How could I (BIG AL) forget Matt Nichols and Nick Arbuckle!? On my second most recent podcast episode I forgot to include Matt Nichols and (sort of) Nick Arbuckle on my worst to greatest top 10 Canadian Football League current quarterbacks! Wow! My sincere apologies… To be fair on the number 7 spot I had Nick Arbuckle but accidentally skipped his name but that doesn’t excuse the fact that not only did I not realize something was off about my list during the recording but also that I missed Matt Nichols entirely when creating such list! To top it all off I put Jeremiah Johnson on the list (as number 10), and yet forgot about Matt Nichols all together! I also put Jeremiah Masoli ahead of Dane Evans on the list meaning a quarterback that was injured and out for almost the whole season last season got on the list with high honors and Matt Nichols in the same situation did not even make the list. I also skipped Nick Arbuckle’s name whose name was actually on the list and Arbuckle had a similar situation as Dane Evans, which their name actually got mentioned. Wow! I sincerely regret such dangerous thinking. I do feel really bad and apologize. Such a mistake is very disrespectful. So, I am sorry! This is why I am dedicating this blog to none other than both Matt Nichols and Nick Arbuckle. OH! AND… one more person Michaele O’Connor back up quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts.
First and foremost, I would like to point out that if Bo Levi Mitchel never got hurt and Nic Arbuckle never got into a game we would not know what Arbuckle is capable of. Thus, Calgary never would have started for those 6 weeks which is what attracted Ottawa to signing Arbuckle in the first place based on Arbuckle’s performance. Congratulations to Nick Arbuckle winning the starting job in Ottawa and everything previously mentioned is not to take away the amazing things Nic Arbuckle got done during those 6-7 weeks of running an offense. Arbuckle did astonishing things during such time. To elaborate on the previous point made, Arbuckle came in late in week 3’s game against BC when Calgary was down in the game and Arbuckle did the unthinkable and came back and won the game for Calgary completing 100 percent of their 9 passes made. That is incredible. The rest of their time as a starting QB for Calgary, Arbuckle would win a lot more of their games. On top of that Arbuckle would improve their stats to a total of 174 completions for a completion percentage of 73 % and put up over 2100 yards in throwing. Amazing stats for just 6 additional weeks after Arbuckle’s first appearance in leading an offense during the regular season. Therefore Nick Arbuckle is more than deserving to be on the list and should be highly ranked based on performance but besides passing the eyeball test with flying colors and putting up impressive stats, Arbuckle's only accomplishment really is helping their team to the playoffs with the number of wins they have. Thus, number 7 is suitable for Nick Arbuckle.
Then we have Matt Nichols who currently is signed to the Toronto Argonauts. I would say signing Matt Nichols is a win for Toronto… BIG TIME! Toronto fans could not have been happy with James Franklin leading that team and McLeod Bethel Thompson most certainly wasn’t getting the job done for the big T.O. either. Thus, with Matt Nichols becoming a free agent this offseason and after Toronto gladly released James Franklin getting Matt Nichols to sign with the Argos was a HUGE asset to the team. Matt Nichols had a TON of success in the CFL, at least stats and wins wise and for sure is deserving to be on this list. I definitely put Nichols above Zach Collaros. Thus, that clearly makes Nichols the guy for Toronto. Correct? Well… that could be true, but another possibility is Canadian born quarterback Michaele O’Connor who could lead the Argos offense. I think O’Connor definitely has what it takes. Back when O’Connor played for Pen State, the young QB got coached by none other than TOM BRADY’s (old) QUARTERBACK COACH. Then when O’Connor made their way back to north of the border and played in University Sports or USports for short, O’Connor put up some majorly impressive numbers and won a Vanier Cup with University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. O’Connor had such amazing success all throughout their University career. If the National Football Leagues or NFL's very own team the Cincinnati Bengals can flop Andy Dalton and replace Dalton with the teams first-round draft pick quarterback Joe Borrow who really only had one successful collegiate career once Borrow was placed on a stacked roster, then why is one of Toronto’s 2018 draft picks so different!? O’Connor is young but still, older then Borrow. Nichols has talent that is for sure, but O’Connor could just be the next Russ Jackson.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this blog entry! For Big Al at Touchdown Talks Canada, have a great week!