How Good is Bo Levi Mitchell?

[jerrym]

With a great start to his career in terms of winning, the nagging question has been how much of the success has been due to him and how much to a superior team in terms of talent and top-level coaching. I, for one, think he has the potential to be a CFL great, but he is not there yet.


A Grey Cup Champion and Grey Cup MVP by age 24, meteoric is one way to describe Bo Levi Mitchell’s rise to stardom.Always considered one of the league’s brightest and most exciting young pivots, a 28-6 record through his first 34 starts puts Mitchell among elite company. And now at age 26, forget the word ‘young’ — the Katy, Texas native might just be the best quarterback in the league, period.
While the field is wide open — there’s very little separating the league’s nine starting quarterbacks, from veterans Henry Burris, Ricky Ray and Darian Durant to the up-and-coming Jonathon Jennings — can Mitchell stand out from the rest?
Despite losing two of his top targets, CFL.ca’s Jamie Nye thinks so, projecting Mitchell to eclipse both the 5,000 passing yard and 30 touchdown pass marks for the first time in his career. ...

Most Outstanding Player is about the only thing Mitchell hasn’t won in an already-polished CFL career, and a season of this calibre would no doubt make him a favourite to win that honour, far eclipsing previous his career highs of 26 touchdown passes and 4,551 passing yards. But he isn’t the only one slated to turn heads in 2016.


http://www.cfl.ca/2016/04/08/fantasy-bo-levi-mitchell-expected-to-reach-new-heights/

[AngeloV]

I think he is very good. Talent around him was great, but there aren't that many QB's (not even taking into consideration his age) that make as few mental mistakes as him. I think he is going to be awesome.

[Scooter McCray]

Had he started the 100th GC that game would have been much better. The Argos were not going to be denied that day with so many GTA players but they would have faced some stiffer competition. The kid can play.

[OV Argo]

I think he is very good. Talent around him was great, but there aren't that many QB's (not even taking into consideration his age) that make as few mental mistakes as him. I think he is going to be awesome.


I agree he is a very good talent with poise & smarts for a younger QB. Not so sure I would go with awesome yet; and IMO he might have even regressed some last season. This year may tell the tale - he could step to become close to awesome - let's see him throw for 5000 + yards, and outstanding TD/INT ratio and lead the Stamps to lots of wins and another GC.

IMO - Mike Reilly is better than Mitchell now in CFL QB rankings.

[AngeloV]

IMO - Mike Reilly is better than Mitchell now in CFL QB rankings.

I have to disagree. Riley throws too many INT's in my books. threw 10 in half a season last year.

[R.J]

If I had to rank the starting QB's across the league I'd probably go with:
1. Collaros (when he's on, there's no one better)
2. Mitchell (has a very good team around him, but as Angelo said - very few mental mistakes)
3. Reilly (is a game breaking QB; I love the way he plays, and IMO if he's healthy should have an all-star season in '16 with Maas directing the offense)
4. Ray (if he can return to form - if not #6 at best)
5. Burris (Is still to this day inconsistent, but can't knock what he pulled off last season)
6. Durant (If healthy, should be ranked higher)
7. Glenn (Mediocrity at its best IMO)
8. Willy (Hasn't proven anything as of yet, unworthy of $400k)
9. Jennings (loads of potential, but very limited sample size to put him any higher.

[OV Argo]

I have to disagree. Riley throws too many INT's in my books. threw 10 in half a season last year.


I'll take a QB who just wins, and might throw a few picks in the process; the TD to INT ratio for QBs is an interesting stat, and has some meaning, but is basically way over-rated IMO; throw for lots of yards with a very good completion percentage = I'd take over a more cautious QB who throws less picks cause he checks down for lots of 6 to 8 yard completions. The CFL passing game has gone to much safer short passing and not enough QBs (or OCs) have the guts or good enough arm to throw lots of intermediate or long-bomb big-play completions IMO. Reilly & Collaros seem the types to take some chances on deeper throws and have the strong enough arms. Mitchell started to look very cautious with the Stamps last season IMO.

Reilly is also the best running QB in the CFL now IMO - a big guy with some wheels and not easy to sack, or tackle when he runs up field. Too much of that can lead to some injuries though, but it can still be a big part of a CFL QBs' game (see Russ Jackson or Tracy Ham or Doug Flutie even) - and fear of the QB running and getting hurt is affecting overall QB play now as much as the deference to mostly short dink & dunk passing.

[AngeloV]

I'll take a QB who just wins, and might throw a few picks in the process; the TD to INT ratio for QBs is an interesting stat, and has some meaning, but is basically way over-rated IMO; throw for lots of yards with a very good completion percentage = I'd take over a more cautious QB who throws less picks cause he checks down for lots of 6 to 8 yard completions.

Who wins more than Mitchell? Guarantee he has the best winning % of any starter in the league.

[OV Argo]

Who wins more than Mitchell? Guarantee he has the best winning % of any starter in the league.


I believe Reilly was undefeated when he returned from injury with the Esks last year - including soundly beating the Stamps & Mitchell in the play-off and then beating old Hank in the GC. Mitchell has always played on a strong Stamps team that usually had a strong supporting cast - like a good receiving corps and the best RB in the league.

We shall see this coming season: I`d agree with SnowRouge that Collaros of last year was better than both Mitchell & Reilly. I think I`d still pick vet Ricky Ray (if he is healthy now as advertised) as my QB if it was just for one season and I had the choice of all QBs in the league.

[AngeloV]

I believe Reilly was undefeated when he returned from injury with the Esks last year - including soundly beating the Stamps & Mitchell in the play-off and then beating old Hank in the GC. Mitchell has always played on a strong Stamps team that usually had a strong supporting cast - like a good receiving corps and the best RB in the league.

We shall see this coming season: I`d agree with SnowRouge that Collaros of last year was better than both Mitchell & Reilly. I think I`d still pick vet Ricky Ray (if he is healthy now as advertised) as my QB if it was just for one season and I had the choice of all QBs in the league.

You've given a 10 game window. Over the last 3 years, Mitchell has the best winning percentage as a starter, and it's not even close. I do agree that Collaros (if he can ever stay healthy) is the best in the league right now, but given the age factor, I would take Mitchell over anyone at this point.

[Golden Fleece]

While this doesn't prove how good Mitchell is in game situations, check out the video when he completes consecutive passes blindfolded. It's a testament to his visualization abilities and muscle memory. It's probably been posted here before, but it's worth an encore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh9yqowXELg

[argolio]

Mitchell's yards per completion was over a yard better than Reilly's in 2015, which suggests Reilly did a lot more "dinking and dunking" than Mitchell.

[AngeloV]

Mitchell's yards per completion was over a yard better than Reilly's in 2015, which suggests Reilly did a lot more "dinking and dunking" than Mitchell.

So does that make Reilly the "Captain Check down" of Alberta?

[R.J]

Mitchell's yards per completion was over a yard better than Reilly's in 2015, which suggests Reilly did a lot more "dinking and dunking" than Mitchell.
McAdoo runs the conservative Milanovich offense, but with Maas' more aggressive Milanovich offense things could change this season.

So does that make Reilly the "Captain Check down" of Alberta?
For Alberta I guess so, but as I noted above - things could change this season.

[AngeloV]

For Alberta I guess so, but as I noted above - things could change this season.

You're right. Reilly might force even more balls downfield and increase his INT ratio. It'll be interesting to see, because my betting is the Esks defence will not be as good this season. Turnovers may lead to more points against than last year.

I like Reilly's toughness, but I'm still not sold on him as an elite QB.

[OV Argo]

I'd suggest a good recent comparison of the two, would be to view that West final from last year; Mitchell IMO seemed to regress to a bit of an indecisive wimp at times; Reilly was playing with more gusto & leadership - seemed to me - in terms of intangible QB attributes. The Esks spanked the Stumps in that game. Be interesting to see how Mitchell now fares with the new HC and without the best RB in the league who consistently racked up huge yards/carry averages in games and on the season where Mitchell was the starter.

Of course though, the stats don't tell all about the team game aspect, defence they are facing and the OC and play-book/calling factors that can greatly affect a QB.

I really like both Mitchell & Reilly as examples of very good young CFL QBs; Collaros even better based on his superb play last year. I'd still take Ricky Ray in a one game / chips are down situation (even though I was somewhat disappointed with his last couple of play-off games).

[jerrym]

I'd suggest a good recent comparison of the two, would be to view that West final from last year; Mitchell IMO seemed to regress to a bit of an indecisive wimp at times; Reilly was playing with more gusto & leadership - seemed to me - in terms of intangible QB attributes. The Esks spanked the Stumps in that game. Be interesting to see how Mitchell now fares with the new HC and without the best RB in the league who consistently racked up huge yards/carry averages in games and on the season where Mitchell was the starter.

Of course though, the stats don't tell all about the team game aspect, defence they are facing and the OC and play-book/calling factors that can greatly affect a QB.

I really like both Mitchell & Reilly as examples of very good young CFL QBs; Collaros even better based on his superb play last year. I'd still take Ricky Ray in a one game / chips are down situation (even though I was somewhat disappointed with his last couple of play-off games).

I also like both of them. However, Mitchell became a full-time first string QB at 24 and is only 26 now, while Reilly didn't make it until 28, suggesting Mitchell's potential is for greater than Reilly's, who is already 31.

[R.J]

If I had to choose between Reilly and Mitchell - I'd take Reilly in a heart beat - game breaker over game manager every time.

[jerrym]

Mitchell is working with an Olympic training in order to his conditioning and mobility. When combined with the experience he has gained, it could make him even more formidable.


Mitchell this off-season is pushing himself harder than ever before.“In my eyes,” he explains, “I didn’t feel as mobile as the previous year. If you wait until someone tells you that you’re overweight, then for me as an athlete, it’s too late. You already know your strengths but you need to find out where your weaknesses are and turn those into strengths.”
So he brought his off-season training base to WinSport and hooked up with Chris Osmond, who has a long record of working with professional and elite amateur athletes.
“Just training with an Olympic trainer and around Olympic athletes is a different way to push myself,” says Mitchell. “I started off increasing my anaerobic threshold, which is basically my cardio. Kind of building that engine to your body.
“For the first month, it was five days a week, basically heart-rate workouts. So keeping your heart rate from 175 to 185 for a certain amount of minutes and from 185 to 195 for a certain amount of minutes. I was doing that for about an hour each day. So I was dropping the fat at first.”




http://www.cfl.ca/2016/04/17/faster-fitter-bo-levi-mitchell-ready-lead-stamps/