ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO – Argos head coach Jim Barker has made it very clear that Cleo Lemon is the Argos’ starting quarterback. Barker fielded a slew of questions from reporters the day before his team boarded a flight for Edmonton regarding the state of his club’s offence heading into their matchup with the Eskimos this Friday night.
Although his numbers may not stand out, Barker is pleased with the way Lemon is progressing and points to no other stat than the win-loss record.
“He’s tough; he’s a great leader; he has composure,” Barker said affirmatively. “Anyone who has watched us from day one knows that there is no questions as to who the number one quarterback is.”
Lemon is 3-2 as a starter in his first five games in the CFL but his low passing numbers have struck concern in the minds of many Argos followers. Barker is quick to state that in his mind, there is really only one stat that matters.
“Quarterbacks are judged by wins and ultimately that’s the bottom line. I will take his wins over other young quarterback’s numbers any day,” he reinforced.
Lemon and the Argos enter Friday’s matchup coming off a humbling loss to the Montreal Alouettes at McGill Stadium. They will now face a team whose first third of the season has been whirlwind.
Toronto will make a few roster adjustments. The most significant coming along the defensive line where both Adriano Belli and Etienne Legare will sit out with injuries, while import DT Eric Taylor will make his first start in an Argos uniform. Injuries to the two Canadians along with LB Raymond Fontaine has created a bit of ratio juggling for Barker and his staff and has allowed for rookies DB Josh Abrams and DE Broderick Stewart to make their way back on to the roster.
The Argos will try to get Cory Boyd back involved this week after injuries and a very strong Montreal defensive line put an end to the rookie running back’s streak of three games with at least 100+ yards rushing. There may be no better team to feed Boyd the ball against than the Esks. They currently rank last in the league in net yards rushing allowed with 804 as well as average yards rushing allowed per game with 160.8.
The Eskimos lost their first four games of the season and thought that everyone had sparred both scrutiny as well as their jobs with a win last week versus B.C. However, the season’s first win could not spare Danny Maciocia’s job and the club’s general manager was let go even before the Esks began to prep for the Argonauts.
Kickoff is at 10:00 p.m. ET on Friday night as part of the CFL on TSN doubleheader. The game can also be heard on THE FAN 590. Following the game, the Argos will return home to kick off Football Week in Toronto when they play host to the Montreal Alouettes at Rogers Centre. For tickets, please call 416-341-ARGO (2746) or CLICK HERE to purchase online.