Vernon Adams to start in SSK

All that would mean is: Cato no longer wants to play professional football, the Als made a huge mistake trading for Adams, and that the Als will overpay this coming offseason to acquire a QB.

Most often agree with you, but I think you are being hard on Adams for some early mistakes.
But tons of sacks both possible and a concern for his development if the O-Line doesn’t stwp up.

So far, the only comment given by Jacques Chapdelaine on why the team made a change at QB is that Cato might have too much pressure on him causing his high-strung behavior.

Cato, meanwhile, has displayed repeated skittish behaviour, leading members of the organization to wonder whether he has the mental strength to be a starting quarterback.

“I’ve had conversations with Rakeem as well in terms of his behaviour,? Chapdelaine said. “I think Rakeem has done some good things. At the same time I believe the pressure of the environment is very difficult for a young QB. Were those outbursts a result of that pressure and, am I better to alleviate some of that pressure by removing Rakeem from such a hot spot??

[url=http://montrealgazette.com/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes/alouettes-with-decision-to-drop-duron-and-stafford-chapdelaine-shows-his-resolve]http://montrealgazette.com/sports/footb ... is-resolve[/url]

GH, I’m not being hard on him. Really. I am only going on two things: his rookie status and what I’ve seen from him. You add the two up and NOTHING suggests that he’s even remotely ready to handle stepping into the starter role on this trainwreck of a team. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by throwing a good prospect to the wolves so a bunch of people (Popp, Chapdelaine, or whoever) can save their jobs / make themselves look good. That’s politics coming ahead of player development, which I absolutely loathe.

Hit it right on the head. All the team is going to end up with is either and injured player or one who doubts himself.

Khalid Wooten might be the one who replaces the injured Greg Henderson.

As far as I know, the Als are not making any changes to the OL this week.

LEAGUE GAME NOTES

-Going into the week, the West has beaten Eastern teams 15 times in a row, which is a record. The Stamps beating the Argos on Friday would make it 16 before the Als play the Riders on Saturday.

-Riders 4 game winning streak after losing 7 in a row is the 2nd biggest turnaround in CFL history. Accomishment is only topped by the Eskimos 5 wins in a row after losing 8 in 1971.

-Riders have set a record by having 91 different players active in a year. They also have the record of 99 if you include both the Active Roster and Injured List.

-Over the last 5 games, the Riders have given up an average of 19.8 points. In the first 10 games, they were allowing 34.7 per game.

-Riders have turned the ball over only 4 times in their last 4 games.

-Riders have not given up any 1st quarter points in the last 2 games. Over their last 4 games, they have given up 10 points total in the 1st quarter.

-However, Riders are 9th in QB sacks with just 20.

-In their last 3 games, the Rider opponents have scored 0 points in the 3rd Quarter.

-Als can only reach the playoffs if they win all their remaining games while the Ti-Cats lose all of theirs.

-Vernon Adams starting means that the Als would have used 7 different starters in their last 8 games versus the Riders. Jonathan Crompton is the only Als QB to have more than one start against Saskatchewan during that span.

-Adams is the 9th Als QB starter since Anthony Calvillo's last start.

-Adams is the 3rd debut QB starter this year (others are Logan Kilgore and Mitchell Gale). Kilgore went 21-36 for 354 yards 1TD/0INT. Gale went 25-42 for 322 yars 1TD/2INT.

-In the race for most tackles this year, Solmon Elimimian leads with 113. Bear Woods has 110.

-Last 5 games, the Als defense has been on the field an average of 33:41 minutes per game.

-Montreal last lost the Time of Possession in 9 of their last 10 games.

-In their last 4 games, the Als have averaged 193 passing yards and 233 yards total offense.

-The 121 net yards on offense last week was their second lowest since 1996.

-Als have the fewest numbers of starters this year at 32. Sixteen of them have started every Als game this year.

-Als are now 0-11 when trailing after 3 Quarters. They are however 4-0 when leading going into the 4th Quarter.

-Rakeem Cato being sack 7 times last week brings his total for the year to 29 with an average of 4.8 sacks per start. His sacked total is only behind Darian Durant who is at 31.

It's been awhile since I've been on fellas, college football started here. So apparently vernon is getting his first start saturday, considering the way the season has gone I believe its a good move. I'm very interested to see how he has mastered the offense and the Canadian game. Considering how the team has played all season I don't expect any earth moving differences in results but more interested to see how he handles situations. I think he will be composed and do well in that respect. I've said it from the beginning I believe he is the future for the team. I hope Saturday is the beginning for him as well as the team

Amen to that, now MAGA !

The Als current offensive situation is certainly not an easy one for any young QB to come into. But there are a few areas I will be looking for to give an indication of Adams` potential.

  1. How quickly he can scan the field and make his reads.

  2. His velocity, touch, and accuracy.

  3. How he handles a pass rush. Can he buy time, continue to scan the field, or will he start to panic?

Assessing him on these things for a couple of games will give us an indication of whether he can be further developed.

I certainly wish him good luck.

Exactly Sheldon. Vernon is a naturally calm guy. If he understands the offense,which he should by now you should see what you are asking for. I'm interested to see how he has progressed since his early reps.

Good, bad, or indifferent; one game is not necessarily an indication of how Vernon Adams performs in the future. Look at Logan Kilgore who threw for 354 yards in his debut. He is now #4 on the Depth Chart on a team with an uncertain QB future.

I was reading an article about the surprising number of true freshmen starting at QB in the college football. An ESPN analyst said in that situation, coaches get to see how the youngsters react to failure and adversity. Are they physically and mentally stong enough to handle that? Only way to tell is to actually play them.

Developing a QB is an art, not a science. You see how often the NFL gets it wrong. Coaches aren't gods or machines. They are very fallible human beings with biases and preconceptions that frequently louse up perfectly good QB prospects. Anthony Calvill is a perfect example of a QB who'd been failed by circumstance and bad coaching. Then he went on to become pro football's all-time passing leader. How many stars are extinguished before their time because some a$$hat of an OC is trying to cover his own behind or is impatient?

I’m expecting nothing from Vernon and that’s not a knock on him. He will be lucky to get 150 yards, 2 interceptions or less and finish the game. His oline can’t handle a rush, he’s got no receivers to throw to and a RB who averages 3 yards a carry and can’t block to save his job. An offense designed by a rookie career pocket passer.

Might want to climb the Mount Royal oratory on you’re knees and burn a few candles if you want to see any of this.

+1

If he finishes the game with no injury I’ll be happy. That’s my expectation. This is a no-win scenario and evidence that Chap is coaching for optics and the future, not for what’s best for the team.

Those numbers would roughly equal what Brett Smith accomplished in his debut. His OC was no other than Jacques Chapdelaine. Here are the stats from CFL QB’s who have made their starting debut within the last 2 seasons:

Rakeem Cato - 20-25 - 241 yards - 3TD/0INT - 146.4 rating
Keith Price - 10-15 - 140 yards - 1TD/0INT - 118.7 rating
Brandon Bridge - 21-30 - 220 yards - 2TD/0INT - 113.1 rating
James Franklin - 29-38 - 335 yards - 1TD/0INT - 111.1 rating
Mitchell Gale - 21-36 - 354 yards - 1TD/0INT - 100.9 rating
Jonathan Jennings - 18-30 - 281 yards - 2TD/1INT - 99.4 rating
Dominique Davis - 16-25 - 169 yards - 0TD/0INT - 83.5 rating
Robert Marve - 18-29 - 203 yards - 1TD/1INT - 80.1 rating
Jacory Harris - 3-6 - 41 yards - 0TD/0INT - 72.2 rating
John Beck - 20-29 - 207 yards - 1TD/2INT - 72.0 rating
Logan Kilgore - 25-42 - 322 yards - 1TD/2INT - 71.7 rating
Jeff Mathews - 15-23 - 155 yards - 0TD/1INT - 66.3 rating
Brett Smith - 15-22 - 132 yards - 0TD/2INT - 46.0 rating

You’ve got access to some pretty sophisticated stats there, my American firend :wink:

Steve Daniel and has staff does all the heavy lifting. All I did was calculate the ratings and sort the list.

Riders will have 3 former Als in their starting defense for Saturday's game: Andrew Lue, Ed Gainey, and Corvey Irvin. Riders should have put Henoc Muamba at LB to make it 4.

Henoc Muamba is on the active roster,as LB.

Richard