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It was at training camp of 2014 that Bo Levi Mitchell claimed the starting quarterback job for the Calgary Stampeders.
Mitchell did get a taste of the job the previous season when he made three starts in the absence of injured Stamps veterans Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn before taking the job for keeps. So just how much has the quarterback landscape in the CFL changed since that 2013 campaign?
Well, Montreal’s starter that season – Anthony Calvillo – was just named a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Henry Burris was Hamilton’s top guy in 2013 but by the following season he was a part of the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks and has recently announced his retirement. An invitation to join Calvillo in the Hall of Fame will surely come in short order.
Ricky Ray – another solid bet for the Hall – will return as the Argos starter although there had been a lot of speculation about his future after a series of injury-plagued seasons.
Some of the other QBs back in 2013?
That transitional phase means that at the relatively young age of 27, Mitchell has become one of the longest-serving current starting quarterbacks in the CFL. The reigning Most Outstanding Player leads league QBs with 48 starts over the past three regular seasons and the only other signal-callers to make at least 30 starts with their present team during that period are Reilly (41) and Hamilton’s Zach Collaros (35).
The chart below shows each possible of the potential No. 1 quarterbacks rank in regards to career starts and starting assignments with his current team:
QB STARTS
QB | 2017 | Career | With current team |
Mike Reilly, EDM | 17 | 61 | 59 |
Ricky Ray, TOR | 9 | 200 | 52 |
Bo Levi Mitchell, CGY | 17 | 51 | 51 |
Zach Collaros, HAM | 10 | 43 | 35 |
Jonathon Jennings, BC | 18 | 24 | 24 |
Matt Nichols, WPG | 13 | 32 | 20 |
Kevin Glenn, SSK* | 9 | 191 | 19 |
Trevor Harris, OTT | 10 | 27 | 10 |
Darian Durant, MTL | 15 | 113 | 0 |
* Glenn is the most experienced CFL quarterback on the Riders roster but Saskatchewan also signed two-time NFL Pro Bowler Vince Young, who has never played in Canada, during the off-season