Depth at QB, spirited play give Blue fans some hope

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This article was published 08/06/2016 (3404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The message from Mike O’Shea was simple. What he wanted to see most from his team’s preseason opener Wednesday night was execution: fast-paced, high energy on the field, his players showing a sincere devotion for the game.

“They have to show that they love to play football,” said the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers following the team’s walk-through practice Tuesday, before shifting his thoughts to more tangible expectations. “And then, you’re looking for guys who can make plays.”

It would take a while for O’Shea to get his wish. With the first-team offence long departed from the game, the clock winding down in the second quarter, and with his third quarterback, Dominique Davis, under centre, the Bombers finally started to show a pulse, coming back from being down 13-6 to rebound with a 36-13 win over the Montreal Alouettes in front of a crowd of 23,334 at Investors Group Field.

Davis, who is currently in a battle for that third spot on the Bombers’ quarterback depth chart behind starter Drew Willy and backup Matt Nichols, finished as one of the few bright spots in the game. Poised in the pocket, Davis opened with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that finished with a one-yard touchdown run from Tim Flanders, who crossed the line as the final seconds ticked off to end the half at 13-13.

Davis followed that up in the second half with another scoring drive, getting the Bombers into field position for the first of three consecutive field goals from Sergio Castillo, who hit from 44, 39 and 49 yards respectively to go with a 35-yard boot in the second quarter that put the home side up 22-13.

It would be Bryan Bennett, another young quarterback and the main competition for Davis for who will dress week to week, who would steal the show from there, showing his worth with the next two scoring drives.

The first was an eight-play, 63-yard drive in the fourth quarter, which he capped off with a one-yard scamper to put the Bombers up 29-13. The second was a three-play, 51-yard sequence that showed off his accurate and powerful arm, threading the needle to Fred Williams, who hauled in a 28-yard catch, keeping his feet just inches in bounds for the score.

“They don’t need to have it shoved in their faces that it’s a battle,” said O’Shea after the game. “But they understand three guys dress. They both played very well, they both made the plays they were asked to make, and good for them.”

It’s impossible to know just how effective Davis and Bennett were — and they were effective, both in the air and on the ground, particularly Davis evading pressure a number of times for positive gains — because the CFL’s new stats system had already crashed by then, ultimately freezing to death by the end of the first quarter.

There’s no truth to the rumour, but it’s said the boredom from the first quarter led the system to just pack up and leave, not that anyone could have blamed it.

Early on in the second quarter wasn’t much better for Bombers fans as Montreal opened with Kevin Glenn, who finished 14-for-19 for 140 yards, throwing a strike to Nik Lewis. Rakeem Cato entered the game shortly after and in his second sequence with the offence, found Chandler Jones in the back of the end zone to put Montreal up 13-6.

Back to Davis and Bennett: it was exactly the kind of flash the Bombers envisioned when they signed the two, creating the kind of depth at quarterback that’s been absent the last few years.

“They did a good job,” said Willy, who was in a similar situation before earning a starting job in Winnipeg. “A lot of times stuff is not going to look as clear as possible but they were able to make the read, create space with their feet and make good throws.”

Davis, an East Carolina product, where he played two seasons, passing for a whopping 7,192 yards and 62 touchdowns, was signed in June of last year. He started one game for the Bombers in 2015, playing in the season finale where he completed 16 of 25 passes for 169 yards.

Bennett, who played two seasons at Oregon behind Marcus Mariota, now the starting quarterback for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, was acquired late last season but never played for Winnipeg.

Their combined impact, however, will likely have little effect moving forward. After all, it was pre-season, against the Alouettes’ second-team defence littered with a number of opponents likely to be released by the end of next week.

Also, Willy’s job as the Bombers’ starting quarterback is the most secure of any position on the team. A lot would have to happen between now and June 24, the night the Bombers open the regular season at home in a rematch against the Alouettes, for Willy to lose the starting role.

Though he surely knows this to a certain point, Willy also understands the weight of living up to his job security, by being pushed in practice, through film sessions with the offence, and, on Wednesday, from the duo of Davis and Bennett, who proved worthy of at least future consideration down the road.

Through training camp, Willy has been good, not great, but appears to be adjusting well under new offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice’s offence. He showed no sign of rust from an injury-riddled 2015 season in his three series against the Alouettes Wednesday, even if the stats don’t favour him.

Willy finished 3-for-6 for just 52 yards, but a 39-yard touchdown pass to running back Andrew Harris, who also stood out in his limited reps Wednesday, was also negated after slotback Ryan Smith was called for an illegal block — just one of the costly penalties for the Bombers early in the game.

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The Bombers have shown faith in Willy, who has taken nearly every rep with the first-team offence in training camp. When O’Shea was asked earlier this week if he felt Willy needed to prove something this season — to the team, the fans, to O’Shea himself — he remained consistent, even defiant, in the defence of his quarterback.

“He’s a good quarterback, a good leader,” said O’Shea. “He doesn’t have anything to prove to me.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.