QB Index: Last stretch of the season takes shape

CFL.ca Staff

The QB Index is a weekly power ranking of quarterbacks across the CFL. The ranking reflects recent performance, historical value, statistical indicators, team success and overall on-field evaluation.

TORONTO — We enter into another weekly ranking of our quarterbacks with much of the attention from across the league on one that isn’t listed here.

The Trevor Harris trade wasn’t a shock by the time was consummated on Sunday, but it still feels like a seismic shift in the league. Harris’ play, especially through what turned out to be his final appearance in an Elks uniform in Week 10 against Winnipeg, wasn’t up to the standard that he’d set through his past four years as a full-time starter in the CFL. Can he get back to that level in Montreal? What kind of an opportunity will he get, as long as Matthew Shiltz plays well in the absence of Vernon Adams Jr.? If he gets on the field, can he lead the Als deep into the playoffs?

While we wait for those questions to be answered, we know that in Edmonton, all eyes will be on Taylor Cornelius, the rookie that had to have come to camp this year hoping for the best, hoping to find a fit on what should have been a Grey Cup-contending team. Barring the league standing itself on its head in the next five weeks, that won’t happen this year. The next few weeks should be interesting for Cornelius, who will work with GM Brock Sunderland and head coach Jaime Elizondo thinking about pieces that can fit around their new starter.

As for the QBs listed below, the name at the top unsurprisingly remains unchanged. While Bo Levi Mitchell seems to be getting into form, with his team at .500 for the first time this season, we’re also interested in what’s happening in Toronto with McLeod Bethel-Thompson. He’ll get the start this week against the Alouettes, with a shot at a fourth win in a row and a chance to pad his team’s lead in the East.

He’s in the fifth spot this week, behind the league’s most successful and established full-time starters. Does he have that next step in him, to start to climb past those players? Will he get the chance this season? MBT and the Argos are growing into one very interesting story this season.

With the Bombers at 9-1, Collaros leads the league in passing and in touchdowns thrown, many of them game-breaking daggers (Photo: The Canadian Press)

ZACH COLLAROS WPG
THIS WEEK: 1 | LAST WEEK: 1

The numbers once again weren’t overwhelming — he was 15-24 for 201 yards with two TDs and an interception — but Collaros and the Bombers made the plays they needed to in order to break a 16-16 game open in the fourth quarter against the Elks. Collaros leads the league in passing (2,565 yards) and his 15 TDs thrown are also tops in the league. At 9-1, the Bombers are running away with the race to the league’s best record. The defence deservedly gets a lot of love, but Collaros is just as important in that successful mix in Winnipeg.

BO LEVI MITCHELL CGY
THIS WEEK: 2 | LAST WEEK: 4

Mitchell’s enthusiasm over his first game without an interception this season was difficult to contain (and an impossible task for censors). Perhaps most impressive for the Stamps’ offence in this stretch is that Mitchell is finding targets that he doesn’t have a ton of history with. Kamar Jorden and Josh Huff have been out of the lineup, but Mitchell is showing an increased comfort with the younger receivers there in their place. He advocated for rookie Luther Hakunavanhu on Saturday, saying that he’s always telling coach Dave Dickenson to get him into the game.

MICHAEL REILLY BC
THIS WEEK: 3 | LAST WEEK: 2

Reilly’s pristine 10:1 touchdown to interception ratio finally took a hit on Saturday against the Stamps in what may have been his most challenging game of this season. He made just 52 per cent of his passes for 145 yards, a game after running into a Bombers’ defence that held him to 177 yards. The Lions will miss Lucky Whitehead as long as he’s out recovering from a broken hand, but Reilly will need to find some other targets in the end zone in order to end what is now a three-game Lions’ losing streak.

CODY FAJARDO SSK
THIS WEEK: 4 | LAST WEEK: 3

The hope for the last couple of weeks was that if one or both of Shaq Evans and Duke Williams couldn’t make their way into the lineup quickly, they’d have someone step up in their absence as a big play making receiver. The last couple of weeks, that hasn’t really happened. Fajardo gets another shot at the Stamps, who have become a thorn in his side this year, on Saturday. A breakthrough on offence could keep the Riders from hitting .500 and letting the Stamps leapfrog them in the standings for second in the West.

MCLEOD BETHEL-THOMPSON TOR
THIS WEEK: 5 | LAST WEEK: 5

We’ve talked a lot about Reilly’s ability to take care of the ball. Not to be lost in the careful QB conversation is Bethel-Thompson, who has thrown nine touchdowns to just two interceptions in what we could call part-time work as the Argos’ starter this year. Winners of three straight, all with Bethel-Thompson starting, the Argos seem to have hit their stride. As long as the wins keep coming and the level of play stays consistent, coach Ryan Dinwiddie may have a starter that he didn’t expect back when the team signed Nick Arbuckle.

JEREMIAH MASOLI HAM
THIS WEEK: 6 | LAST WEEK: 6

The ultimate result hasn’t come for Masoli, which will no doubt frustrate him as he’s winless since coming back from his rib injury, but it’s starting to look like the Ticats’ offence is starting to get going. He was 24-33 for a season-best 361 yards and two touchdowns in Week 10, with zero interceptions. If the Ticats handle their business against the visiting REDBLACKS this week, there’s an opportunity to work out any offensive kinks that have held them back in recent weeks.

MATTHEW SHILTZ MTL
THIS WEEK: 7 | LAST WEEK: 7

Shiltz fared well in his first start since Vernon Adams Jr.’s move to the six-game injured list. Khari Jones will hope for more of the first half that Shiltz had against the REDBLACKS, where he had the Als up 25-13 through 30 minutes, moving the ball all over the field, finding Jake Wieneke for a touchdown and running one in on his own. This week will be a good test for Shiltz, playing against a Chris Jones defence, which seems to speed the game up and try to confuse opposing pivots. With first place in the East Division on the line, we could learn a lot about the experienced backup that now has Trevor Harris watching from the sidelines.

TAYLOR CORNELIUS EDM
THIS WEEK: 8 | LAST WEEK: 8

At this point, it feels unfair to judge any quarterback by their performance against Winnipeg. The football gods smiled and frowned upon Cornelius in giving him the Bombers in three of the four games he’s seen the field in his CFL career, two of those games being starts. A positive from his Week 11 performance against Winnipeg: He didn’t throw an interception. Since throwing three in his debut against the Bombers in Week 7, he sits at four touchdowns to six interceptions. The Bombers are behind him now but it won’t get much easier. The Ticats are waiting for him after the Elks come back from their bye week.

CALEB EVANS OTT
THIS WEEK: 9 | LAST WEEK: 9

The statline wasn’t good — 12-23 passes for 145 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions — but neither was the protection the rookie QB was getting on Saturday. Evans and Taryn Christion were brought down a total of 10 times in Ottawa’s loss, which makes a win, let alone offensive production unlikely for any team. Evans is up to seven interceptions now through his last three games. While we wait for word on Christion’s status after he was quickly injured upon his entry into Saturday’s game, there’s a chance we could see another rookie, Devlin Hodges work his way into this week’s game.

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