paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 9:20 pm
I'll be surprised if we ever again see Kelly in an Argo uniform.
Great idea. Let’s dump the best QB in the league because he didn’t heal fast enough from a serious injury.
I would be shocked to see Kelly not starting for the Argos next season. Clearly, Dinwiddie felt uncomfortable putting him in this season, especially behind a struggling o-line and with Arbuckle performing well, but a full off-season of rehab should be a godsend for everyone. Nevertheless, the team should be very clear following the season about Kelly's progress and why he didn't play at all this year.
Also, the "blow it all up" crowd needs to ask themselves one basic question - what would the Argos' record have been this year with a healthy Chad Kelly at QB? Kelly is an elite QB who makes his team better. As Ben Grant has pointed out repeatedly, with Kelly, the running game would be better and having him makes the o-line's job easier. It also would have taken pressure off the defence. There's no doubt in my mind that the Argos would be no worse than 8-8 right now with Kelly and in a great position to host a playoff game.
This season reminds me a lot of 1985 when Condredge Holloway missed much of the season resulting in a 6-10 record for the Argos. While they were only 2 games behind first place Hamilton, they missed the playoffs. The Argos had 3 good seasons on either side sandwiched around that subpar 1985 season. What they didn't do after that season was panic and they shouldn't do that now.
Your confidence in and loyalty to the current administration and roster are admirable, Ravi. But I don't think there's anything clear about why Kelly didn't play this season, I don't think mgmt will be any more clear about this situation going forward, and I don't know how anyone can assume another eight months of rehab will get him back to wat he was before.
I love Ben Grant's weekly analysis, but I also recall him saying in preseason that the Argos could field two groups of five o-linemen that are all capable of starting in this league. That prediction turned out to be about 10% accurate (Nicastro).
ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 12:42 pm
I suspect that the free agency list won't be as long this season. I am sure that 3downnation.com will soon have it but my sense is that they have a lot of key players already locked up for 2026.
Based on how this year has gone, I find that far from reassuring. The number of players I really don't want to lose is pretty small: Lirim, Arbuckle, Mital (who will be on the third year of his entry deal), Brissett, Coxie, Nicastro, Doxtater, Judge, Haggerty, maybe a few others. Most of the roster does not inspire great feelings of loyalty in me.
We’ve seen the results of this the last two off-seasons, many key Argonauts starters moving on to other teams for the cash.
Can’t say I blame them, every dollar earned counts in the CFL.
AngeloV wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 1:30 pm
My goodness Paul. It was a bad season. That’s all. Mostly driven by injuries to projected starters. The doom and gloom is a bit overboard.
We certainly agree it was a bad season. I could make a case that clinging to the belief the roster was adequate to contend, if only everyone had been healthy, is overboard. The evidence doesn't support it IMO. Arbuckle was not the giant step down from Kelly that everyone expected. We have no idea what Miyan Williams was as a running back, so who knows if he'd have made a difference. Coxie-Daniels vs. Polk/Herslow is a wash IMO. The OTs were never good, healthy or otherwise. Right guard became an unexpected problem all year. I grant that losing Doxtater for stretches hurt, altho he wasn't setting the world on fire. Would Cox and Christmas have been markedly better than the guys we played at end and tackle? Would a healthy George or a healthy Giffen or a healthy Dankwah have been difference-makers?
I for one don’t wonder what their record would have been had they had Chad Kelly all year and I don’t think success next year is dependent on whether or not he plays. On average they have scored enough points per game to be in the play off race.
What would have made a difference this year and will next year is a defence that can slow down the opposition to an average of 23-25 points per game.That’s what Montreal and Saskatchewan have basically done. The Argos have given up an average of 32 pts per game which makes them the worst defence in the league by a wide margin.
Unplayable wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 1:58 pm
I for one don’t wonder what their record would have been had they had Chad Kelly all year and I don’t think success next year is dependent on whether or not he plays. On average they have scored enough points per game to be in the play off race.
What would have made a difference this year and will next year is a defence that can slow down the opposition to an average of 23-25 points per game.That’s what Montreal and Saskatchewan have basically done. The Argos have given up an average of 32 pts per game which makes them the worst defence in the league by a wide margin.
ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 12:42 pm
I suspect that the free agency list won't be as long this season. I am sure that 3downnation.com will soon have it but my sense is that they have a lot of key players already locked up for 2026.
Based on how this year has gone, I find that far from reassuring. The number of players I really don't want to lose is pretty small: Lirim, Arbuckle, Mital (who will be on the third year of his entry deal), Brissett, Coxie, Nicastro, Doxtater, Judge, Haggerty, maybe a few others. Most of the roster does not inspire great feelings of loyalty in me.
We’ve seen the results of this the last two off-seasons, many key Argonauts starters moving on to other teams for the cash.
Can’t say I blame them, every dollar earned counts in the CFL.
Everybody wants to poach players from Cup champs. Not as much from teams that miss the playoffs.
paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 9:20 pm
I'll be surprised if we ever again see Kelly in an Argo uniform.
Great idea. Let’s dump the best QB in the league because he didn’t heal fast enough from a serious injury.
My prediction (which to be clear was neither a request nor a suggestion) was based on gut instinct. There has been weirdness about this situation from the moment camp opened. If he's not back next year, there may be many possible reasons. Odds are we will never hear the full story, no matter how it plays out.
There’s nothing weird about a serious injury that doesn’t heal as quickly as was hoped. And there’s nothing weird about teams being less-than-transparent about their injuries. It happens all the time in sports.
Unplayable wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 1:58 pm
I for one don’t wonder what their record would have been had they had Chad Kelly all year and I don’t think success next year is dependent on whether or not he plays. On average they have scored enough points per game to be in the play off race.
What would have made a difference this year and will next year is a defence that can slow down the opposition to an average of 23-25 points per game.That’s what Montreal and Saskatchewan have basically done. The Argos have given up an average of 32 pts per game which makes them the worst defence in the league by a wide margin.
I think with Kelly in the lineup the offence would have been way more explosive and would have overcome many of the defensive shortcomings.
Unplayable wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 1:58 pm
I for one don’t wonder what their record would have been had they had Chad Kelly all year and I don’t think success next year is dependent on whether or not he plays. On average they have scored enough points per game to be in the play off race.
What would have made a difference this year and will next year is a defence that can slow down the opposition to an average of 23-25 points per game.That’s what Montreal and Saskatchewan have basically done. The Argos have given up an average of 32 pts per game which makes them the worst defence in the league by a wide margin.
I think with Kelly in the lineup the offence would have been way more explosive and would have overcome many of the defensive shortcomings.
Great idea. Let’s dump the best QB in the league because he didn’t heal fast enough from a serious injury.
My prediction (which to be clear was neither a request nor a suggestion) was based on gut instinct. There has been weirdness about this situation from the moment camp opened. If he's not back next year, there may be many possible reasons. Odds are we will never hear the full story, no matter how it plays out.
There’s nothing weird about a serious injury that doesn’t heal as quickly as was hoped. And there’s nothing weird about teams being less-than-transparent about their injuries. It happens all the time in sports.
Except the team was talking like Kelly was on the verge of returning as early as training camp and several times during the season, now Dinwiddie is admitting he is likely done for the season with two games left.
