How Hard Will Chad Kelly's Transition Be?

[jerrym]

I agree with MBT that Chad Kelly's transition to the CFL is still going on and that there are likely to be some difficult times, but if the Argos stick with him he should do well. However, it might a difficult first year as starting QB.

Veteran pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson left the Argos’ starting job vacant when he departed for the USFL last month, seeking better work-life balance and a shot at the NFL.Asked during a recent appearance on The Rod Pedersen Show whether he felt his former franchise was in good hands with Kelly, the 34-year-old refused to downplay the challenges facing his successor.
“The CFL transition, it’s no joke. He loves the game of football. He’s a football junkie. He loves watching film, he loves doing all the process but it’s a hard transition to make,” Bethel-Thompson noted. “I know he’s gonna put the work in and it’s about gelling at the right time and finding the different timings and different spacings.” ...

“It’s one of the hardest transitions in sports and I don’t think a lot of people give it credit or give it due,” Bethel-Thompson explained. “To be so trained for a specific game and then have to relearn so many of the things that you do in that game while playing the same game, it’s as difficult as you get playing the same sport. It’s not an easy transition.” ...
“I will be rooting my butt off for them and I’m here for him if he ever needs to reach out,” Bethel-Thompson said. “I’ve told him that many times.”

https://3downnation.com/2023/03/09/m...fl-transition/

[Argo57]

I agree with MBT that Chad Kelly's transition to the CFL is still going on and that there are likely to be some difficult times, but if the Argos stick with him he should do well. However, it might a difficult first year as starting QB.

https://3downnation.com/2023/03/09/m...fl-transition/

A necessary byproduct of moving on to an inexperienced QB.
Argonauts football ops department has also done a nice job with building a solid roster around Kelly which should help him immensely, but there will no doubt be some bumps along the road as the season progresses.
Also expect opposition DC’s to send pressure at Kelly to try and throw him off his game.

[Shatto]

Last year we saw Rourke and Maier be successful in their first year as a starting QB. So it is not impossible for a first year starting QB to move into the role successfully and as Argo57 has pointed out, the organization has built a fairly strong team around him. We also have to remember, he is a mature 29 year old not a young player coming out of college. He may well face some difficult times but hopefully the coaches will have developed an offense suited to his style of play.

[AngeloV]

Last year we saw Rourke and Maier be successful in their first year as a starting QB. So it is not impossible for a first year starting QB to move into the role successfully and as Argo57 has pointed out, the organization has built a fairly strong team around him. We also have to remember, he is a mature 29 year old not a young player coming out of college. He may well face some difficult times but hopefully the coaches will have developed an offense suited to his style of play.

Rourke 100%, but I don’t think Maier was as good as his statistics made him out to be. He had a lot of struggles last season. It’ll be interesting to see if he takes that next step this season. IMO, he wasn’t good in either game against the Argos (both games won by the Stamps D) and was benched for poor play in the playoff game.

[OV Argo]

Last year we saw Rourke and Maier be successful in their first year as a starting QB. So it is not impossible for a first year starting QB to move into the role successfully and as Argo57 has pointed out, the organization has built a fairly strong team around him. We also have to remember, he is a mature 29 year old not a young player coming out of college. He may well face some difficult times but hopefully the coaches will have developed an offense suited to his style of play.

Rourke & Maier are both nice examples of young, new QBs who you could see had it, right from their very 1st CFL action as rookies. Rourke had to go in for an injured Mike Reilly in the 1st game of 2021, and though he had a couple of struggles (with a porous O-Line not helping), he found Whitehead open for a long bomb TD and later threw a beautiful TD strike to Burnham (about the nicest pass on that season IMO) - I knew he had a fine passing arm right then, and some scouts saying his passing arm was suspect from college ball days, were wrong. And Maier went in for BLM and had 3 straight good games for the Stamps with poise and accurate passing.

I hope Kelly can put it together, even with a few inexperience struggles; but if he gets injured or bombs and a new, young QB has to go in, you never know - could be a real good one. Dinwiddie and his offensive coaches should be able to recognize a good young QB talent from TC, and if there is little proven, I'd be auditioning more than the 3 young guys they currently have.

[Rich]

Rourke & Maier are both nice examples of young, new QBs who you could see had it, right from their very 1st CFL action as rookies.

That’s the same thing I saw in Kelly. And I think he has a quicker release and a bigger arm than either of those two, plus he’s a stronger runner. If Rourke took that hit Kelly did in the Cup they’d have to squeegee him off the field.

[Scooter McCray]

Kelly's mobility puts him at an immediate advantage over MBT. If he is able to put in the work; learn the playbook, do the film work on the other teams, read Canadian defences. On this championship caliber team he can do very well. He will be extending plays that wound up in sacks taken. That Grey Cup run is a sack if MBT is still in the game.

[bluto]

That Grey Cup run is a sack if MBT is still in the game.

I dislike this sort of 20/20 hindsight.

We could never know if we'd have been at 2nd and 15 had MBT still been in. It happened because it happened. Written in the Stars. The Football Gods and The Argo Bounce Willed it.

[Will]

I dislike this sort of 20/20 hindsight.

We could never know if we'd have been at 2nd and 15 had MBT still been in. It happened because it happened. Written in the Stars. The Football Gods and The Argo Bounce Willed it.

That's some Neil Peart level thinking there, Rye.

[Scooter McCray]

I dislike this sort of 20/20 hindsight.

We could never know if we'd have been at 2nd and 15 had MBT still been in. It happened because it happened. Written in the Stars. The Football Gods and The Argo Bounce Willed it.

We will never know. MBT was not in the game. He made a believer out of me last year. That Eastern Final was his I have arrived moment. "IF" Chad can have MBTs courage, leadership and football IQ. That plus his mobility will make him a great quarterback. MBT took some hellacious sacks that Chad has the ability to not take. That ability to extend plays could take this Argo offence to another level. The Argos beat teams, they did not blow anyone out of the water. They could start putting up larger margins of victory. Here's hoping.

[bluto]

That's some Neil Peart level thinking there, Rye.

I pick up scraps of information
I'm adept at adaptation

[Rich]

Kelly's mobility puts him at an immediate advantage over MBT. If he is able to put in the work; learn the playbook, do the film work on the other teams, read Canadian defences. On this championship caliber team he can do very well. He will be extending plays that wound up in sacks taken. That Grey Cup run is a sack if MBT is still in the game.

As football evolves it seems that the limited-mobility, drop-back pure pocket passer is becoming a thing of the past. As defences get more and more sophisticated, a QB who can make plays with his feet is becoming more and more of a necessity. The two QBs in the super bowl were two of the most mobile QBs in the league, and this trend is not likely reversing.

For most of the last 10 seasons the Argonauts have had limited-mobility drop-back pure pocket passers at the helm, and as great as those guys were I’m really looking forward to the excitement that a quality mobile QB brings to an offence, especially an offence as loaded as this one. It creates more possibilities on every single play.

[OV Argo]

As football evolves it seems that the limited-mobility, drop-back pure pocket passer is becoming a thing of the past. As defences get more and more sophisticated, a QB who can make plays with his feet is becoming more and more of a necessity. The two QBs in the super bowl were two of the most mobile QBs in the league, and this trend is not likely reversing.

For most of the last 10 seasons the Argonauts have had limited-mobility drop-back pure pocket passers at the helm, and as great as those guys were I’m really looking forward to the excitement that a quality mobile QB brings to an offence, especially an offence as loaded as this one. It creates more possibilities on every single play.

And if the current Argo staff shared your thinking on the value of mobile, athletic QBs Rich, then why didn't they draft Tre Ford when they had the opportunity last season? Ford blows away most if not all NCAA ball QBs they could hope to sign in speed & athleticisim; and he had great passing stats in college ball. And former U Sports starter at Saint Mary's - Kaleb Scott - who is a real run threat QB, is still playing with success over in the pro league in France - wonder if he would be interested in a CFL try-out? Or several years Mac starter Andreas Dueck - very accurate passer with decent mobility - pretty sure he is available as a FA. No, better to sign a bunch of Div. III level QBs with zero clue about Canadian ball, but they could say they have a bit of mobility instead, and much more importantly, they're American only, so maybe they believe they've signed another Patrick Mahomes like talent.

["Issues"Mcgee]

A necessary byproduct of moving on to an inexperienced QB.
Argonauts football ops department has also done a nice job with building a solid roster around Kelly which should help him immensely, but there will no doubt be some bumps along the road as the season progresses.
Also expect opposition DC’s to send pressure at Kelly to try and throw him off his game.

100 per cent agree. There will be some mistakes along the way but overall he will do fine. He has done everything right for the team off the field, even more than I expected.

[Rich]

And if the current Argo staff shared your thinking on the value of mobile, athletic QBs

You raise an interesting point, OV. We don’t really know Dinwiddie’s thinking on this, but we can speculate: What type of QB best suits his offensive philosophy?

He cut his coaching teeth working with Bo Levi, who wasn’t especially athletic. But reading about some of his plans for the Kelly offence makes me wonder if mobile/athletic might be right up his alley.

[ArgoRavi]

You raise an interesting point, OV. We don’t really know Dinwiddie’s thinking on this, but we can speculate: What type of QB best suits his offensive philosophy?

He cut his coaching teeth working with Bo Levi, who wasn’t especially athletic. But reading about some of his plans for the Kelly offence makes me wonder if mobile/athletic might be right up his alley.

From what I have heard Dinwiddie say, like any good coach, he is planning on tailoring his offence to Kelly's strengths.

[bluto]

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/07/a...l-opportunity/

I facepalmed so hard that I saw stars.

[AngeloV]

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/07/a...l-opportunity/

I facepalmed so hard that I saw stars.

Doesn't bother me in the least.

[Argo57]

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/07/a...l-opportunity/

I facepalmed so hard that I saw stars.

I just listened to the entire podcast with Chad Kelly.
A little more humility and appreciation for the opportunity the Argos have given him would have been nice to hear.
Hopefully he turns out to be as good as he thinks he is with the Argonauts this season, time will tell.

[bluto]

I mean... If he's half as good as he thinks that he is, then we're repeating as Champions (and he will be handed his rightful role as an NFL starter the following season)