CFL.ca
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — StatsGeek is a new weekly segment on CFL.ca featuring the work of league chief statistician Steve Daniel. It highlights growing trends around the league and much of the same data powering all nine CFL coaching staffs and head offices.
This edition of StatsGeek takes a closer look at the accomplishments of Trevor Harris throughout his first three CFL starts, and why he’s sitting in some pretty elite company.
StatsGeek: A look at Trevor Harris’ first three career CFL starts
If you thought the Argos were going to have a successful 2015 and get back in the CFL Playoffs, you might have guessed that the health and performance of Ricky Ray would play a pretty vital role. It’s not wrong, at least yet, to say otherwise, but so far the Argos are winning without him — so far there’s been a different factor in 2015 to their success.
With Ray still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, Trevor Harris has stepped in and shouldered the load for the Boatmen in the first two games and he’s done much better than just alright. The Argos have outscored their opponents 68-51 in going 2-0 over Saskatchewan and Edmonton and rank third in passing offence and second in total offence in the process.
Throughout an influx of new young players both on offence and defence, Harris has been the one constant for the Argos on the field. And yet, despite starting only his second and third career CFL games this season, he’s delivered with the poise of a 10-year veteran.
Dating back to his first career start at the end of last season vs. Ottawa, here’s what Harris has accomplished through his first three CFL starts:
Winning is the most important stat and Harris has delivered in that category with a perfect 3-0 record. Consider the recent track record of first-time starters and it’s even more impressive: 361 quarterbacks have made their first CFL start since 1950 but only 131 have won, a winning percentage of .374.
Yet equally impressive for Harris in his first three starts is his completion percentage, yardage (he sits second in the CFL in passing yards in 2015 through two games), quarterback rating and touchdown to interception ratio. He has seven touchdowns and one interception through two games this season and outside of Rakeem Cato (who’s started only one game) owns the league’s top quarterback rating.
His clip of nine passing touchdowns through three career starts, however, truly puts him in elite territory. While Bo Levi Mitchell took the CFL by storm out of the gate in his CFL career by winning 12 of his first 13 starts, Harris’ first three games were even better statistically:
The question now for the young pivot is how can he continue his success? Tobin Rote arrived from the NFL and made his first three career starts in 1960, throwing 12 touchdown passes in his first three games. But after throwing 38 touchdown passes in his first CFL season, Rote threw only 28 the next two seasons combined before wrapping up his CFL career.
While Rote isn’t the only one who’s fizzled out after a hot start to his career, others have started slow and gone on to enjoy Hall of Fame careers. Doug Flutie, for example, threw only one touchdown pass in his first three games while Travis Lulay failed to throw any.
The early indication is that Trevor Harris is going to be a good one, but the only thing that can tell us for sure is time. The Argos’ next game is on Monday against Calgary, while Harris may only get so many games to continue proving himself before Ray returns under centre.
In the meantime, all eyes will be on #7 as he tries to make it 4-0 with a matchup against the defending Grey Cup Champions.
