Drivesaitl
Finding Hemingway
Agree or disagree with it its been kinda apparent from the start that the Elks don't think Ford is the gem a lot of the media feel he is. But a lot of the media touting him up to be larger than life. Frankly I think that has done Ford no favors. This was definitely a drop back year and his worst year yet. Ford doesn't seem to be taking things at all seriously this season. Wasn't just the abysmal effort and play in the Winnipeg game, its at times he was more interested in gabbing with his brother than focusing on the game. Was one of the stranger things I've seen. This is pro sports, focus a little Tre. Tre seems to think he can have these distractions and everythings fine. Careers can end before they start and he's not winning any friends with the coaching staff.There's a distinction between losing your job due to injury and losing it due to poor play. The injuries suffered to lose his position occurred two calendar years apart. Durability is a concern with Ford, I do agree with that, but QB injuries are very common in this league, two week-to-week injuries two years apart isn't abnormal. Mike Reilly spent plenty of time on the IR too.
This is how badly the team has botched the Ford situation though. We still don't know what we have. A lot of your projections might play out, but there's still enough doubt that fans rightly fear the organization has pissed away a potential long-term Canadian starting QB. They're in a catch-22 now. They buck up and make him the starter next year and it doesn't work out, team is set back another year. They let him walk and he might go on to star elsewhere and make them look like idiots for a decade.
Bringing back MBT might honestly be the safest option at this point. I think you've always been higher on him than most (Chad Kelly won the Grey Cup in relief, they were about to lose with MBT just to clarify), but I agree that this fan base has been too critical of his play. There isn't a long list of QBs who visibly out-performed him this year.
To me, MBT is a reliable starter who's biggest weakness has always been throwing a pick at a bad time and poor mobility. But he usually puts up enough points that this can be reasonably overcome. There certainly aren't better QBs sitting on the bench elsewhere besides maybe Adams. Even then I'm not certain I'd replace MBT with Adams given he is already familiar with the offense. There's probably not more than five teams out there delighted with their starting QB situation at the moment. So if you've got a guy with a couple warts, but who you know will give you a chance to win most nights...things could absolutely get worse by moving on from MBT, no question about it.
Thing is Ford is getting injured and he barely runs the ball anymore.
I don't subscribe that the Elks have pissed away some kind of Russ Jackson here. Really of the younger QB's in league he was less touted certainly than Rourke, and even guys like Kelly. None of those guys are really establishing now and they're better than Ford. I actually think its more the media that have made such a big deal about Ford and perhaps to prop up ratings, a dying franchise, etc. Its probably a false bill of goods. If Ford could absorb punishment better I might feel different. He's no Mike Reilly thats for sure.
