And then there were five
Jyles, Joseph, Nichols, Summers Masoli remain after Ward cut
The release of third-string pivot Eric Ward will help the Edmonton Eskimos sort out their quarterback situation.
Ward, 25, was sent packing by the Canadian Football League team early Saturday morning. That leaves five quarterbacks — Steven Jyles, Kerry Joseph, Matt Nichols, Jeremiah Masoli and Brandon Summers — on the team’s roster, with training camp opening on Sunday at 2 p.m.
“We had six quarterbacks in camp and we were faced with the decision of who we were going to take to camp,” Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed said.
“Even five quarterbacks is a lot of arms in camp, but given the fact that we know that we’re going to have Steven and Kerry really competing (for the starter’s job) along with Matt Nichols, we felt that Eric had to do what he did last year in order to be the guy.”
If there’s a victor to be named in the race to be the thirdstring quarterback, it’s Nichols, who leapfrogged Ward with a strong mini-camp in March that was followed up by a good rookie camp.
Ward, however, lagged in both showings. He won the third-string job in 2011 and dressed for every Eskimos game last year and was a holder on field-goal attempts.
Nichols spent the year moving from the one-game injured list to the nine-game list.
“When he came to quarterback school, our minicamp, we didn’t feel that his accuracy, his velocity and his mechanics were there,” Reed said. “We felt he regressed in that regard.
“We asked him to do some things going back, hoping that he would come back more technically sound and it didn’t work out. The accuracy wasn’t there, the velocity was questionable at times and we were cheering for the kid,” Reed said. “It just didn’t work out.” Jyles goes into camp as the team’s No. 1 quarterback, Reed said, though he expects Joseph to give him a good battle for the starting job.
Nichols, Masoli and Summers are hoping to be the wrench in that wheel during the four weeks leading up to the regularseason opener at Commonwealth Stadium on June 30 against Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argonauts.
Listening to Reed, it sounds like he has his top-three already mapped out, with the most opportunity available to Nichols.
“(Masoli, Nichols and Summers) did what we felt they needed to do,” Reed said. “The biggest thing with Jeremiah and Brandon, we don’t feel that they’re factoring in as starters or one-two-three right now.”
Reed noted that the Esks have a full training camp’s worth of time, provided everyone stays healthy, to sort it all out.
“We’re going to let Kerry, Matt and Steven jockey in that position,” said Reed, who has already put a great deal of thought into how playing time will break down in the two preseason games. The Eskimos play the Stampeders at Calgary on June 15 and host the B.C. Lions on June 21.
“When we made the (Ray) trade, we thought about how we were going to split it up,” Reed said. “It’s going to be divided in the sense that we’re going to make certain that Steven gets ample opportunity to maintain No. 1 on the depth chart, that’s the first thing.
“We’re going to make certain that Matt Nichols gets ample opportunity to move up the chart. We’re going to look at Kerry and we’re going to see that we have a veteran, experienced guy. He’s going to get good opportunities, but we know what we have in Kerry.
“He’ll get his reps, but not in the way that those two guys will get.”
No medical issues
Medicals were just a formality for the Eskimos this year.
“Right now, medically, we have a situation where we feel all of the guys are ready to go,” Reed said after the players went through doctor’s examinations Saturday afternoon. “There probably won’t be any decisions made based on that.”
Jason Barnes failed his medical and was released last year. He had recovered from a serious spleen injury that ended his 2010 season, but a separate issue led to the move. The Eskimos intended to bring him back, but Barnes didn’t receive that message.
The lanky receiver rejoined the team a week later, had a strong season and signed with the Argonauts as a free agent in the off-season.