Qb Landscape Remains The Same

ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF

TORONTO – Argos head coach Jim Barker has made it very clear as to the quarterback hierarchy on his club.  Cleo Lemon is the starter, Dalton Bell is the backup and Ken Dorsey is Bell’s backup.  With that said, Barker also made it clear this week that he is not shy to make a quarterback change at any point in the game if he feels the situation merits such a move.

“Cleo is our starter.  Dalton played well and if we need him to come in and move the team, I expect him to be able to do that,” Barker said before his team left for Regina on Friday morning.  “Dalton has established himself as a guy that  our players can believe in.”

The mindset this season out of training camp was that Lemon was the primary pivot and Bell’s appearances were limited to only injury relief.  However, Bell’s play last week has planted a seed in Barker’s mind that maybe platooning the two, in order to move the ball, is a notion that he may be more willing to lean towards.

“The goal here is to move the football,” Barker said.  “Dalton is our backup quarterback but when he is called upon we expect him to do that.  You don’t always know why a guy is struggling but if that is the case, you look to make a change.”

Moving the ball is something that simply must happen at a consistent level this weekend in Regina not only to put up points but to keep a red-hot Darian Durant and his offence off the field.

The Argos are entering Mosaic Stadium trying to not only close out their home-and-home with the Riders on a positive note but close in on hosting a home playoff date in November.

As it sits right now, the Argos seemed poised to end up in a week-by-week battle for second place in the East with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but first place is still a mathematical possibility.

The Boatmen will enter the game with virtually the same lineup as last week with one obvious exception – Cleo Lemon returns as the team’s starting quarterback.

The Argos’ offensive woes have been well documented in recent weeks but it will be up to the defence to play their best game of the year, especially in the secondary, against a Rider squad that has been firing on all cylinders for the last three weeks.

Last week the Argos did a good job of tackling and limiting the Rider offence to underneath routes but gave up a combined 376 yards of total offence.

Roster Notes: DB Josh Abrams and QB Danny Brannagan have been moved back to the practice roster…DT Adriano Belli has been placed on the 9-game injured list.

Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon and can be seen on TSN or heard on The FAN590 radio.