Ray of old could snap Argo spiral
Receivers already raving about ‘most catchable footballs ever’
When the Argos hired Marc Trestman in February the incoming head coach quickly named Ricky Ray starting quarterback, even as questions lingered about the veteran pivot.
How would Ray adjust to a new coach and revamped receiving corps?
How would the 38-year-old’s health hold up after two injury-shortened seasons?
And after 12 years and nearly 55,000 passing yards, just how much life remained in his right arm?
Ray’s numbers from Sunday’s 32-15 win over Hamilton might not settle every question he’ll face this season, but they provide plenty of hope for a team eager to rebound on the field and at the turnstiles.
After passing for a career-high 506 yards against Hamilton, Ray was named the CFL’s top performer for week one, sharing the honour with Argos receiver S.J. Green, who caught seven passes for 124 yards.
As the Argos began prep for Friday night’s home game against the B.C. Lions, Ray attributed his successful season opener to two factors: an offence that wants him to throw downfield, and a body healthy enough to let him do it.
“(I’m) just executing the offence, what’s called and the adjustments off of those plays,” Ray said after Tuesday afternoon’s practice. “I feel good. I feel like training camp went pretty good for me physically and I was fresh going into that game.”
Before rib and lung injuries truncated his 2016 season, Ray completed a leaguehigh 74.5 per cent of his passes. Sunday saw him spread the ball around with typical efficiency, completing 32 of 41 passes without an interception.
Ray connected with eight different receivers.
Three of them — Green, DeVier Posey and Jeff Fuller — logged more than 100 yards.
Green’s first Argos reception came when Ray fired a strike down the seam with his team facing third down and 15. Posey scored his first touchdown as an Argo when he sprinted beneath a ball Ray lofted downfield, then fended off a Hamilton defender to complete a 79-yard pass-and-run.
The 27-year-old former Houston Texan is a holdover from last year, and played with Ray when the quarterback made a late-season return to the starting lineup. With a full training camp to get acquainted with his receivers, Posey says a healthy Ray remains among the league’s elite passers.
“He throws one of the most catchable footballs ever,” says Posey, who caught 13 passes in four games in 2016. “It comes right to you in the perfect spot and it’s almost like you don’t want to let him down (by dropping it). The spiral’s tight. It’s soft to your hands. The ball placement is amazing; it’s away from your defender. He throws it to space where only you can get it. That’s a friendly, catchable ball.”
Carrying that momentum forward is the club’s next challenge.
On Friday the Argos will host a B.C. Lions club that surrendered 315 passing yards in a season-opening 30-27 loss to Edmonton last weekend. While that stat may seem tanta- lizing to an Argos team whose passing game is already in rhythm, Trestman says Ray might not have time to dissect the Lions defence if the Argos’ pass protection doesn’t tighten up.
“We still don’t know . . . what kind of offence we’ll have. We’ll find out more on Friday night,” Trestman said. “Can we sustain? Can we play at a high level every week? Can we make the corrections we needed to make? . . . Our quarterback got hit too many times, and he got hit vi- ciously. We need to do a better job of cleaning that up.”
Whatever on-field adjustments the Argos make before Friday, boosting slumping attendance remains a stubborn problem. Sunday’s home opener attracted just 13,583 fans, more than 10,000 fewer than attended the Argos’ 2016 BMO Field debut.
Last season the club averaged a league-worst 16,380 spectators for home games, then strengthened its marketing staff this off-season hoping to rejuvenate ticket sales.