THE CANADIAN PRESS
CFL.ca Staff
MONTREAL — Rakeem Cato is in some pretty elite company after an electrifying CFL debut on Friday night.
The 23-year-old completed 80 per cent of his passes (20-of-25 passing) and threw three touchdown passes, picking apart the defending Grey Cup Champions to lead the Alouettes to their first win of 2015.
Consider the situation and it’s even more impressive: Cato didn’t even suit up in Week 1. The Alouettes passer hadn’t even attempted a single regular season pass before Friday’s matchup against one of the CFL’s perennially top-ranked defences.
The last 16 CFL debut starters have gone 10-6, but overall, first-time starters are 37-70-1 since 1995. The upward trend could be explained by teams being patient with their backups and letting them learn and develop before their first career starts, yet for Cato the opposite was the case.
WATCH: Cato perfect on Als’ opening drive touchdown
