Argo QBs for TC ?

[gilthethrill]

I would bet the Kelly situation has caused all kinds of disruption in off-season planning and recruitment. Neither his status nor Murphy's is clear at this point. Magri (who no longer has Alex Russell alongside) has to hold down the fort.

There's no doubt in my mind that Argos will bring at least four QBs to camp, but I doubt we will hear about any more signings for a while. Given the possibility of Kelly missing some games, I'm certainly not inclined to write off Scott. While it seems clear that Dukes is the better QB, we haven't yet seen what Scott might bring to the table.

The fact that Scott was trusted with 4 snaps last year after the team clinched in September tells me the team has zero faith in him. Why he hasn’t been cut so he can find another opportunity is beyond me.

Forgive me for digressing, but with only 3 D coaches in the entire staff, that situation should have been resolved and announced some time ago.

[Argo57]

The fact that Scott was trusted with 4 snaps last year after the team clinched in September tells me the team has zero faith in him. Why he hasn’t been cut so he can find another opportunity is beyond me.

Forgive me for digressing, but with only 3 D coaches in the entire staff, that situation should have been resolved and announced some time ago.

I agree with all of this.
The D will have several newcomers so going with a skeleton staff on that side of the ball is a dumb strategy.
Surely the will add a couple of coaches on D?
Just when it seemed this organization was running like a “well oiled machine” things have unraveled a little.

[gilthethrill]

I agree with all of this.
The D will have several newcomers so going with a skeleton staff on that side of the ball is a dumb strategy.
Surely the will add a couple of coaches on D?
Just when it seemed this organization was running like a “well oiled machine” things have unraveled a little.

Looking at turnover on D….I thought the Argos did a Brilliant Job maintaining continuity coming off 16-2. Of the D Line projected starters, only Ceresna is new, but he is a vet and knows the league. The LBs, McManus and Jones (who is an upgrade over Williams at MLB) return, with only Pickett’s spot (Adeleke)? up for grabs. In the Secondary, McFadden, Pierce and Metchie return…along with Amos (any idea if he will be healthy by TC)? and perhaps Carnell returns to form, so really only 2 spots are open.
It is starting to be puzzling as a fan why the coaching staff isn’t set. Hopefully when it gets settled Hoagie will have an article focused on the process.

[Argo57]

Looking at turnover on D….I thought the Argos did a Brilliant Job maintaining continuity coming off 16-2. Of the D Line projected starters, only Ceresna is new, but he is a vet and knows the league. The LBs, McManus and Jones (who is an upgrade over Williams at MLB) return, with only Pickett’s spot (Adeleke)? up for grabs. In the Secondary, McFadden, Pierce and Metchie return…along with Amos (any idea if he will be healthy by TC)? and perhaps Carnell returns to form, so really only 2 spots are open.
It is starting to be puzzling as a fan why the coaching staff isn’t set. Hopefully when it gets settled Hoagie will have an article focused on the process.

I have no issues with the personnel assembled on D, they knew they couldn’t keep all the eligible free agents in double blue.
They sure did a nice job in keeping as many players as possible and bringing in some high quality replacements, my issue is them apparently going lean with the coaching staff on defence, makes no sense as it sits right now.
I will be surprised if they don’t add another defensive coach or two but who knows.
As with most training camps there are always a couple of young players who step up and take starting jobs, this year should be no different.

[gilthethrill]

I have no issues with the personnel assembled on D, they knew they couldn’t keep all the eligible free agents in double blue.
They sure did a nice job in keeping as many players as possible and bringing in some high quality replacements, my issue is them apparently going lean with the coaching staff on defence, makes no sense as it sits right now.
I will be surprised if they don’t add another defensive coach or two but who knows.
As with most training camps there are always a couple of young players who step up and take starting jobs, this year should be no different.

As always, a well thought out, accurate and knowledgeable assessment by Argo57.

[Argo57]

As always, a well thought out, accurate and knowledgeable assessment by Argo57.

You’re way too kind gil.

[paulwoods13]

The fact that Scott was trusted with 4 snaps last year after the team clinched in September tells me the team has zero faith in him. Why he hasn’t been cut so he can find another opportunity is beyond me.

Forgive me for digressing, but with only 3 D coaches in the entire staff, that situation should have been resolved and announced some time ago.

Despite clinching early, they absolutely had to give as many snaps as possible to Dukes, no? Clearly he was the one who'd be playing if Kelly had been injured in a must-win game, so they focused on getting him some meaningful playing time. That doesn't mean they do or don't love Scott, but I'm pretty confident they are not writing him off. Even a year watching from the sideline is likely more conductive to learning how to play QB in this league than coming in cold. As for the other stuff about defensive coaches, again, the org has had its off-season disrupted pretty badly.

[gilthethrill]

Despite clinching early, they absolutely had to give as many snaps as possible to Dukes, no? Clearly he was the one who'd be playing if Kelly had been injured in a must-win game, so they focused on getting him some meaningful playing time. That doesn't mean they do or don't love Scott, but I'm pretty confident they are not writing him off. Even a year watching from the sideline is likely more conductive to learning how to play QB in this league than coming in cold. As for the other stuff about defensive coaches, again, the org has had its off-season disrupted pretty badly.

Sure Dukes deserved the bulk of the playing time down the stretch….but 4 snaps for Scott? Not exactly a strong endorsement. I agree the organization has had its offseason disrupted, but there was plenty of time to get the D side of the staff resolved prior to that coming out.

[paulwoods13]

Sure Dukes deserved the bulk of the playing time down the stretch….but 4 snaps for Scott? Not exactly a strong endorsement. I agree the organization has had its offseason disrupted, but there was plenty of time to get the D side of the staff resolved prior to that coming out.

Gil, if they had played Scott for, say, half of a game, and then Dukes got forced into a playoff game due to injury and crapped the bed, we'd all be second-guessing their personnel deployment down the stretch. Hell, we all second-guessed their personnel deployment over the last six games anyway. I was among those who wanted to see Scott play some during that run of meaningless games. But not playing him was defensible IMO. How many snaps did Argos give Zach Collaros in 2012? One quarter, 11 passes, and only after Trevor Harris played in two games and threw 19 passes. Did that mean they weren't giving a strong endorsement to Collaros? And regardless of all this, my main point is that -- especially in the situation we're in, with the starter's status uncertain -- I'd far rather have two guys who have at least been in the system for a year and been exposed to Cdn football than jettison one of them in favour of a kid fresh out of the U.S. Now if they were to sign Taylor Cornelius, I'd be much more open to cutting Scott.

[AngeloV]

I'd far rather have two guys who have at least been in the system for a year and been exposed to Cdn football than jettison one of them in favour of a kid fresh out of the U.S. .

So you rather would have kept Ben Holmes over Dukes and Scott last year? And IIRC, you were adamant that you had no interest in Cody Fajardo as insurance last year.

[paulwoods13]

So you rather would have kept Ben Holmes over Dukes and Scott last year? And IIRC, you were adamant that you had no interest in Cody Fajardo as insurance last year.

Holmes was beaten out for the job -- nothing wrong with someone winning or losing a job in head-to-head competition. Although he dressed for just one game in 2022, he had been with the team for about three-quarters of that season, and consequently I expected he would emerge as the No. 2 based on his previous exposure to the offence. Clearly that experience, such as it was, wasn't enough to beat out Dukes and Scott. It doesn't change my opinion that there is no good reason to get rid of Scott at this point, especially since we might start the season with a new No. 1 and a new No. 2. Dukes has less experience now than Kelly had heading into last year, and Scott has even less than that. But they both have more than anyone new to the CFL will have. If a newbie comes in and beats out either one, great. But cutting Scott before camp would make zero sense IMO even if we didn't have the Kelly cloud hanging over the team.

I still want no part of Cody Fajardo, although it's obviously a moot point since he's not on the market.

[AngeloV]

I still want no part of Cody Fajardo, although it's obviously a moot point since he's not on the market.

So if it weren't a moot point, you would want no part of a QB that just led his team to a championship? Sounds personal to me, Paul.