Jennings might be steal at QB
In 2016, Jonathon Jennings was 24 years old and the third best quarterback in the Canadian Football League.
Only Mike Reilly and Bo Levi Mitchell had better passing numbers that season, and here they are still dominant forces in the league, each signing free-agent contracts this week worth about a half million bucks more than the base salary Jennings will get from the Ottawa Redblacks.
So what happened to Jennings’ career? Why did it dip rather than continue to soar? How did he become a Day 2 free agent brought in by the Redblacks — on a one-year deal worth a reported $250,000 with incentives that could bump him to $400,000
— to compete with Dominique Davis for the No. 1 job.
Yes, unless the Redblacks are being coy, Jennings is applying for Trevor Harris’s old role along with a guy who has never before been a starter.
After four seasons with the B.C. Lions, the 6-foot, 195-pounder from Columbus, Ohio, should have been either in much higher demand or signing a megabucks deal to stay put. Instead, he’s still having to prove himself as the real deal.
Why?
“It’s been a whirlwind of things that have happened,” Jennings said Wednesday in a phone conversation with Postmedia. “In 2015 I came in, and my life kind of changed, being a nobody to all of a sudden playing well.
“In 2016, it’s kind of like, ‘Hey was that a fluke in ’15? What’s he going to do this year?’ So I throw for 5,000 yards, have a great season, had success (12-6 record) with the team … It was a great year.
“Then in 2017, start off good, but in the fourth game separated my throwing shoulder, and obviously that’s when things started spiralling the other way.”
Jennings missed four games that season, with longtime Lion Travis Lulay taking over as starter in his absence.
“When I came back, I didn’t realize it for a long time, but the shoulder just never really (recuperated),” Jennings said. “It wasn’t the same. I wasn’t throwing the ball the same. Throws that I had made before, I wasn’t making anymore. I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I didn’t even recognize it as much during the moment as I did once my arm started to actually fully come back. And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is how I throw.’”
In the meantime, the Lions slipped to 7-11 and missed the playoffs. In 2018, Lulay started the majority of the games, but, after a 9-9 record, they both had opportunity in the East semifinal against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Neither did much in a 48-8 loss that convinced the Lions they had to go after Reilly on the freeagent market.
“Last year was kind of weird. I just never got my feet underneath me,” Jennings said. “They ended up pulling me early, put Travis in, he got hurt, came back in, I played well.
“We won, I think, four out of five games, or something like that, that I played, and then Travis came back. I was playing in the second half of a lot of those games, but I just never really got comfortable. It was a weird situation, weird dynamics with the organization in general.
“I’m just looking for a fresh start, where I can go out there and play ball like I know I can.”
Jennings also had an offer on the table from the Toronto Argos in a “similar situation,” if not quite as much money. Ultimately, he chose the “better opportunity” and a “good chance to come here to compete.”
In other words, he likes his chances of winning the starter’s role over Davis, whom he knows only casually from training together in Tampa.
“At this level, you’re going to be competing regardless,” Jennings said. “It’s not about what you’ve done, it’s about what you’re going to do. I’m coming into a situation where Dom was obviously there last year. He has an opportunity as well. He’s going to be hungry to start, he’s going to be hungry to compete. I think competition brings out the best in everyone, so that’s good for the team.
“I definitely have confidence in myself. I’m excited about having that open competition. That’s all I could ask for. To come in there and have a fair shake at a certain job. I’m going to do everything I can to go in there and get that.”
One area where Jennings knows he must improve is protecting the ball. In his 51 career games, he has thrown 51 interceptions, along with 66 TD passes.
By comparison, Reilly has 148 TDs and 84 interceptions, Mitchell has 150 TDs and 59 interceptions and Harris has 104 TDs and 46 interceptions.
Of course, interceptions aren’t always the fault of the quarterback. Sometimes bad luck plays into it. Sometimes bad teammates.
“There’s a lot of circumstance, a lot of things that happen,” Jennings said. “I’ll take my blame for doing a lot of that, obviously. But in ’17, I had a lot of interceptions (19 in 15 games) and that was a tough year. The O-line was kind of in and out, we had a lot of injuries, we had a lot of new guys coming in. A lot of pressures, and pressures cause you to try to make quick decisions and sometimes do things that you don’t want to do.
“Still, you have to make better decisions under pressure … That’s something I want to get better at. I know I can. It’s something that there’s room for growth.
“I’ve been a gunslinger type of player all my life,” Jennings added. “It’s worked out for me a lot. But you obviously have to adapt to what’s going to make you successful, and that’s hurt me a little bit. I’m ready to learn from (Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Jaime) Elizondo and get better.”
This might work out, you know. With some good coaching and a healthy arm, Jennings could be a capable replacement for Harris. If he has one thing Harris lacks, it’s an ability to run. If he can cut down on the interceptions, he could be an improvement at the position.
Who knows, he might even become the third best quarterback in the CFL again.