The way some people on here are talking is that Ford was almost lights out last year, so no problems this year with him in full control. The fact is that he started off with a bang, and then gradually faded, as teams collected film on him and schemed to shut him down. By the end, despite a couple brilliant plays here and there, he was completely neutered by the better defences. Lest we forget, Ford's comp last year was the incomparable Cornhole. Not exactly the highest bar you can find. I find it awfully difficult to imagine leaving him all on his lonesome to sort through another year with someone like Doege as his safety latch.
Is there info out there where it's conclusive that Jones didn't speak to Ford about this move, prior to it happening?
There were essentially no lights on at Commonwealth last season. But looking at the Elkimos stretch play when Ford finally was given the ball their team looked competitive. The QB himself, 67.4% completion rate, 2,069 yards passing, 12-6 TD/Int. rate, and 9.1 yards per play. All team high results despite having to wait through two inefficient guys ahead of him to fail.
As far as other teams scheming to stop him, that's a HC issue to game plan and in-game scheme to counter. Course that leads to a GM issue with no receiver over 850 yards receiving and inconsistent personnel to support the player.
Risk reward. There's a solid case to build around an age 25 QB with those solid numbers. BC broke through when they invested in a young QB who had far more limited stats (82 pass attempts; 754 yards passing; 3 TD 5 Int ratio). They doubled down with a second young Canadian QB to back up. This was a defining risk that helped turn around their franchise.
EDIT: Forgot Ford's 622 rushing yards, second highest on team, 9.4 yards per carry average.
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