Loyalty is a trademark of Lions head coach Wally Buono, where injury never plays a role in replacing a starting quarterback, so it probably is not a surprise to learn that when the Lions host the Stamps on Friday night, it will be Buck Pierce who takes to the field as the starting quarterback of the hometown Leos.
Despite an impressive performance in relief and his selection as the offensive player of the week for week three, Jarious Jackson will be back on the sidelines on Friday, scouting out the trends of the Stamps defence and standing ready just in case he's needed again.
Quarterback controversies are not an unknown thing in BC, it's one of those problems that coaches love to have, when they have two strong performers at the starting position, but they can at times become a disruptive part of a teams psyche.
It wasn't too long ago, that the Casey Printers/Dave Dickenson tandem provided for the conversation starters on the sports talk shows of BC, each player had his own fan base, equally able to voice an opinion as to which QB should be carrying the load on a game to game basis.
That hasn't developed yet with Jackson/Pierce, but the makings of it are surely there. Jackson has frequently risen to the occasion when called on in relief, whether its a move to shake up a lacklustre offence, or the result of injury.
With the Lions having struggled out of the start of the season, Jackson's success in game number three probably converted a few more fans over to his side of the debate, fans who had seen some bad signs in the first two games, were quite thrilled with the Lions plan B QB's, ability to take charge of last Thursday's domination of the Edmonton Eskimos.
Should they stumble on Friday against the Stamps, one suspects that it won't be long before coach Buono hears from the loyal supporters. Winning will quiet that debate for the short term, but the two seem equal in talent and heart, eventually Jackson we suspect will be a starting QB in the CFL, whether that is in BC remains to be seen.
Though when given the chance, he clearly provides for a most entertaining audition tape...
Vancouver Province-- QB silence is golden
Canadian Press/TSN-- Despite Stellar performance by Jackson, Pierce to start vs Stamps
Vancouver Sun-- Buck Pierce remains Buono's man
Vancouver Sun-- Buck’s back in the saddle as starter
No comments:
Post a Comment