Toronto Argonauts putting right priorities in place with Chad Kelly not starting in Winnipeg
There has been an uproar with the Toronto Argonauts' decision to sit Chad Kelly against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but the blame shouldn't lie with them.
The Toronto Argonauts will take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the rematch of last year’s Grey Cup, but this matchup certainly doesn’t have the same aura around it as it did to start the season.
Toronto made the decision to sit starting quarterback Chad Kelly and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have been following what the Argos have been doing the past couple of weeks.
After clinching a playoff spot and first place in the East Division, Ryan Dinwiddie made it clear that he was going to be making decisions that had the team’s best interest in mind going forward. That means sitting players who are banged up and could play but not worth risking further injury.
When the Argonauts beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week at BMO Field, Jamal Peters didn’t finish the game and Dinwiddie said he would play him against Winnipeg.
After the game Argos players were asked if they wanted to play in this game against Winnipeg, including Kelly and there was no hesitation in their answer. However, players have to respect the plan the coaching staff has laid out for them.
“I want to play in it of course,” Kelly said when asked about the game. “Everyone wants to play in it. We just want to give our best to go 1-0.”
“I’m a player, I signed up to play the game,” said Wynton McManis. “I can’t control what I can control and that’s to be ready to play in the game each week. I got a lot of goals for myself and I would love to play.”
Is it unfortunate that this Friday night game with a soldout crowd in Winnipeg they won’t be getting Toronto playing their best quarterback. There is still a chance Kelly plays some snaps but expect Cameron Dukes to see a lot of playing time and potentially Bryan Scott too.
With the way the season has gone for the Argos the last thing they want to have happen is an injury happen to Kelly and Dukes not having reps under his belt. Worse enough, this game means more for Winnipeg than it does to Toronto and Dinwiddie has to do what’s best for the team.
If there is to be any blame placed on the Argos not playing Kelly, part of it should be placed on the league itself.
The fact it’s taken until Week 17 for the Grey Cup rematch to happen is inexcusable especially when there was an opportunity for that to be the game to happen earlier in the season.
Instead, the CFL chose to give the Argos a bye in Week 1 and three bye weeks in their first 10 games. This has led to Toronto having to create its own plan to get rest with no breaks in the final stretch.
It also doesn’t help that this is the only game between the Argos and Blue Bombers this season. In a league where there are 18 games on the schedule, it doesn’t make sense to have two teams play each other four — or in some cases five— times in a season like Toronto has done on occasion, especially against Hamilton.
Also, the Argos will want Kelly under centre when they take on the Edmonton Elks in their 150th-anniversary game. That is an important game for the franchise especially if they want to continue to make improvements on their home attendance record.
Seeing Dukes in this type of environment will be good for him to get that experience because the Argos know all too well that the backup quarterback needs to be ready to enter in any scenario thrown at him.