QB battles to keep an eye on in training camp

Matthew Cauz

CFL.ca

@mcauz56

I saw this a post on X from TSN Football Insider Dave Taylor examining the league-wide, high level of quarterback play.

He said, “not sure the @CFL has ever seen QB depth like heading into this season. The eight players slated to be backups (excluding PJ Walker who is new to the CFL), have collectively thrown for 83,032 yards and 404 touchdowns in their careers. Wow!!”

Thanks to Dave for saving me from doing all that math and for highlighting just how much talent is out there at the most important position in the game.

Let’s take a closer look at all the quarterback battles going in quarterback rooms across Canada.

BC LIONS

A common theme throughout this piece is there isn’t much debate about who the starter will be when the season kicks off.

Nathan Rourke is established and his ceiling is MOP. The intrigue is, of course, the options behind the 2023 Most Outstanding Canadian award winner.

I could do Jeremiah Masoli vs. Chase Brice. This is your classic veteran battling the young guy for the critical understudy role. But I’m more curious to see Masoli vs. Masoli.

His battles against so many injuries that have plagued him since 2019 have been well documented. Jeremiah had his most productive year since 2021 backing up Dru Brown in Ottawa. He’s been a victim of so much bad injury luck and now Masoli has a chance for a significant final act of his professional career.

EDMONTON ELKS

If you are an Elks fan you must be thrilled with how boring your quarterback room is right now. I mean that last sentence as the ultimate compliment.

Tre Ford has the potential to be the best quarterback Edmonton has seen since the peak Michael Reilly days, which is a nearly decade ago. In Cody Fajardo, the team has one of the game’s best security blankets in case of injury. The 2023 Grey Cup MVP can step in at any moment and carry the Elks offence.

This is a quarterback tandem that makes so much sense.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS

Vernon Adams Jr. was traded to the Calgary Stampeders this off-season and will lead the team in 2025 (Stampeders.com)

After pulling off the biggest off-season trade, we can all just go ahead and say Vernon Adams Jr. is your 2025 starter.

After that, it is a complete mystery. If there is a team to keep an eye on during training camp it’s Dave Dickenson’s team.

Will it be Logan Bonner, who is entering his third year in Calgary but with just 50 career pass attempts? P.J. Walker was brought in late last season and signed a two-year contract this off-season. Walker has started a handful of games in the NFL, but this will be his first legitimate chance to make a name for himself in Canada.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

After finishing as runner up to Brady Oliveira for 2024 MOP and leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns Bo Levi Mitchell is back as one of the game’s best passers. It’s nice to have this version of Mitchell in our lives again!

Taylor Powell reminds me of the next Dru Brown or Davis Alexander. That young backup that feels older than his years whenever he has been given a chance to start. In 2023 he was named the team’s Most Outstanding Rookie and had all the makings of the next “face of the franchise.” The only thing standing in his way is the only quarterback who broke the 5,000-yard barrier last season. There’s no shame spending another year learning under Mitchell.

Hamilton, like so many teams, has a fairly stable quarterback hierarchy for the coming season.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

Can a team be settled at quarterback while also having a dollop of intrigue? General manager Danny Maciocia was confident enough about giving the keys to Davis Alexander that he was comfortable letting go of Fajardo, the most successful quarterback the team has had since Anthony Calvillo.

Alexander absolutely deserves this opportunity but there is still some uncertainty. To help mitigate that risk, the team brought in 2022 East Division All-CFLer McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who said all the right things when he was brought on board.

I’m not here to start trouble, but just how compelling will Montreal’s preseason be if we all start seeing headlines about Bethel-Thompson having “an exceptional camp.”

Finally, in keeping Caleb Evans around, Montreal have perfectly set themselves up in case of a stretch of worst-case scenario injury luck.

OTTAWA REDBLACKS

Finally, we get to a good old fashioned quarterback battle in Matt Shiltz versus Dustin Crum to see who will be standing the closest to Dru Brown on the REDBLACKS sidelines.

In one corner you have 32-year-old Shiltz, who has been a steady backup since 2017. Back in 2023 there were moments where it looked like Shiltz could be a full-time starter with Hamilton but at this stage, he is the ideal No. 2.

In the other corner is the 26-year-old Crum, who has seduced many of us into thinking he could be “the guy.” Like Shiltz, he also flashed plenty of potential in 2023 with his mobility and pulled off some wild wins over Winnipeg and Calgary.

This will be one of the marquee duels during this training camp season.

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

Jake Maier spent four seasons in Calgary and begins a new chapter now in Saskatchewan (Riderville.com)

If you look at strictly Jake Maier’s passing numbers over the past two years you could make an argument that he should be a starting quarterback in the CFL after averaging over 4,000 yards with 41 total touchdowns combined in 2023 and 2024.

However, the number of turnovers and lack of winning (I know wins are not a quarterback statistic) has led Maier to getting a fresh start in Regina. I think this setback will be beneficial big picture-wise for his career.

We could be in store for a fascinating stylistic battle to see who is behind Trevor Harris with Maier, a classic drop back passer, and the human short yardage conversion machine, Tommy Stevens. Find me anything in the CFL in 2024 that was as automatic as Stevens lining up under centre on third and short. The big question is can he develop his arm to be as dangerous as his lower body?

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

The Argonauts have a wealth of riches behind Chad Kelly.

There would be more stories about Chad Kelly’s health and his progress from that right leg injury in the playoff if not for the presence of Nick Arbuckle and Cameron Dukes.

After winning Grey Cup MVP, Arbuckle has solidified himself as the backup and is the reason the team does not need to accelerate Kelly’s rehab while Dukes could compete with Caleb Evans and the loser of the Crum/Shiltz battle for best third stringer in the CFL.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

Finally, the Blue Bombers depth chart feels set with Chris Streveler and Shea Patterson.

Streveler, a folk hero in 2019, returned to the team last year. He made just one start in place of an injured Zach Collaros, a 25-16 over Ottawa back in Week 5. A go-to option in goal line situations, Streveler will be counted on for at least the first game of the season with the Collaros suspension.

For Patterson to unseat Streveler he’ll have to show he can be the quarterback who beat Winnipeg back in Week 7 with a tidy stat line of 261 yards, one touchdown and completing 68 per cent of his passes without an interception.

Let all the battles begin!

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