LMAO people ready to move on from Cato because Adams barely, just barely won a game in which he didn't hit 200 yards passing or 50% completion and was sacked 6 times while throwing a pick. :lol: :lol:
Playing in his first game and losing two weapons in Carter and Stafford that same week it was Adams game to lose and was expected . He could have crapped the bed against a resurgent Rider team but he didn’t you have to give him some credit for not losing the game in his first start in enemy territory . He beat a very good Durant at QB on the other side . The weather was bad and Durant only passed for 188 yards himself .
I never felt Cato was solid last year and was surprised he did so well with Chapdelaine’s first game . After seeing Toronto the last few weeks he might have had a much easier opponent than the Riders .
Cato does not handle hostile situations or adversity during the game well and dwells too much on the last bad pass
or sack to be number one right now . I wish him the best as he has some good tools but needs to be an iceman
when taking the snaps and forget the last play that didn’t go well . I really think a good sports psychologist would help him with the mental aspects of the game .
You have to be impressed with Adam’s scrambling ability . If he can throw as well he can scramble you have something . Calgary will be a good test again . The defense will give up more points this game and Adams will have to play better against a better Stamps defense . I am hoping the Als catch the Stamps dreaming about a Grey Cup they already won and teach them a lesson .
I agree with BJM that Cato could be helped should the team arrange for him to have a counselor. I do believe he has grown in the past year, as compared to 2015. It was positive to see Cato congratulate Adams for his performance after the last game. This young man, with appropriate help, has the potential for personal growth and, for his development to withstand the rigors of playing in pro ball. I wish him well.
I agree. Production wise he was about where I expected but he protected the ball well. Now there were close calls and the bad weather that caused drops count as incompletions on his stats but wass also that benefit to him from potential interceptions.
That’s not taking anything away from Cato. Cato requires better protection to be productive than a “scrambler” like Adams. Let’s hope we get to see Cato again when tthe Als have sorted their protection.
When a team has two young quarterbacks and neither is established there is a simple rule to go by.
Win and you're in.
[i]Completely unfair to Cato. The guy has had nothing but crap in his time with the Alouettes. Last season, the OC was Turk Schonert. The offense was dysfunctional.
This season, the offensive line is horrible. The guy has been running for his life and getting sacked all season. After a while, anyone would get discouraged and nervous in the pocket.
He also had those two bozos Stafford and Carter picking on him.
Adams was playing his first ever pro game. Of course he was positive and enthusiastic! :roll:
If Adams was to play 15 games running for his life in a dysfunctional offence, by game 15 he would not be so “high on life” and enthusiastic. [/i]
[i]With that logic, you just made Crompton the starter! :lol:
But, seriously. Wins matter, but we have to look at how those wins were obtained. Adams won “à la Crompton”:
mediocre passing, but the defence wins the game.[/i]
Cato has also won more games for the Als. And won them, you know, with actually good performance. But sure, let's punish him for his background instead of just helping him to succeed on the field. Because he's the first QB in the history of the sport to have a fiery temper and emotional intensity. :roll:
He’s not punished. The last game he played he was so overwhelmed that he was throwing himself on the ground, half the sacks he was taking he could have thrown the ball out of bounds. I think it is more a question of Adams ability to escape that made JC choose to go with him.
And did Adams do any better in the first half of last game? Nope, was sacked 6 times behind that porous O-line, for all his escapability. It was only after Chap benched Ruby and moved Blake to LT that Adams stayed upright. I sure wish Cato would have been able to benefit from that improved pass protection.
Also, Adams being able to scramble is just a band-aid on the hemorrhaging wound that is our offense. Instead of starting an unproven QB with a noodle arm to mitigate some of our pass protection troubles, how about we start calling a better game, activate a real running back (not Rutley), and doing everything we can to allow the QB to have success IN the pocket?
Hey, here's an idea. Why don't we compare Vernon Adams's first start in the CFL, and the caliber of opposition he faced, to Rakeem Cato's first start in the CFL, and the caliber of opposition he faced?
Might make for a slightly more balanced picture. 
You don’t need to to that. You just have to go back to his 4TD performance earlier this season. I really don’t think the Als have given up on Cato, let’s see what Adams does against Calgary. Great team, Motivated, lets see if he can move the ball.
Maybe if Adams plays poorly Cato will get another shot this Sunday . I don't know why you would be so high on Cato and down on Adams .
Why wouldn't you be happy for Adams even Cato was happy for Adams . It was good to see from Cato jumping up and down and congratulating Adams .
Calvillo himself played like crap for a few years and was reborn . Cal however had a similiar background to Cato's
growing up in a bad area . The thing is Cal had a quiet demeanor who held things inside which is required at the pro level . Cato either gets needed help with the mental aspect or his shelf life will expire . I want him to do well but I wouldn't put the Als season on hold when you can see what else you have in the cupboard . There is no conspiracy
against Cato he even knows that . You are expected to perform and do things above the college level and Adams shown he can make things happen when things don't go right which is bound to happen .
One of the posters posted Chappy's comments about what is expected at this level at QB and he was being straight forward and fair . He won me over as a communicator .
So I missed the game last week but saw the stats. Sounds like it was a pretty ugly win . After reading some of your posts thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. Vernon doesn't have the biggest arm on the planet by any means but what he does have is touch and is accurate. What he brings to the table more than any other thing ,is he's a winner. He doesn't get riled up if things go wrong. It's on to the next play.. He may or may not be the future in Montreal but the kid will play and win someplace..
And he has also at times looked lost and unable to make progression reads or adjust to pressure.
I like them both, and only want to see Adams because this is essentially an extended 2017 training camp.
Yes! Of course he has. But to hear some talk, Vernon Adams should now be the starter, and that’s what I object to. Because Adams (at this stage in his development) can’t progress through his reads either. And only looked slightly better last game because Chap finally made changes to the O-line, changes that Cato has never benefited from.
I like them both, and only want to see Adams because this is essentially an extended 2017 training camp.I'm in Cato's corner because he is the superior QB to me. Adams MAY pan out, or he may not. That first start sure didn't fill me with tons of confidence. I want to like him, and I hope he has success with us, but hope and expectation are two different things.
[i]Johnny has spent a little time studying this 2015 highlight reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G1WkuDdJ7YOf course a reel like this is not a complete picture of Adams' 2015 season. Nonetheless, there are some patterns.
A lot of his better plays happen when he leaves the pocket. He is often flushed out and forced to throw on the run from outside the pocket. It looks great, but is worrisome. Why can't he drop back 3 or 5 steps and unload a quick pass? It seems he has to extend the play until a receiver gets wide open.
Yup, wide open. On a lot of those plays, the receiver was so wide open it was laughable. Not once on that highlight reel did he throw a laser into a tight window with great coverage. Any QB can hit receivers when they are that open.
He uses his elusiveness to leave the pocket, allowing the play to develop. No defensive back can cover a receiver for 5 seconds or more. His receiver gets wide open and then he throws. He does not need arm strength or accuracy to make those passes.
This will not translate to the pros. CFL defenses will find ways to keep him in the pocket and force Adams to make the quick, accurate throws in tight windows. The defensive coverage in the CFL is much better than in college ball. He will not get wide open receivers like in college.
Johnny maintains his initial assessment. He has pro level instincts and elusiveness. But, an arm that is college level at best. And not even one of the good college arms.
[/i]
Whenever you start out a comment with a first sentence of ‘So I missed the game last week but saw the stats’ you should probably realize that your 2 cents isn’t even worth that! I don’t have a dog in this fight because I’m not an Al’s fan, but I watch every snap of every CFL game every year, and quite simply Adams does not have a pro level arm, period.
Seems like a good guy, has a better temperament for a QB than Cato, and he can scramble, but anyone that thinks Vernon Adams will ever be a CFL starter long term needs their head examined. Personally I wouldn’t want to hang my hat on either one of Cato or Adams if I was Chapdelaine heading into next season. But at least Cato is physically able to flick the ball around and make all the throws required for a CFL QB. If he could be worked with on the mental aspect then maybe, just possibly, he could develop into something. Unfortunately though it looks like Popp would have to merge the best aspects of Cato and Adams into one QB for them to have something for next season.
I honestly can’t believe that Popp gave up a 1st round pick for a QB without a CFL level arm especially with the amount of guys that get churned out of the NCAA every single year. Mindboggling really, a major misstep.
Thanks for that great post. It is EXACTLY what I feel. But like you said to Montana… We haven’t seen much. It was terrible weather, he had not played in a year and he was throwing on his back foot often because of pressure. So I want to see a few more games before I pass judgement.
My guess is Popp bought him sight unseen and never worked him out. I’m not even sure he was present at the Shrine game since he was coaching at the time. I think 3 games will be a good sampling of his physical abilities. JC likes him and saw him at practice all year so … But last week wasn’t good. All the passes were falling short and that’s with exagerated arcs.
I think Cato can be managed but he’s the kind of guy that will have to be with the right coach. They sure connected with him at Marshall… If we could merge Cato’s arm with Adams’ mobility into Crompton’s body, We’d have the perfect QB but he’d be playing in the NFL :lol:
Don’t be a stranger… that was an awesome contribution.
Cheers.
Punished?
He didn’t start. That’s punishment?
Damn, was Cato being Punished when Glenn was the starter?
Was Adams being Punished all year?
It’s training camp, wins don’t matter right now. Hell, have each qb play a alternating quarters, I really don’t care.
The season is over, let’s see what the QBs have in them.