Blue braintrust plan to go with youth at QB position

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2010 (5458 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was in the wee hours last Saturday night — likely while the sting of being the first team eliminated from the Grey Cup derby was still searing — when the Winnipeg Blue Bomber brain trust made a decision about the most-important position on the field.

Knowing that both Steven Jyles and Alex Brink were going to be lost for the final two games of the 2010 season, the club opted to hitch its wagon to rookie Joey Elliott rather than bring in a veteran CFL quarterback.

And so while names like Kerry Joseph and Casey Printers were immediately tossed around in the aftermath of the loss to Toronto, GM Joe Mack and head coach Paul LaPolice took a different approach: Go young and use the last two weeks as an opportunity to evaluate unknown commodities.

“To have Kerry Joseph here just to have him here… I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do for the organization,” LaPolice said Monday. “Even if those guys come in, they’re not going to play.

“We like Joey and want to see what he can do. I like his anticipation. He sees things, he gets the ball out of his hands quickly and he’s got a moxie to him. He’s a good leader. You watch him against Ohio State last year… he just carved up Ohio State (throwing for 281 yards and two TDs in an upset win). He’s got some tools.”

It’s uncertain who will back up Elliott as the club is still hoping to add a pivot with some CFL experience who may still have upside — the names Adam DiMichele and Zac Champion keep coming up — but the team did sign one prospect on Monday.

Coming aboard is Frank Wilczynski (6-1, 190), a product of Rowan University, a Division III school. In his senior year, the 24-year-old completed 117 of 207 passes for 1,456 yards and 11 TDs while leading the team in rushing with 793 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“(Wilczynski) is somebody we’ve known even since the start of training camp,” said LaPolice. “He was a guy on Mr. Mack’s radar and we’d seen some film on him and some coaches I know down in the U.S. knew about him. When the rosters started to expand we said we should bring him up and take a look at him and see what he does.”

Wilczynski arrived in Winnipeg on Monday and immediately began meeting with offensive coordinator Jamie Barresi. For what it’s worth, three GMs contacted by the Free Press Monday had never heard of Wilczynski, although one did add: “That doesn’t mean he isn’t he next Dieter Brock.”

And, interestingly, the Eskimos — according to a Sportsnet report Monday night — have apparently added Joseph as insurance to Ricky Ray, who has a shoulder injury and will not play this weekend against the Bombers.

The Montreal Alouettes, meanwhile, activated Ricky Santos from their practice roster although the Bombers apparently never asked for permission to bring him back to Winnipeg.

“We’ll have some more announcements probably (Tuesday),” said LaPolice about the quarterback position. “And hopefully we’ll have one or two more guys.”