A lot of it is about protection…Toronto has it best, and that means Ricky Ray. Hufnagel and Dickenson help Bo Mitchell in Calgary, Maas has Reilly in Edmonton. There’s your three best.
Trevor Harris is most effective from a sprint out offense, but spent last year in the pocket, afraid or forbidden to take off. His passing is strong but his leadership is unproven.
Masoli has guts and is exciting to watch. He and Brandon Bridge are probably the closest thing to Doug Flutie currently playing in Canada, not on talent or production but on individuality and improvisation. Collaros won’t last the season healthy in Regina.
Nicholls is injury prone and will need better protection.
Kevin Glenn’s numbers do the talking, tons of production but no Grey Cup ring. However, properly utilized, he can steal a game or two, and he and Reilly make a good one and two.
Montreal is in deep trouble, and so are the Lions, although Travis Lulay is there and may yet have some football in him. Jennings has peaked.
And Nichols finish second only to Reilly in QUAR. So, he finished as the top passer and the second-best in QUAR. I think he’s underrated in this thread.
I was never a fan of Nichols at all before but he's in a perfect offense now for him. Lapo has him rolling and moving the pocket and his confidence is really growing. And he is ridiculously accurate.
The West is gonna be a dog fight hey?
And we probably shouldn't sleep on Jennings in BC either. He had a rough injury plagued year last year but he could bounce back quite easily. He was a star in the making after 2016. One rough year does not mean he's done. Still just a kid actually. Took Reilly and Nichols several years before they had success. They were still bouncing around with clipboards at his age let's not forget.
So long as Reilly can maintain his incredible leg drive and speed - he'll outrank Bo Levi & Matt Nichols immo . . . .
Nichols protects the ball far better than the other two guys but his long-range efficiency isn't near as good as Reilly - thus fewer completed bombs, reliance on some dink 'n dunk stuff.
Reilly loses a bit of his scramble power and Nichols, based on protecting the ball is probably slightly better.
Nichols vs. Mitchell is hair brane close - Mitchell could run but he doesn't so he doesn't out-flank Nichols in that dept. Nichols might have the slightly stronger arm and willingness to stay in the pocket for an extra half-second or so. Mitchell is really nervous in the service - especially under duress - he'll shed the ball, even tossing it into the stands if no one is open.
Mitchell looks better last 5 years cuz he's had better teams behind him and far better coaching overall. If Nichols remains healthy and can utilize new guys Bowman & Demski then he'll surpass Mitchell in stats dept. Reilly's bombs still give him the long stats advantage!
Agreed. And yeah, I don’t think there is any question Bo has had the best OL for basically his career. Yeah, it got rather beaten up the one year…but it was deep. It was not as strong last season, but he did well…better than I anticipated.
His lack of scrambling is by design. He is being coached to keep hi head downfield and look through pressure, not at it. in the past, he would look at the pressure and really scramble out…not even always take off, but break contain and narrow the field. Now he keeps his head looking more for a target than an escape. Superb coaching. He did an interview on it some time back…was great.
Jennings had Khari Jones…I see him as an okay OC, but really bad QB coach. Jackson could take him a long way…but if he doesn’t like him he will itch to get rid of him. If he like you then he will go to the moon and back…if he is not sold he doesn’t want to bother. Jackson is a superb QBC and I think is going to make a very good OC…might be some bumps season one…but I think he will be solid. IMO BC QBs are already in much better hands.
Nice thing this season is we have new QB s with high ability and hopes across the league. Interesting to see at year's end surprises, flops or same best few QB.