ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
TORONTO — With kids heading back to school this week, Argos head coach Jim Barker felt it was appropriate to offer a mid-season grade to his most important pupil of 2010.
“I would give him a ‘B’ at this point. I think he has done a lot of great things and he is growing all the time.”
– Argos head coach Jim Barker on the development of QB Cleo Lemon thus far.
Barker has stressed all season long that Cleo Lemon is a work in progress and despite last week’s performance versus Hamilton (though he threw for a career-best 350 yards), he is looking forward to seeing his pivot progress, continuing this Saturday in B.C.
“I would give him a ‘B’ at this point. I think he has done a lot of great things and he is growing all the time,” Barker reasoned.
“Obviously, the other day the turnovers in the score zone were a problem but he will learn from that. It seems like every time he is faced with something like that, he learns from it and gets better. I am very happy with his play and how he is coming along, and I get excited to watch him.”
Learning as each week passes has been the mantra for Lemon and his offence, who have done a decent job of moving the ball and putting the ball in the endzone (last week being the obvious exception), but the numbers by no means jump off the page.
Lemon currently sits fifth in the league in passing with 2,025 yards but is sixth in the league in passing touchdowns with seven. However, as Barker has stressed before, the only statistic that really gives one a true measure of a quarterback’s success is wins, and Lemon has earned two more than any Argos passer from last season combined. Putting the Argos in a situation where they could conceivably contend for a share of first place this week with a win over the Lions and a Montreal loss is all anyone could really ask from the CFL rookie.
Doing so may be difficult as the Argos will likely field a different looking offensive line as injuries have sidelined at least two starters.
Barker, however, believes that although personnel changes may affect Lemon’s play, it can’t be used as a deterrent.
“That’s just an excuse for him not be successful,” Barker said when asked about how Lemon should handle the roster shuffle. “I look at it as something that is all a part of what he has to go through so when he does have the same guys around him for a couple consecutive weeks, he can get himself into a rhythm. It is all part of his development as a young quarterback in this league.”
The Argos are only nine games into their season as is Lemon into his CFL career and Barker can see the light at the end of the tunnel in Lemon’s development.
“He has done a phenomenal job and we have to let him continue to grow. He is going to be a prime time player in this league.”