Make the call: give Nichols the ball

By: Ed Tait Posted: 8:44 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2015

It was a deal that cost the Winnipeg Blue Bombers just a conditional seventh-round draft pick. The conditions being — rumour has it — that Matt Nichols actually made it to River City as planned Wednesday night, that he still has a pulse and, perhaps most important, that he understands consistently one-hopping throws to receivers is not a good thing.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/09/2015 (3906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A shrewd little deal for a veteran quarterback completed, the question in Bomberland instantly becomes this:

Is there really any debate who should take the first snap from centre in the annual Labour Day Classic against the Saskatchewan Roughriders?

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Matt Nichols (16) makes the throw against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats during first half CFL action in Edmonton, Alta., on Friday August 21, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.

I mean, really, do head coach Mike O’Shea & Co. honestly need to analyze the statistics and rewind recent game film — the horror, the horror — to make this call?

Well…

Not long after the Bombers announced the deal for Nichols Wednesday, O’Shea indicated with Robert Marve nursing a leg injury it would NOT be Nichols — a man with four years experience with the Edmonton Eskimos under his belt and a 5-2 record this season as a starter — but either Brian Brohm or Dominique Davis who would get the start in Sunday’s absolutely mammoth contest.

Their rationale, apparently, is this: It’s simply asking too much of Nichols, on what would be just two full days of practise, to not only get his head wrapped around a new playbook, but to then be shoved into the huddle for the annual nightmare that the Labour Day Classic has become for the Bombers.

So Plan B is to instead shove either Brohm or Davis into the huddle in Regina for the annual nightmare that the Labour Day Classic has become for the Bombers.

Brohm, it bears repeating, has the lowest QB-efficiency rating in the CFL, has zero career TD passes in this league and has an innate ability to leave Bombers fans spitting out a string of curses at the end of every possession. And Davis, who arrived here in late June after being cut by Calgary, has never even taken a snap in a game.

Maybe that explains why the Bombers, at 3-6, are somehow 31/2-point underdogs Sunday to the tire fire that is the Riders. Yes, Vegas bookies have more faith in a Saskatchewan club that canned its GM and head coach this week and starts quarterback Brett Smith, yanked from the Riders’ loss in Ottawa last weekend, leading a winless team to victory than they do in Brohm, Marve or Davis.

Hello.

So, again, why is this being even being discussed here?

“This opportunity came up and we jumped on it,” said O’Shea of the trade. “Matt Nichols is 5-2 as a starter this year and, not too long ago, before he had suffered a devastating injury or two he was a projected starter. You like his grittiness, you hear nothing but good things about his character and you know he can manage a football game.”

Asked how long it would take for a new quarterback to get be ready to play and start, O’Shea cut off his inquisitor before the question had even been finished.

“The cab ride from the airport to the hotel, probably, and he should be up to snuff.”

Now, let’s be clear here: Nichols is hardly the next Ricky Ray. He’s battled consistency and confidence issues in Edmonton, but he has done something in this league that Brohm, Marve and Davis have not, and that’s start and lead his team to a victory. And that alone makes him a viable option not just long term for the Bombers — he is an impending free agent and would certainly be a viable No. 2 behind Drew Willy — but the only option in the short term.

It’s true the Bombers have a whole half season left. But for the games in mid-September and afterward to matter, they have to start winning right bleepin’ now. This is a club that has forever preached ‘Next man up’ during the rash of injuries this summer. Brohm and Marve had their shot while Davis is a complete mystery right now.

And so welcome to Winnipeg, Matt Nichols. Get unpacked and get your nose in the playbook. You should be next.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait