Can the Esks win with Nichols?

As the Eskimos got news about Mike Reilly’s injury, speculation started to swirl on a Facebook Fan page as to who would get the ball to the lead the Esks moving forward.

The consensus seems to be the Eskimos are in trouble if Nichols is the answer. 

But despite what I and many other fans think, the obvious choice IS Matt Nichols. 

And this should be a no brainer considering he’s the only one of the Eskimo QB’s to have any regular season experience. 

Yes that experience is only 23 games but having spent his first 2 seasons on the practice roster and the combination of injuries has limited his playing time. 

With only 5 starts and a handful of relief appearances, Nichols has proven to be effective when given the opportunity but tries too hard to do too much and too often. 

Eskimo fans know this and that's why they're wincing at the thought of being led by Nichols rather than Mike “the Messiah” Reilly for the next 12 weeks. 

Can Nichols be successful? 

Absolutely.

Am I confident as an Eskimo fan confident in Nichols to handle everything moving forward?

Not entirely.

Quarterback by Committee?

With 2 very capable young quarterbacks on the roster in Jordan Lynch and James Franklin, the Eskimos would be better off at quarterback by committee. I know it sounds absolutely absurd and the football coaching gods may kick me between the uprights for suggesting such a thing but the only way the Eskimos can salvage their season after only one regular season game is to utilize all three QB’s until Reilly is able to return.

In the preseason, Lynch a former Heisman trophy finalist with Northern Illinois, demonstrated he’s a pure double threat at the position setting 4 NCAA records running the ball. And while he’s only thrown the ball a handful of times as an Eskimo, his numbers shouldn’t go without notice, tossing for over 6,200 yards, 51 touchdowns while only turning the ball over 14 times while with N. Illinois.

Lynch didn’t play a down in the pre-season as the Esks wanted to have a better look at Justin Goltz who sputtered with limited reps. Lynch did manage to run the ball twice during the first game for 17 yards and didn’t look out of place due to his speed.

In Franklin, the numbers are almost similar but may have an edge as a pure passer over Lynch who ran quite a bit with Northern Illinois. Franklins throwing motion is a thing of beauty to watch and seems fully recovered from the injury that required surgery while at his last year at Mizzou.

Franklin did have the better pre-season of the three signal callers heading into the regular season making an appearance in both pre-season games.

The combined stats are:

Passing: 23 of 40 for 326 yards. 1td, 1int.
Rushing: 7carries for 31yards and 2tds.

Bye-week Blessing

When the 2015 schedule was released, the Eskimos were probably cursing league officials but with the string of injuries that have taken its toll on the club this early in the season, they’re probably thankful for the bye week sooner rather than later. Although the team can’t practice during the week due to league rules and players association non-sense, the Eskimo coaching staff can meet to figure out the who, what, when, whys and how’s at quarterback before they play Ottawa in their home opener July 9.

Nichols will be given every opportunity to take charge but make no mistake, he’ll be kept on a short leash should he stumble with the opportunity.  

His time is now.

Do you think he’ll make the most of it?