the 4th star

Now we get to see if Mike Kelly, the man who says the buck stops with him, puts his money where his mouth is.

No matter how you bounce it off the turf, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a quarterback controversy. Now some will argue that you need an actual quarterback on the roster to have a QB controversy, but thats another post for another time. Three games into the season, starting pivot Stefan LeFors has looked, well…. Here’s a look at the production in each start:

At Edmonton, a 19-17 loss: 14-for-31, 174 yards 0 TD, 0 INT

In Winnipeg, a 42-30 win: 13-for-27, 156 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

At Hamilton, a 25-13 loss: 7-of-19, 99 yards, no TD, 0 INT

Season totals: 34-for-77, 44.2 per cent completion rate, 429 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, QB rating of 65.3. For the starters in the CFL, those numbers rank him dead last.

Whoa. Not too good. Now LeFors did admit after the latest bomb that his play has been suspect to this point, but it certainly is curious that his head coach continues to gloss over each mediocre performance. Not the first time Kelly has taken the fall for LeFors and his team. Said Kelly after the ugly loss to the Ticats:

“Our team played with great grit and determination. Anybody wearing a blue helmet and a white shirt didn’t leave anything out there. It’s on me. I didn’t put good enough schemes together in order for us to be successful. I didn’t do a good enough job to give them an opportunity to function.”

LeFors has a terrible arm — there’s no other way to put it. People can say nice things like he handles himself in the huddle well and that the players are respecting him as a leader on the field, but those traits get trumped by the the physical limitations. He just can’t throw it. Don’t even try to say that he’s inexperienced or that he’s still learning the game. That does not excuse his lack of arm strength. Again, he just can’t throw it. ONE COMPLETION OVER 20 YARDS THIS SEASON. Out of the 19 throws he made on Saturday, how many of them looked like a spiral? AGAIN, he just can’t throw the football. He doesn’t have the arm strength to throw the CFL football. Think Kevin Glenn had a weak arm? He does. But he looks like Jeff George compared to LeFors.

So where do the Bombers go from here? LeFors hurt his right shoulder in the game (Kelly said that was the reason he took him out) and what his status is for Friday’s game against Toronto is up in the air. We’ll probably find out more later today. If he can’t go this week then it’s Bryan Randall’s chance to show that he can move the chains.

But what if LeFors isn’t hurt? No matter. Kelly should sit him out anyway. Forget about the need to give this guy some playing time to grow his game. Holding LeFors back from the wolves of Canad Inns Stadium will do more then having him booed after the first two-and-out he orchestrates. Besides, he’s struggling. Period. It will give No. 17 a chance to see the game from a different viewpoint, and maybe he’ll respond in a positive way the next time out.

If anything, the benching would give Kelly some needed credibility with observers and fans of the team. In spewing his *knowledge* to anyone who will listen, Kelly has made a point of saying that no jobs on this team are safe — that players have to perform week in and week out to ensure their spots. To put it another way, they have to be better than the guy behind them. It happened to Joe Smith. It’s happening to Tyrone Williams. Players who were anointed starters on this club at the beginning of the year are now either out of work or being shopped around the league.

On that stream of consciousness then, shouldn’t LeFors be told to grab some pine? Granted, it doesn’t look like Randall or Ritchie Williams would be better options at this point, but maybe they deserve the same chance to play as Dorian Smith or Lavarus Giles were given. If players aren’t performing, then changes will be made. Isn’t that how it is over at Camp Kelly?

He’s a straight shooter, right?

Hmmm.

“Stef is the quarterback here. I will take one Sefan LeFors before I’ll take anybody else. Period.”

Stef? That’s called painting yourself into a corner, boys and girls. Forget about what Randall and Williams were thinking after reading that comment — how they have no hope in hell of it being a fair competition for the starting job — there are bigger things to ponder. Like what does Kelly do if LeFors can’t go this week and Randall (or Williams) turn in an outstanding effort and beat the Argos? Does he go back to LeFors? Or does he keep going with the hot hand?

If Kelly is all about production and getting better as a team each week, wouldn’t those same qualities and evaluation parameters apply to the quarterbacking position, too?