Landry: All eyes are on quarterbacks in Edmonton

CFL.ca will be previewing the 2022 season, taking an in-depth look at each of the nine teams as they get set to hit the field.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.cfl.ca/2022/05/09/landry-all-eyes-are-on-quarterbacks-in-edmonton/

Question in my mind, is Arbuckle a leader the team will rally around? If so hand him the keys, & stick with the decision. Not sure that he's proved that yet to me. Is he a team first guy?

From my understanding the Argos had a very good, supportive QB group. If I recall correctly, McBeth was upset with the trade. Now, McAdoo also had Arbuckle in TO for awhile so it may be performance issues. The one criticism I have heard is protecting the ball, specifically fumbles.

The Elk(s) need to establish their pecking order sooner rather than later probably more than other teams in my humble opinion, because of the lingering bad taste of last years mid season QB fiasco. Pick your man, & stand by him(there’s a country song in there somewhere). That kind of jerking your team around seldom helps, especially if the players aren’t on board with it & makes it a whole lot easier for the wheels to come off. I’m sure Jones knows all of this stuff.

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Make that McAdoo and Jones. Although Jones was working with defence he would have had contact with everyone in some way. The reality then is there is upside to Arbuckle or the Elks would have moved him already.

I have some good feelings for Cornelius after how he handled last season. In the last game it was obvious to all but the guy who played at being a coach all year that half the defence was waiting under every pass because his offensive plans were written on the back of a cocktail napkin - in crayon. Yet Cornelius went out and executed as well as he could.
What I do know about Cornelius is- he has a rocket for an arm and he can disguise hand offs better than any QB we have had in a long while and he has legs. When plays broke down he used his legs to gain positive yards last year.

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The other thing to keep in mind with Cornelius. After playing the Riders Nov 13, they had to travel East to Toronto, 1 day travel, 1 day rest. Played Nov 16, then across the country again to Vancouver - 1 day travel, 1 day rest. Play Nov 19. Add in jet lag both ways. Take away those 6 INT’s he had the last 2 games under adverse conditions & he’s 9 TD’s, 7 INT’s.

I agree with you on Cornelius. His record looks worse than it is. Latest news, Ford is coming to rookie camp - a good indication he is close to signing. I’d like to see what kind of packages they could put in with Ford & Cornelius in the backfield.

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There's no such thing as an Elks, get a panel of 10 year olds to come up with a new name. They would likely do a much better job.

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That “offence” was a joke though. If you watch the last home game you will see LB’s and DB’s all running to the “spot” where the ball was going. Basically there were 6 “spots” to throw to for QB’s.

I figured it out 2 games in. So did everybody else - even Ottawa.

That makes the Int. numbers skewed, horribly skewed.

Cornelius looks like a Bust. Period.
I don't get the Arbuckle situation - he looked good as an Argo - except for maybe 10 stupid plays in 7 games. Still - WAY WAY better than Bethel-Thompson who will accomplish nothing.

I like Cornelius as well – unfortunately he was thrown in mid-season and was forced to execute an offensive scheme that was far too simple and predictable! This year, he has a full off-season with McAdoo and Jackson guiding the offense. They will likely make use of his talents and that rocket arm of his and put him in a better position to make plays downfield.

With Tre Ford in the works (pantsonfire mentioned he was attending rookie camp) – should be some interesting competition with Arbuckle, Cornelius, and Ford leading the way. Training camp and pre-season should shed some light on how creative this new offence will be.

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Poor Arbuckle: Since his departure from Calgary, he really hasn’t had a chance to show what he has as a QB. Now with troubles with the CFLPA and League contract negotiations, and the CFLPA stating players are not to show up to training camp, Arbuckle just might be missing out on another opportunity. Come on CFL stop fooling around and negotiate in good faith and get this season underway! Losing this season might just be the last nail in the CFL coffin, as Fan support is fading fast.

For sure there a whole lot of country songs, some real some I have made up and written and I don’t even like country music, in such quarterback drama.

Drama and the preseason or the regular season don’t mix. Save all that inevitable drama for the playoffs.

/Strums virtual guitar

…“so I spun my wheels to pick her on up one way …but she spun hers all out the otherrrrrr …”

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If those are our three, I will take it. Hopefully the noise can stop early like @PorkyPine stated above.

Of the three quarterbacks you mentioned Arbuckle was the only quarterback to beat us last year. Come to think of it, Arbuckle was the ONLY quarterback in the entire league last year to beat us in a meaningful game. That’s got to count for something right?

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Any chance that Mike Reilly could come out of retirement?? Is he still healthy enough, even for half a season?

Ah yes Esky - - the second coming of Mike Reilly – I honestly wouldn’t mind that! I remember his first season with Edmonton (2013) – they went 4–14 that year. Despite the abysmal record, Reilly made the games exciting and he played his heart out – but the rest of the team lacked talent.

The following year, Chris Jones is hired, and with Reilly already in place, the team talent was upgraded significantly and they finished 12-6! The next year they went 14-4 and won the Grey Cup. Good times – the guy had (3) +5000 year passing seasons! Unfortunately, because of his aggressive style of play, he took a beating every year - especially in BC. I don’t think he has any GAS left in the tank.

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This whole topic brings up an interesting note for the Alouettes who have the worst GM in the league. Almost a year after Harris was let go, the Elks still have no idea who their starting QB will be. Despite that they let Harris go and the moron in Montreal signed him for this coming year, even though Harris demonstrated last year exactly why he was cut by Edmonton.

Just an FYI - allant - on why Edmonton has not chosen a starting QB - - Chris Jones said from the word ‘Go’ that there would be a competition for starting QB thru training camp and pre-season games. He was not anointing anyone as starting QB – someone will have to earn that privilege and they have 8 QB’s right now to choose from. Leading candidates are Arbuckle, Cornelius, and their new first round pick Ford.

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Though I agree with @PorkyPine that selection sooner is better than later, I agree with you as well that early on it is wise for Jones to keep his cards close to his chest.

And it seems like every single year that everybody forgets that even in training camp, as players migrate from whatever off-season fitness regimen to full-speed repetitions, injuries will happen.

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I was trying to make the point of how bad Macioca is. Thanks for your help. They let Harris go even though they had no established #1 QB. A first round pick in the draft who is a canadian QB has just a little more than zero % chance of being an immediate starter and none of the others has been a #1 QB in the CFL. My point was even though they had no starter to replace Harris they let him go. And not only did Montreal sign him, they resigned him for the coming year.

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