debut, Harris did what he seems to always do. In a 40-17 REDBLACKS win over Saskatchewan, Harris was accurate, made great decisions, and put up great numbers. Ever since getting his first true shot as a starter with Toronto in 2015, Harris has been one of the league’s best statistical quarterbacks but hasn’t got the due he likely deserves. I think that changes this season and his first outing of the year has me thinking no different.
Masoli, on the other hand, shot the lights out in Hamilton’s 38-21 win over Edmonton. It was a second straight impressive performance for Masoli and it has quieted the Johnny Manziel chatter significantly. This is Masoli’s team and he’s doing what he needs to do to keep it that way, and then some.
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» Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET: Montreal at Saskatchewan
Both Harris and Masoli will need to keep playing at this level to truly cement their cases into the league’s top tier. Harris has done well statistically for a few seasons and now needs to translate that into a better showing in the win column. Masoli is in his first year as a full tie starter and still needs to prove he can get the job done consistently.
Both quarterbacks are hovering around membership in the league’s most exclusive club. With their performances in week two, both Masoli and Harris got one step closer to having their applications approved.
Double trouble
If you’re playing CFL Fantasy Football right now, you’ve likely become aware of something Jeff, Hannah, and I talked about on our CFL Fantasy Podcast last week. Other than Bo Levi Mitchell at quarterback, it is tough to confidently put any of Calgary’s offensive playmakers in your lineup because the team has so many weapons. As such, you never know who’s going to pop in any given week.
This has been the case with the Stampeders at receiver for the longest time. Now, though, with what we’ve seen through two weeks from Don Jackson and Terry Williams, the same seems to be true at running back, too. It’s not ideal from a fantasy standpoint but it sure is a nice option to have in real life.
Jackson put together his second straight impressive outing in Saturday’s win over Toronto. The rookie tailback rushed for 123 yards on just nine carries to follow up his 87-yard performance in week one against Hamilton. The guy looks like a bona fide find for Calgary.
But don’t forget about Williams in this conversation. While Jackson had the better yardage totals against the Argos, 70 of his 123 came on one scamper. It was actually Williams who saw more touches as he ran for 70 yards on 12 carries. It gives you a pretty good idea how the Stamps are going to use these two all season long.
Both running backs are dynamic and elusive, but they give opposing defences slightly different looks. As such, Dickenson has had no issue using both on a regular basis. It’s a great luxury to have and, unfortunately for us fantasy players, it’s probably not ending anytime soon.
