The Toronto Argonauts season definitely hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending Grey Cup champions. The Argonauts lost Ricky Ray in game two of the season. The Argos defence seemingly cannot stop anyone. On offence, they struggled with James Franklin, who is considered the quarterback of the future.
Following the benching of James Franklin, McLeod Bethel-Thompson took over and experienced immediate success with back-to-back wins against the Ottawa RedBlacks and B.C. Lions. Since then, it’s been an entirely different story. The Argonauts have not won a game since August 18th, against the previously mentioned Lions. It’s been just over a month since the last Argonauts win. The season sure seems as if it’s going to end with the Argos missing the post-season barring something miraculous.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s Statistics
- August 2nd – 25/37 (67.6%), 302 yards, four touchdowns, one interception
- August 18th – 18/29 (62.1%), 260 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions
- August 24th – 26/37 (70.3%), 296 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions
- September 3rd – 14/29 (48.3%), 163 yards, no touchdowns, one interception
- September 8th – 27/42 (64.3%), 295 yards, two touchdowns, one interception
- Total – 62.5%, 1,316 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions
Bethel-Thompson hasn’t been terrible for the Argos since taking over as the starting quarterback and has a 2-3 record heading into a tough stretch of: versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders, at the Calgary Stampeders, and at the B.C. Lions. With a 3-8 record, the Argonauts only hope would be to win two of those next three games to head into the final four games with a 5-9 record.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s Leash
Now, that doesn’t answer the question of how much longer of a leash McLeod Bethel-Thompson has as a starting quarterback. James Franklin is still considered the future of the Argos at quarterback. Unless McLeod Bethel-Thompson strings together a few wins in a row or a two-out-of-three type stretch over the next little while, the Argonauts season would essentially be done before October 12 against Hamilton.
Only once the Argonauts season is done would it be likely that Marc Trestman considers going back to James Franklin. If the Argos are close to being eliminated by the time they play Hamilton in October, one would imagine James Franklin would close out the season to get him some confidence heading into the off-season.
The Last Word
McLeod Bethel-Thompson has posted some respectable stats for the Argonauts but they haven’t been able to be translated into victories. As of this point in time, he still gives the Argonauts their best shot at winning and keep their slim playoff chances alive. Only once they’re eliminated would it be likely James Franklin gets another shot.
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