ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
Bart Andrus has had an interesting rookie CFL season to say the least and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any less interesting any time soon.
Heading into the Argos battle with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday night, Andrus is faced with having to pick between veteran QB Kerry Joseph and QB Cody Pickett to lead his team against a Rider defence that seems to be just getting better as each week passes.
As of Tuesday morning, Andrus had yet to declare a starter to media and a timeline throughout the week as to when such a decision will come seems rather unpredictable.
Andrus’ quandary was essentially non-existent up until two weeks ago – when Joseph returned to the quarterback picture. He relieved starter Pickett in the second half of both of the Argos the last two games.
Joseph was the undisputed starter from the day that Andrus was hired last January. Stalled drives and ineffective play by the entire offensive unit, however, forced Andrus to turn to Pickett in Week 7. Looking for a change of pace, Pickett added a new flow to the Argonauts offence, one that didn’t necessarily stretch the field but focused on timed, intermediate routes and a greater emphasis on the run game.
Such an offence allowed the Argonauts’ offence to shore up the time in which offensive linemen held their blocks as well as presented scheme that would decrease the amount of turnovers that were plaguing the club in the first third of the season.
However, even under Pickett, who is growing as each game passes, the offence had experienced lapses and missed opportunities.
Re-enter Kerry Joseph, who came off the bench two weeks in a row in an attempt to accomplish a similar goal of changing the pace of the offence with his arm strength and ability to scramble. Despite dropping both contests, Joseph’s two second half touchdown drives in both games, at the very least, gave Joseph an opportunity to gain confidence back after being supplanted by Pickett earlier in the season. Also worth consideration is how Joseph has played against his former team. In three games against the Roughriders, dating back to the 2008 season, Joseph has completed 73 of 125 passes (58.4%) for 914 yards with 9 touchdowns and 1 interception. He threw for at least 300 yards in two of the three games (307 yards & 348 yards). These are outstanding numbers to be sure, but don’t necessarily make #4 the best choice for this week at this point in the season.
So now Andrus faces a crucial decision – does he stick to his initial swap and go ahead with the still-learning, pocket passing accuracy of Cody Pickett or does he shift back to the mobile veteran in Kerry Joseph?
Perhaps taking a closer look at the Saskatchewan defence could offer insight into which way to go. Perhaps the ball-hawking Rider secondary lends itself better to starting Pickett, who could hopefully eliminate big-play turnovers by going after the Riders secondary and linebackers with underneath patters along with a heavy dose of RB Jamal Robertson up the middle.
On the other side, however, one could make an equally valid argument for Joseph whose ability to move and escape the pocket could buy he and his receivers more time to escape the bull rush of the CFL’s sack-leading defensive line led by rush ends Stevie Baggs and John Chick.
One thing that is for certain is that this decision will not come easily to Andrus. He and the Argos are looking to make a final push for the playoffs in the East with Saturday’s matchup in Saskatchewan before returning home to Rogers Centre to take on the Edmonton Eskimos on October 16.