JUNE JONES: QB Whisperer

Now that the Tiger-Cats 2021 journey is complete, I thought I could go off on a bit of a tangent about our former HC . . .

Back in March of this year, as the NFL Draft hype was heating up, and everyone was touting Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) as the consensus, can't miss #1 overall pick, our old friend June Jones, was expressing a different opinion . . . June acknowledged that very few NFL scouts would agree with his opinion, but he was convinced that Mac Jones (Alabama) was the best QB of the entire draft class.

Trevor Lawrence was selected #1 overall, and then 3 other QB's were selected before Mac Jones was selected by the NE Patriots at #15 overall. We probably need to give Trevor Lawrence a pass for having to survive the Urban Meyer trainwreck in his rookie season, but to this point, Mac Jones is the best QB of this class, and it is not even close !!! June Jones, the QB Whisperer knows of what he speaks !!

Final comment about Mr. Jones . . . when he was in Hamilton, I seem to recall that Tua Tagovailoa was on Hamilton's Neg List. June Jones had many complimentary things to say about Tua at that time. Of course, Tua grew up in Hawaii so June had a previous relationship with him, before he ended up at Alabama. I hope that Tua is not on Hamilton's Neg List anymore, because I don't think he will see the inside of a CFL locker room anytime soon.
But June Jones knows a good QB when he sees one.

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He certainly recognized that Collaros' career was over back in 2017. And then proved it by not giving him any playing time in his new offence.

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well lets also keep in mind that JJ also loved Jeff George,

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Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but just to be clear, Collaros’ career was over in 2017. He was playing scared and was not willing to take a hit. There is no way that Kent Austin did not recognize that . . . the only explanation for Kent sticking with Zach during that awful season must have been that he thought he could coach him through it. I have no doubt that Collaros was probably the best QB in practice every day, when there was no risk of getting hit, but they don’t let you wear the RED jersey during the games. He had some serious mental issues to overcome.

June recognized that just like most of the fans did. He did not have anything invested in Zach. He recognized that Jeremiah gave him the best chance to win, and he made the switch. I don’t think it was a difficult decision at all . . .

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Great idea for a thread. I agree that Collaros lost his mojo during that dreadful 2017 season. The combination of his ACL injury, concussions, and the team quitting on Austin seemed to affect his confidence. Even the Argos and Riders eventually passed on Collaros. Finally on a Bombers team with a stellar O-Line and running game eventually help Zach to a return to form.

I think if Zach was on another team he might have already been out of football. He would have likely sustained another concussion playing behind a weaker O-Line.

At the time the June Jones decision was correct.

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Also released Vernon Adams in favour of Manziel.

Did a bang up job

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He actually wanted the club to trade for Vernon Adams Jr, we gave up Charleston Hughes for him. :scream_cat:
When Johnny football came there was no room left for VAJ

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Liked Evans better than both of them

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Hint: he just beat us in two consecutive Grey Cups.

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Well played sir.

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It was a team effort that beat us.

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Understood. So is that an argument that Zach’s career did in fact end four years ago?

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There is no point in repeating what I stated earlier, but Zach is very lucky to still be employed by a professional football team right now. Believe me I was a Zach fan at one time, but when he came back in 2017 he was a terrible QB. And as others have pointed out, 2 other teams gave up on him after Hamilton.

I am happy that Zach has been able to overcome his fears. It took a while; it is commendable really, because in 2017 his future prospects looked grim.

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Your narrative is plausible. I never had the same level of access to Zach’s innermost thoughts and fears in 2017 so I can’t really comment on his state of mind. There was a whole lot wrong with our team that year.

But Jones’ handling of Collaros hardly seems like a win in his QB Whisperer Lifetime Achievement column. It would be far more impressive for a coach to help a struggling but talented QB turn things around than to just pull the plug, especially when said QB demonstrated that could be the best in the league both before (2015) and after (2021) that coach’s tenure.

Jones certainly had other QB wins in Hamilton: helping Masoli realize his potential, dumping the over-hyped Manziel (albeit after his completely ludicrous statement that Johnny could be the best ever in the CFL - which you could charitably write off as marketing/promotion), and recognizing the upside in Evans.

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2017 his future prospects didn’t look grim at all.
He looked like a QB on a bad team with a large contract.
In 2018 he threw for 3000 in 14 games and helped lead the Riders to a 12-6 record.
It wasn’t until 2019 when his future prospects looked grim.

No. Zack is part of the team.

Once again, we agree.

Jones was the coach, not the GM.
And Vernon unfortunately was the 4th string QB that season.

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The GM didn’t make him the 4th string.

VAJ was actually bumped to REC in camp because June Jones felt Dane Evans was ahead of VAJ

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