Toronto Argonauts Training Camp Notebook: Dukes opens as QB1, maintaining continuity

The Toronto Argonauts took the field at the University of Guelph on Sunday for the first day of training camp as they look to move forward without Chad Kelly for the time being.

Ryan Dinwiddie opened up on Kelly not being at practice telling 3DownNation that they are treating the absence the same as if the quarterback was injured.

“For right now, it’s definitely nine games, from what we’re hearing, so we gotta have a plan and maybe it goes even a little bit longer than that,” Dinwiddie said. “For me, it’s just like if a quarterback got injured, got hurt, he’s not up, and the next guy’s up. We’ll see how it’s going to play out. Someone’s going to have to earn that job and once someone does, we feel like we can win football games with them.”

Which quarterback will win the job? Right now, Cameron Dukes has the inside track which is hard to argue with given his experience last season while Bryan Scott will get opportunities as well.

"I think he's got the upper hand. He's going to be taking the first team reps, Bryan's going to be getting in as well," Dinwiddie said in our phone conversation Sunday. "We said we don't have a depth chart, we got a position chart right now and that's just so we can evaluate everybody. The depth chart will come before the pre-season games as we get going.

"We feel good about Cam because he showed us that he could get it done last year. There's some things he's improved on but just like any young quarterback each year you're going to get better. We feel like the way he played last year we have something we can build off of."

There is a lot of intrigue in how the Argonauts' defence will play this season given all the changes that have been made with the staff and the players on the field.

Toronto promoted Kevin Eiben and William Fields to defensive co-coordinators replacing Corey Mace who left to become the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach. It's a unique strategy and Dinwiddie says they have to figure out who will be the play-caller between the two.

Both Eiben and Fields bring experience to the position and more importantly, they can allow the Argonauts to move forward with some measure of continuity even with the departures both on and off the field.

"We feel really good about the continuity. We're going to have some pieces that are going to be new to it," Dinwiddie explained. "Obviously we lost some guys in free agency but we still have most of our core guys like Flo, Wynton (McManis), and JJ (Jonathan Jones). Jake Ceresna is a great addition and has a relationship with defensive co-ordinator Demetrious Maxie."

While the Argonauts will continue to feature a strong group of veterans especially on the defensive line and at the linebacker positions, Dinwiddie is excited about the potential of the secondary.

There are some returning members in the secondary with Royce Metchie, Maurice Carnell IV, Dashaun Amos, Jonathan Edouard, Tarvarus McFadden, Mason Pierce, Jamie Harry, Josh Haggerty, and Daniel Valente coming back. However, there are also some fresh faces led by Tunde Adeleke and Quincy Mauger but also a lot of players with little to no CFL experience.

"We got some really good youth in the secondary so there is going to be some healthy competition there," Dinwiddie said. "There's going to be some really good battles as to who is going to make the club. They're going to be learning on the fly but we've done it before."

When the Argonauts saw A.J. Ouellette leave in free agency they didn't waste time solidifying their running back position for this season.

Canadian Daniel Adeboboye was signed to a contract extension after recording 41 carries for 287 yards and one touchdown and catching eight passes for 71 yards. His presence was missed in the playoffs when he suffered a season-ending injury.

According to 3DownNation's Justin Dunk, Adeboboye's extension is worth $224,200 in hard money over two years with an additional $22,600 in playtime bonuses possible plus other incentives. That's a sizeable commitment but it shows how much the Argos think about him.

The Argos also signed veteran Ka'Deem Carey to provide some much-needed experience and depth.

"Two years ago Ka'Deem was considered the best back in the league and then had some injuries last year but we feel like he's going to get back to that form," Dinwiddie said. "But he's also getting up there in age, he's north of 30 now. He'll be given about half of the carries, Daniel's going to get a good percentage of it and then Deonta McMahon, if he makes it back on the roster. We have three guys on the roster potentially and with Lirim taking Boris' spot it opens up a spot for a designated importer.

"If those three guys are playing, they're all going to get a bunch of touches."