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The QB Index is a weekly power ranking of quarterbacks across the CFL, voted on by CFL.ca staff. The ranking reflects recent performance, historical value, statistical indicators, team success and overall on-field evaluation.
TORONTO — In spite of some very significant change at the quarterback spot with the BC Lions, some things haven’t changed.
Nathan Rourke was the story of the 2022 CFL season. In the wake of his injury and subsequent surgery, the Lions still have something very intriguing happening at that QB position.
The Lions used their bye week to trade for Vernon Adams Jr. It’s a move that makes a lot of sense for a team with Grey Cup aspirations and it’s one that you’d think forced a rival GM or two in the league into a facepalm.
When you look across the league at non-starting quarterbacks — Bo Levi Mitchell falls into this category but I’m not quite ready to believe we’ve seen the last of him starting for the Stamps this year — Adams was there for the taking, a game-ready, experienced player that can perform at an elite level and keep an elite team chugging along. A number of factors went into the Lions making this trade.
There’s Rourke’s injury, possibly the level of play the Lions got at QB with Michael O’Connor and Antonio Pipkin and O’Connor’s subsequent adductor injury. The fact that the Lions are also sitting at eight wins and in position to host a playoff game had co-GMs Neil McEvoy and Rick Campbell looking to keep their team on that trajectory.
As Adams gets used to wearing black and orange, he rejoins the quarterback conversation at No. 7 in this week’s QB Index.
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| QB INDEX SEPT. 7, 2022 | ||||
| Ranking | Name | Team | Last Week | Movement |
| 1. | Zach Collaros | WPG | 1 | – |
| 2. | Cody Fajardo | SSK | 2 | – |
| 3. | Jake Maier | CGY | 5 | +2 |
| 4. | McLeod Bethel-Thompson | TOR | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | Trevor Harris | MTL | 4 | -1 |
| 6. | Taylor Cornelius | EDM | 6 | – |
| 7. | Vernon Adams Jr. | BC | – | – |
| 8. | Nick Arbuckle | OTT | – | – |
| 9. | Michael O’Connor | BC | 10 | +1 |
| 10. | Jamie Newman | HAM | – | – |
| 11. | Antonio Pipkin | BC | 11 | – |
“We always go into each week regardless of a bye week to see what we need to do to make the football team better,” McEvoy said on the Lions’ First and Now podcast.
“Some people may say we gave up too much (BC traded its 2023 first round pick in the CFL Draft for Adams) but…we’ve got Daniel Joseph hopefully coming back, he was just cut by the Buffalo Bills. We have Ryder Varga playing in U SPORT. We have guys that are going to be coming back to our organization who have already been through a training camp that will make us better. We felt by bringing these additions on, it will help us in 2022 and 23.”
Adams is a logical fit for the Lions, based on the success they’ve had with Rourke. While Adams won’t do everything the exact way that Rourke did, he is a similar player. He’s got a good arm and works well outside of the pocket, which has kept him unpredictable for opposing defences, as we came to see particularly in his 2019 and 2021 seasons with the Als.
McEvoy said Adams is a player he’s long admired.
“Being a west coast guy, I’ve always been a fan of Vernon Adams,” he said.
“Of course being a west coast team, I always liked local guys and we considered him local. We’ve always been on a talking basis then when we heard some rumblings he might not be as happy in Montreal, we were able to start the process of talking to Montreal to get him under contract with the BC Lions.
“Adding a good asset to your football team is what you want to do. You want to be able to have options at the end of the year and throughout the year. Unfortunately with Nate being hurt this gives us a good addition at a coveted position that all teams like to have.”
As juicy a story as Adams returning in Lions gear this week to face the Alouettes at Molson Stadium is, he and his new team are up against the clock to be able to make his impact on Friday’s game meaningful.
“I fully anticipate him being ready to dress and what role that ends up being on Friday is to be determined by (the week of practice),” Campbell told the Vancouver Province on Monday.
As much as they’ll want to get back to their winning ways, what will really matter for the The Lions are the weeks in front of them once they have Adams acclimated. The team has eight regular season games left and if Adams can run the offence at a high level, the Lions will remain a dangerous team.
“This team has a chance to do it,” McEvoy said. “I’ve been around Grey Cup champions before and this group of guys has a chance to put us over the top.”
