May 25, 2016

Positional Preview: QBs and Specialists

Quarterbacks:

Ricky Ray returns to the Argos after re-upping with the team for two years this off-season. Ray returns to the Double Blue for his fifth season with the club. In 2015, the veteran quarterback missed nine games due to off-season shoulder surgery before returning to dress for the team’s final nine games, starting in the Argos’ two final regular season contests.

In two regular season games, Ray threw for 423 yards and a touchdown, completing 47-of-65 pass attempts (72.3%). In the team’s East Semi-Final clash in Hamilton, the Argos pivot completed 22-of-34 attempts for 220 yards and a touchdown, adding another 15 yards on three rushing attempts.

Ray enters his 15th season in the CFL with his shoulder back to 100%, prepared to connect with the team’s talented group of young receivers.

Behind Ray, the battle for the backup quarterback role will feature veterans Logan Kilgore and Adrian McPherson, and rookie pivot Cody Fajardo.

 

WATCH: Kilgore settling into Argos role

 

McPherson enters camp with the most experience of the three backups, coming into his eighth season in the CFL. The native of Evansville, Indiana suited up in all 18 regular season games in his first year with the Argos in 2015.

McPherson saw action in four games last season, completing 3-of-7 pass attempts for 10 yards and a touchdown, adding another 45 yards on 24 carries and two scores. Acting as a situational quarterback in the club’s road playoff game, McPherson completed one pass for 19 yards and gained 14 yards on three rushing attempts.

Kilgore enters camp with a year of experience in the Argonauts system under his belt. Spending the entire 2015 season on the club’s practice roster and injured list, the product of Middle Tennessee State has had a year to learn the team’s offensive system and will now have the opportunity to put that knowledge on display.

Prior to his tenure with the Argos, Kilgore attended training camp with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints following his four-year career at Middle Tennessee State.

As a member of the Blue Raiders, Logan became the first player in school history with three consecutive 2,000-yard seasons. In his senior year, he completed 216 of 255 passes for 2,507 yards and 16 touchdowns, adding another 20 yards and two scores on the ground.

Fajardo, a CFL rookie, spent the final month of the 2015 season on the Argonauts practice roster. After attending the club’s rookie free agent mini-camp in April, the Nevada alum signed with the team.

In four seasons with the Nevada Wolfpack (2010-14), Fajardo became just the second player in FBS history to register 9,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing in his career, following in the footsteps of fellow Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick. The dual-threat quarterback arrives in Toronto with both the Nevada school record for career completions and the Mountain West record for most 100-yard rushing games by a quarterback.

Kicker/Punter:

Veteran kicker and off-season addition Lirim Hajrullahu enters camp as the team’s only kicker on the roster; he’ll assume all three kicking duties in his first season with the Argonauts, following a two-year tenure with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

With the Bombers, the Western University alumnus played in 35 games across the last two campaigns. He holds a career field goal percentage of 79.5%, hitting on 62 of his 78 career attempts. Hajrullahu handled all three kicking duties with the Bombers, averaging 44.3 yards per punt on 237 career punts and 63.4 yards per kickoff attempt on 123 attempts.

In his rookie season in Winnipeg, the native of St. Catharines was named the West Division’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. He enters 2016 as one of the most promising young specialists in the Canadian Football League.

Long Snappers:

Two Guelph alumni, veteran Jake Reinhart and rookie Dan MacDonald will return home to the Gryphons’ campus for training camp as the team’s two long-snapping specialists.

Reinhart has spent the last two seasons as the team’s long snapper, playing in all 18 games for the second consecutive year in 2015. In 36 career games with the Argos, Reinhart has recorded nine defensive tackles and 13 special teams tackles.

After being selected 56th overall by the Argos in the 2015 CFL Draft, Dan MacDonald returned to Guelph for his final year of eligibility. In 2015, MacDonald made 10 special teams tackles on the Gryphons’ run to a Yates Cup Championship. The native of Burlington, Ontario signed with the Argonauts on February 19.