Zach Collaros Bomber Ranking

Bombers really hit the jackpot when they fetched this guy off the scrap heap in Regina.
What a find.
Now, without a monster like Chris Streveller to back him up, Zach is all alone out there. McGuire is a decent short yardage QB but totally unproven as a starter. Its Zach or nothing.
In fact I like Zach a lot even though he's played less than a dozen games as a Bomber. I'd rate him only behind Jack Jacobs & Kenny Ploen (4 Grey Cup rings) as a starter. Jacobs never won the Grey Cup btw.
OK after Jacobs & Ploen the Bombers haven't exactly been blessed by top American QBs.

Many would rate Matt Dunigan, a true hall of famer ahead of Zach. Same with Tom Terrific, Tom Clements. But other than those two I don't think there's too many other ex Bomber QBs who answer the call as well as Zach C.

Look at the unfortunate list of miscreants, hobos and partial stars:

Bill Van Burkleo, Hal Ledyard, Chuck Ealey, Benji Dial, Max Hall, Tom Burgess, Ralph Brock (greatest physical talent Bombers had at QB, just didn't have much of a mind), Streveller, Drew Willy, Darian Durant, Kevin Glenn, John Schneider, TJ Rubley, Troy Kopp, Kerwin Bell, Reggie Slack, Samuel Garza, T Martin, Chris Vargas, Buck Pierce, Steven Jyles, Michael Bishop, Alex Brink, Joey Elliott, Brian Ah Yat, Throwin' Samoan, etc.

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I've been a huge fan of Zach since his early days in Toronto, and it was great having him as a Ticat for a few seasons. I'm really proud of him for his success this year.

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Only one small alteration, Wpg picked up Zach from Toronto through Saskatchewan, I only mentioned that b/c I doubt Riders would have allowed that trade to a Western team.

Good post

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I had my doubts that heā€™d absorb the playbook in time to be effective going into the playoffs. Boy was I ever wrong. What a fast learner. Iā€™ve never seen a quarterback step into a new offense and have so much success!

He was a ā€˜findā€™ alright! :smiley:

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So long as the Bombers can keep Zach ā€œcleanā€ Iā€™d say theyā€™re odds-on favorites to reach their 2nd straight Grey Cup. Thats a ton of football - and thereā€™s many an opponent gunning to take Zachā€™s head off. Winnipeg can lose Zach for 2, maybe up to 4 games prior to end of season, might actually be good for Zach to let McGuire show his wares but essentially Winnipeg is a 1 QB team - - - - which is better than Ottawa which is obviously a ZERO QB team.

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Agree, give McGuire some game time sprinkled throughout the games, especially on second and short situations. Plus have a quick Dial finger for a replacement if necessary.

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Oh yeah. Groom the backup EVERY chance you get. I totally agree. Why BC didnā€™t give Nathan Rourke SOME playing time while up 4 TDā€™s in the fourth quarter is beyond me. I hope McGuire comes through for us if or when he has to fill in for Collaros. Itā€™ll probably happen some time this season. Hopefully not for long. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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I think thereā€™s still some wishers 'n dreamers who hope that Arizona Cards spring Chris Streveler free by November - Strevs would be the best back-up/rotational guy for Collaros . . . Nichols might also be available but heā€™s a steep downgrade from Collaros, but slightly better than McGuire! Nichols is a game manager - in the Wpg offense heā€™d be OK, although his escapability index is near zero.

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If Ottawa gives up on Nichols and cuts him lose Iā€™ll bet we pick him and put on the shelf for the rest of the season. He might not be fully healed up until next year. :face_with_monocle:

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We still have ā€œBuckā€ toss a jersey on him.
Instant backup. He can call plays on field.
New position Coach/QBā€¦ Kick returner in a pinch

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Iā€™ll bet he can hardly wait to relive some of those highlight reel moments :laughing::

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Aww man, I soooā€¦ remember that game.

I thought he was dead

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It happened more than once. I donā€™t know how he kept getting up. :grimacing:

He is miles better than I had expected him to be. Smart,elusive, eyes up field when scrambling, and can throw a long ball. It's been a while since we have had a QB with his skill set. I would really like to have seen O'shea put McGuire in at the end of the game when it was out of reach. Give the guy some time at the helm and protect Collaros in a game that was out of hand at times

I have to believe O'Shea kept his starter in because he doesn't want to expose McGuire as being incompetent under centre. So he's working Collaros into blowout time - Collaros doesn't need the extra blowout reps, McGuire does!

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McGuire needs reps. for sure but he has shown the Bomber coaching staff he also has an arm as well as a short yardage guy....Practice is no replacement for real game conditions but his previous clips from his quarterbacking duties before coming to the Bombers, shows he has a very good arm....He's also built like a fullback ....won't see him sprint very often but watch out on those short yardage situations...He's a tough man to stop....O'Shea is playing him the way he should

Toby (McGuire) is capable of hoisting the CFL ball 45 to 55 yds to be sure. But most Canadian college QBs and a goodly portion of our top high school QBs can do same.
Prolly has as strong an arm as Collaros.
Collaros, if youā€™ve noticed doesnā€™t have a ton of zip on his passes over 40 yds - theyā€™re usually led zeppelins that require the WR to come back to the ball.
But Collaros is an animal with some of his passes of 10 to 20 yds, not Dieter Brock ferocious but far more zip than say Ricky Ray.
Collaros also has a ton of touch on his flare outs, swing passes and hitches. Far more than Matt Nichols, for instance!

Brock....now you're talking a whole different universe when it comes to gunning the pigskin...that was an arm....Collaros is a very smart qb....getting smarter by the day and is avoiding those ferocious hits that concussed him...He doesn't possess the laser type throw BUT he has an uncanny accuracy under pressure....Should he be considered MOP material at this point in the year?? I'd say so and if he can keep up the type of year he's having .....better than average chance

AND Lyle....I'm glad you didn't use the word 'vermin' to describe some of our previous QB'S so I'll use it to describe Max Hall....arrested for shoplifting and narcotics possession.....We sure had some stinkers

Guys who under proper organizational circumstances could have been molded into serviceable CFL QBs =

  1. Dieter
  2. T Martin (low IQ was his downfall)
  3. Chris Vargas
  4. John Schneider (was a college star but had a bit of a noodle arm, yet guys like Zaleski wanted him to zip balls into coverage. Schneider simply couldnā€™t pop the ball into tight coverage. Didnā€™t have the accuracy on the wide CFL field to toss those arcing 40 yd balloons Mr Collaros is famous for completing. Finally, Schneider was so very deplorable on hitch & swing passes.

Justin Goltz may have actually succeeded if he was willing to sit on a CFL bench for 2 or 3 yrs before conscripted for game action. He was a clone of Chris Streveler, maybe even a bit faster but his knowledge of the game was too low to be inserted under centre for anything more than sneaks

I have to say one of the biggest disappointments I remember back in the day was Wally Gabler....I thought when he came over from T.O., and looked like he'd fit right in here ,would be the guy who lead us out of the wilderness.....instead he led us into the ditch....Big disappointment and there sure has been a few....The flip side of that was Don Jonas who I thought would get us a Cup, till the Mack Herron saga seemed to derail our quest....All in all the successful years under Grant were the greatest memories for me for quarterbacking ....Kenny Ploen ..Hal Ledyard and Jim Van Pelt were solid.....Collaros of today has to be the biggest surprise ever ....There sure is some egg on the faces of a few teams that didn't seem to want him around

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