Coach insists QBs must compete for starting job
Collaros appears to have the inside track but Bridge won’t give up without a fight
Every position on our football team is a competition. That’s why it’s called pro football and not rec league or something like that.
Chris Jones was hot under the collar on the opening day of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ mini-camp.
It wasn’t the warm Florida sun that got the Riders’ head coach and general manager heated up. Rather, it was another question regarding the Riders’ quarterbacking depth chart heading into training camp.
Most observers feel that Zach Collaros will be the No. 1 quarterback, followed by Brandon Bridge, Marquise Williams and David Watford. Apparently, Jones doesn’t subscribe to that theory.
“If (you) have trouble hearing, it’s exactly what I said a month ago,” Jones said after the Riders had completed their first day of mini-camp.
“Every position on our football team is a competition. That’s why it’s called pro football and not rec league or something like that. Every position is going to be challenged and that’s the way that you create a great team.”
Even so, the signs point toward Collaros being the starter. The six-year CFL veteran has considerably more starting experience than Bridge, Williams or Watford.
The Riders gave up the 10th overall selection in the 2018 CFL draft to acquire Collaros from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Jan. 3. Then they signed Collaros to a one-year deal that will reportedly pay him approximately $430,000 in 2018.
That’s a reduction from the $540,000 that Collaros would have received in 2018 under the terms of a contract that he had signed with the Tiger-Cats.
Still, $430,000 isn’t backup money. Not even close.
However, it doesn’t sound like there has been much debate among the quarterbacks about who will be the starter.
“We’ve all been dealing with it our whole lives,” said the 29-yearold Collaros.
“Only one quarterback can play, and you approach it like you have approached it since you were a kid. It’s like Coach Jones says: ‘It’s about competition and competing and trying to get the best out of yourself.’ ”
Bridge, 26, intends to make that decision as difficult as he can for the Riders’ head coach and general manager.
“I’m going to make him think that we’re not going to go on the field without (Bridge) behind centre,” he said.
“I’m definitely going to make it hard for those coaches if they want to go the other way. Still, I’m just going to worry about what I can control, and that’s me executing a play and then going back and doing it again.”
Bridge may have accomplished enough during the 2017 season to earn consideration as a starter. He completed 10 of the Riders’ leaguehigh 35 touchdown passes while primarily coming off the bench as the backup to Kevin Glenn (who was released after the season and is now with the Edmonton Eskimos). Despite Bridge’s contributions, the Riders still swung the deal for Collaros.
“It’s above my pay grade to really care about who they bring in,” Bridge said. “They’re always going to bring in guys, especially with Coach Jones. Receivers probably see a million receivers come in and go. I can’t worry about whomever they bring in. I just have to do my job.”
Collaros is coming off a 2017 season in which he struggled and was eventually benched in favour of Jeremiah Masoli. Collaros was 0-8 as Hamilton’s starter in 2017, and has lost each of his last 12 starts.
Steve Walsh, the Riders’ new quarterbacks coach, has studied all of Collaros’ pass attempts from 2017 and doesn’t sound concerned about the quarterback’s game.
“Some of it was fundamentals and some of it was scheme,” Walsh said. “It’s about confidence, and if you’re confident as a quarterback, good things are going to happen. He’s hasn’t shown me any signs that he’s going to come in and not be a confident quarterback.”
The Riders, meanwhile, were busy before the opening of minicamp, releasing national offensive linemen Peter Dyakowski and Eddie Meredith, national safety Jeff Hecht and international defensive back Taylor Mays.
Dyakowski was acquired from the Toronto Argonauts in 2017 for receiver Armanti Edwards. Hecht re-signed with the Riders before the 2017 season after becoming a free agent.
“The salary cap forces you into some things like that,” Jones said. “Those two guys have played a lot of football over the years. They are older guys on our team and they brought a lot of leadership.”