For the past decade, there was no such thing as a heated discussion about who would start at quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos.
Simply put, it was either Ricky Ray or Jason Maas. But mostly Ray.
However, as we all know, Ray is currently over 3,000 kilometers East in Toronto, preparing to star for the Argonauts.
So, for the first time in a long time, fans of the Green and Gold will welcome in a new CFL season with a new starting quarterback. There is a vast amount of quantity, but how much quality is there to choose from?
Steven Jyles – who was dealt to the Esks in the Ray deal back in December, Kerry Joseph, Matt Nichols, Eric Ward and Jeremiah Masoli are the names fans should begin getting acquainted with. One of these guys will lead your Edmonton Eskimos onto the field come June 30 against a very familiar face – Ray and the Toronto Argonauts.
Believe me when I say that my Twitter interaction list has been filled with nervous football fans that all have a general feeling that the upcoming campaign will be an absolute disaster. Ray has been the face of the franchise 2002.
He was the one player you could point to on the Eskimos roster and say “Because you have Ricky Ray at quarterback, you always have a chance to win.”
Some of the fans and media have made up their minds already that 2012 will be a bad year. Truthfully, it remains to be seen. General Manager Eric Tillman’s top reason for trading Ray was in his words “transition.”
Tillman wants to develop a new stable of quarterbacks and felt last December was the right time to do it, rather than waiting two more years.
The Eskimos held a mini-camp last month and Jyles held his place as the top pivot on the depth chart. However, Tillman says that doesn’t mean he will automatically be the starter this season.
“We believe in Steven but at the same time it was made very clear before we made the trade that it doesn’t anoint Steven as the starting quarterback,” Tillman explained.
“I think people have made that assumption because of the trade. The best quarterback will play and the coaches will make that determination. We have some young on the team that can step forward.”
For the short-term, it looks as though it’s a two-horse race between Jyles and the aging Joseph.
However, head coach Kavis Reed says Joseph is a “39 year-old man in a 25 year-old body.”
The long term plan? It seems that it doesn’t include Jyles or Joseph.
Transition is the name of the game, or the name of the trade. The plan is to have Nichols, Ward, or Masoli step up and be the new signal caller.
They question is: when will the club be comfortable enough to give the ball to one of the three? Not to start 2012 to be sure….you would think.
It’s very crucial for either Jyles or Joseph to have a strong training camp to solidify the top job for now.
How the Eskimos plan to transition the quarterback job to one of the younger pivots is a really good question.
Nichols appears to be closest at being ready to take the job. He enjoyed a great mini-camp and Reed says he has a great shot of snagging the backup job for this season. Ward had a lousy mini-camp showing shoddy mechanics and lacking velocity on his throws. Masoli is a project; he won’t be a factor this season.
Sticking in the offensive backfield, the Eskimos need to find a suitable replacement for Jerome Messam who’s toiling with the Miami Dolphins and facing another knee surgery.
The team will have a different look to their running attack going to smaller and more of a ‘made you miss’ style. The receiving corps looks strong with Fred Stamps and Adarius Bowman back and the additions of Greg Carr and Cary Koch.
The defence might be faced with the task of holding the fort if the offence is slow out of the gate. The good news is the defence is likely the strength of the team. Reed feels he has better depth on that front, especially in the secondary. He says the strength of the unit is their pass rush.
“Marcus Howard in a short amount of time has established himself as a premier pass-rusher in this league,” Reed said.
“We complimented by signing Rashad Jeanty. If he is 50 per cent of what he was when he left to go down to the NFL, he’s going to be a gentleman that’s going to pose a lot of problems for offensive lineman. Also, we know we have a proven commodity in Julius Williams who as we know had an outstanding rookie campaign.”
Training camp is just around the corner.
NOTES: Tillman expects first round draft pick Shamawd Chambers to be at training cap when rookies report on May 30th. Chambers was not offered a contract following a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles.
