Argos thinking long term with Willy
But LeFevour has earned another start for the Boatmen with play against Ticats
Drew Willy sat down in his home in Winnipeg on Sunday to watch the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats on TV.
It wasn’t much different than the role he’d had with the Blue Bombers for the last month-and-a-half. His team was 1-4 when Willy lost the starting quarterback job to Matt Nichols. Since then, he had watched from the sidelines as the Bombers ran off six consecutive wins.
As he watched the game, Willy heard a knock at his door. Mike O’Shea, his coach, was there in person to deliver some good news and some bad news.
“There were some emotions,” said Willy, who after 2 1⁄ seasons with the Bomb
2 ers was dealt to the Argos for defensive back T.J. Heath, a first-round pick in the 2017 Canadian draft and a third-rounder in 2018.
“I’ve been through a lot with coach O’Shea and I think so highly of him,” Willy said.
The trade wasn’t what he envisioned when he signed a new contract with the Bombers in 2015, but his early morning flight on Monday brought with it some much-needed opportunity. Ricky Ray is still out another three to five weeks with a rib and lung injury and, while Dan LeFevour will get the start on Saturday against the Bombers in Winnipeg, it sounds like Willy will get a shot at that job in the coming weeks.
“(Ray) broke a rib and had a collapsed lung. We expect him to be back by the end of the year but we’re playing to win a Grey Cup every year,” Argos GM Jim Barker said. “And we believe Drew Willy has the things that it takes, long term. We brought Dan LeFevour in here a month ago and he’s done a great job and right now he’s the starting guy.”
LeFevour completed 27 of 36 passes for 329 yards in the win and Milanovich was very impressed with what he did.
“I don’t know if people realize what he did and how difficult that is to do, having zero reps going into the week, having thrown with our receivers very little. I thought he was fantastic,” Milanovich said.
“But you’ve got to have a quarterback at this level. Ricky’s health situation has been difficult and we need to make sure we have more than one guy that can lead this football team and give us a chance to take it where we want to go.”
Ray’s health has been an issue in three of the last four seasons. In years past, the Argos were helped by solid play from young backup quarterbacks Zach Collaros and Trevor Harris.
But both moved on as free agents to Hamilton and Ottawa, respectively.
The Argos haven’t been as fortunate with their backups lately. They traded Mitchell Gale to Saskatchewan early in the season for defensive end Shawn Lemon. They’ve signed and released Adrian McPherson twice. Logan Kilgore played well in his first start after Ray injured his knee earlier this season but ended up throwing nine interceptions to two touchdowns while going 1-2.
Barker said there were no regrets on moves made in the past.
“Those guys developed and they moved forward. Ricky Ray won the MVP playing in, what, 10 games in 2013? We weren’t ready to anoint Zach the starter at that time,” Barker said. “We offered him a good contract but he opted to go elsewhere.
“Then with Trevor . . . we offered him a contract and he wanted to do something else. That’s the way it goes. We’re kind of back at that developmental stage now where we have to get that point where we can do that again. It’s gone a full cycle.” A team never wants to cycle through quarterbacks mid-season. LeFevour was a gamble that’s paid off so far and the Argos are hoping that Willy can come in and do the same.
“I see Drew as a bona fide starter, an upper-tier starter,” Milanovich said. “I have no doubts he can play. I think we’re in a pretty good spot right now as far as quarterbacks. We have some guys that can win games.”