Topic: H-D: Cato on the field in Canada

[herdgadfly]

So Jonathan Crompton says there is nothing to worry about. Despite getting most of the QB reps in camp he has a bit of rust. Nothing to see here - well maybe this interview after the game:

http://en.montrealalouettes.com/video/index/id/111173

[Johnnyherd]

So Jonathan Crompton says there is nothing to worry about. Despite getting most of the QB reps in camp he has a bit of rust. Nothing to see here - well maybe this interview after the game:

http://en.montrealalouettes.com/video/index/id/111173

Crompton only played about 1 full year at Tennessee, then he spent a couple years trying out and getting cut from NFL teams....So yeah he probably is rusty and inexperienced....

Cato has been playing every snap available for the last 4 years....I wish the ALs would bring in Shuler for a look....

[backontrack]

Everyone needs to read the updated game story in the Montreal GAZETTE...Brandon Bridge got seven paragraphs...Cato got a single sentence...and Americans are supposed to be jingoistic???... ??? ??? ???...

[herdgadfly]

Great post today on the Alouettes Forum.

Re: First pre-season game
Postby L'apache » Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:15 p

Heed Rakeem Cato. I will not be surprised to see him move up very, very quickly within the team. I consider LeFavour, Marsh and Crompton have nothing adverse so far in the CFL. Bridge has a lot to do to improve his skill and accuracy. On paper, Cato has the best track record at the college and high school of all these people. He now has to show he is the best of five in the field. He played well yesterday and I hope we will give him more playing time against the Argos.

I have a friend who loves football and has admired Cato for many years. I share with you the following folder he wrote about him last year. As you will see, it is very detailed and interesting. He believes he will become a great quarterback in the CFL.

See the friend's research here:

http://tinyurl.com/pos7tgt

This is an incredible bit of research on Cato with this interesting observations at the end.

Some will look at Rakeem Cato, decide he does not pass the eyeball test, begin filling in their expectations as for what they are going to see based on stereotypes (note: I am not referring to race), and will allow those expectations to influence what they see on the film. If the above clips and notes do not sell you on Rakeem Cato as a quarterback, you will likely never be sold on him, and that is OK. What I see is a player whose ability to process massive amounts of information at game speed and whose pure throwing ability and style remind me very much of Aaron Rodgers, whom I had strongly believed to be the most valuable player in the 2005 NFL Draft.


Be sure to read the responses to this post on the forum as well. It does the heart good.

[Iwatch theCFL]

Alouettes made their cuts late on Sunday and released to the public on Monday morning.  As expected, the quarterback let go was Andrew Manley.  That leaves Crompton, LeFevour, Bridge, and Cato in probably that order.  Four quarterbacks would fill the 3 active spots + 1 practice spot.  When Marsh returns from the 6 game injured list, something will change.

Next game is on Thursday night against Toronto at 7:30pm Eastern.  No TV in the U.S.  However, game can be streamed if you have access to ESPN3.com content.

As the Toronto game is the final tune-up before the regular season, the starters and immediate backups will play the most.  Frankly, Crompton needs all the practice he can get.  LeFevour will get in next and see his first game action since he tore his ACL.  As LeFevour is also new to the Alouettes, he is going to need a bunch of reps as well.  Bridge and then finally Cato would get whatever is leftover.

Alouettes will tolerate whatever numbers Crompton put up in the regular season as long as there is a "W".  If the offense is both struggling and the team is losing, Crompton could very well be yanked which would result in the quarterback depth chart being reshuffled.  Many people expect such a change sometime during the season with LeFevour eventually becoming the starter.

I am mentioning the following because Cato had a chance to tryout with Saskatchewan.  Yesterday, the Roughriders released 3rd string quarterback Tino Sunseri.  The Roughriders now only have 3 quarterbacks on the roster in Darian Durant, Kevin Glenn, and rookie Brett Smith. 

[backontrack]

Durant is above average for the CFL, and he isn't very good...Glenn is AWFUL...I can' t believe that somebody won't at least put him on a practice squad...

[herdgadfly]

I can't imagine that anyone who has watched individual performances could ever believe that Bridge is better than Cato. I watched the Camellia Bowl last year and Bridge stunk up the game for three quarters before completing a bomb. If you wanted to see the other side, reruns of the Boca Bowl are out there and Cato made mince meat out of a 12 and 1 Northern Illinois squad.

As for Cato hanging around on a practice squad, it is probably economically impossible. CFL minimums are bad but practice squad players would have to live off government dole. If the Als want a future with a top QB, they had better say goodbye to Crompton and install Cato in as #2 - at least. Dan LeFevour proved himself very capable at Central Michigan but couldn't make it with the NFL and to date he hasn't set the world on fire among CFL QBs - so maybe we'll find out more Thursday.

Canadian minds won't go there because it is not orderly to push new players ahead of older players - but Crompton is terrible just as he was at Tennessee and Marsh played in Div II for a very good reason - he couldn't make a roster with Div I schools - and even then he had to leave a school rarely talked about (West Texas A & M) to play one year as starter for the Wonder Boys of  Arkansas Tech.

Doc Holliday didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and install Cato as starting QB as a freshman.  Jim Popp hails from Mooresville, NC so maybe, just maybe, he is capable of doing the right thing. Cato needs some time under center with the first unit and at least a quarter of playing time Thursday to prove to the doubters that he is the man. With the able Alouette defense and Rakeem Cato in charge of the offense, playing in the Gray Cup can happen. First, the offensive penalties have to go way down and second, running only 50 plays in a game with a 20 second clock is ridiculous and Cato is your uptempo guy.

[iherdya]

I can't imagine that anyone who has watched individual performances could ever believe that Bridge is better than Cato. I watched the Camellia Bowl last year and Bridge stunk up the game for three quarters before completing a bomb. If you wanted to see the other side, reruns of the Boca Bowl are out there and Cato made mince meat out of a 12 and 1 Northern Illinois squad.

As for Cato hanging around on a practice squad, it is probably economically impossible. CFL minimums are bad but practice squad players would have to live off government dole. If the Als want a future with a top QB, they had better say goodbye to Crompton and install Cato in as #2 - at least. Dan LeFevour proved himself very capable at Central Michigan but couldn't make it with the NFL and to date he hasn't set the world on fire among CFL QBs - so maybe we'll find out more Thursday.

Canadian minds won't go there because it is not orderly to push new players ahead of older players - but Crompton is terrible just as he was at Tennessee and Marsh played in Div II for a very good reason - he couldn't make a roster with Div I schools - and even then he had to leave a school rarely talked about (West Texas A & M) to play one year as starter for the Wonder Boys of  Arkansas Tech.

Doc Holliday didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and install Cato as starting QB as a freshman.  Jim Popp hails from Mooresville, NC so maybe, just maybe, he is capable of doing the right thing. Cato needs some time under center with the first unit and at least a quarter of playing time Thursday to prove to the doubters that he is the man. With the able Alouette defense and Rakeem Cato in charge of the offense, playing in the Gray Cup can happen. First, the offensive penalties have to go way down and second, running only 50 plays in a game with a 20 second clock is ridiculous and Cato is your uptempo guy.

I think we all are rooting for Cato, but to say a team should cut the QB that led them to the playoffs last year, for an unproven rookie, it just one of the most absurd things I think I've ever read on here.

And because a guy didn't play D1 he's not good enough to play in the CFL? Tell that to the numerous NFL HoF that played at the 1AA, D2, etc level.

Again, we're all rooting for Cato, I think he has a good shot, but com'on with your biased views man.

What Cato did here really accounts for nothing up there, it's a whole new game, he has to prove he belongs at that level. Some of the best college quarterbacks in the last decade or so have struggled at the professional level, Tebow, Colt McCoy, Troy Smith, Vince Young, Jason White, Brad Banks, etc.

[Johnnyherd]

I think we all are rooting for Cato, but to say a team should cut the QB that led them to the playoffs last year, for an unproven rookie, it just one of the most absurd things I think I've ever read on here.

The league champion's QB, Bo Levi Mitchell (played a couple years for SMU then went FCS) barely made his team and was a third string in 2013...He won the Grey Cup last year and was the most valuable player...

[iherdya]

The league champion's QB, Bo Levi Mitchell (played a couple years for SMU then went FCS) barely made his team and was a third string in 2013...He won the Grey Cup last year and was the most valuable player...

He got a lot of reps in 2013 because Drew Tate and then Kevin Glenn got hurt for Calgary, he was 13th in the league in 2013 in passing yards, and started 3 games. He wasn't an unproven rookie in 2014, supplanting a guy that had just lead Calgary to the playoffs, he was a guy with starts under his belt in the CFL taking over for a team with a quarterback controversy. The Ottawa Redblacks drafted Kevin Glenn in the expansion draft, so Mitchell only had to battle Tate really for the job in 2014, and even then split time with Tate (Tate had 2 rushing touchdowns in the Grey Cup game, Calgary's only 2 touchdowns of the game).

Again, I think Cato makes it, I think it's an absurd idea to think the the Alouettes will bail on a QB that led them to the playoffs. Cato needs to get on a team, stick around, learn the game, and show the coaches/decision makers what he can do.

[herdgadfly]

Iherdya:

If you read the Alouette forum, you will find that most avid fans don't think much of Crompton - they say that the team turnaround last year was caused by a very good defense. Crompton's stats last year bear that out. Twofer six and seventeen yards from a starter in two quarters with the first team offensive line ahead of him just ain't good quarterbacking. But he says "nothing to see here, I am just rusty."

When Cato was running the offense, there were high-fives all around when he returned to the bench - but no such thing when Crompton was the leader in charge. Heck, even Brandon Bridge high-fived Cato - because he knows a good QB when he sees one.

[Iwatch theCFL]

LeFevour would be next in line if or when Crompton falters.  LeFevour is the one taking 2nd team reps.  Bridge is taking 3rd team reps. 

Wednesday will be the last day of training camp. 

[gochneaur645]

Bridge is the one I've been afraid of all along. Everybody loves the big body with "potential" over the guy who actually knows how to throw the ball. I'm aware nationality doesn't affect the roster requirements at QB, but the fact that he's Canadian has to help too.

I know Crompton was somewhat successful last year, but I don't trust a guy in the longterm who had every chance to succeed at Tennessee and couldn't. LeFevour seems like a perfect fit for the CFL. I'd take him and Cato as my top two if I were in charge.

[mu79grad]

LeFevour would be next in line if or when Crompton falters.  LeFevour is the one taking 2nd team reps.  Bridge is taking 3rd team reps. 

Wednesday will be the last day of training camp. 

CFL watcher (or anyone else), I've read on-line that when the final cuts are made that Cato would be, at best, on the Practice Squad.  What do you think will occur?  Also, if he ends up on the Practice Squad, is his contract guaranteed?

[iherdya]

Iherdya:

If you read the Alouette forum, you will find that most avid fans don't think much of Crompton - they say that the team turnaround last year was caused by a very good defense. Crompton's stats last year bear that out. Twofer six and seventeen yards from a starter in two quarters with the first team offensive line ahead of him just ain't good quarterbacking. But he says "nothing to see here, I am just rusty."

When Cato was running the offense, there were high-fives all around when he returned to the bench - but no such thing when Crompton was the leader in charge. Heck, even Brandon Bridge high-fived Cato - because he knows a good QB when he sees one.

if you knew sports at all, you'd know that those on forums aren't making decisions (in our case, thank god sturt isn't making decisions).

honest question, do you really expect a team to completely, 100% bail on a QB that is young and led them to the playoffs last year? further, do you expect them to bail on him now that he did that last year AND has received all the first team reps in training camp?

the simple fact that he's received all/most of the first team reps in practice should tell you that he's their guy and there's no qb controversy right now. they're going to go with crompton as plan a, lefevour is obviously plan b, the best we can hope for cato is plan c (3rd string), but more than likely plan d (practice squad).

i'm not on here saying crompton is a great quarterback, i'm just staying the facts point to the fact that the alouettes consider him their starter right now, and we can hope and dream for cato to be the man, but if you look at the facts, right now he's battling just for a roster/practice squad spot, not even remotely close to battling for a starting spot.

[2xBison]

Lol on sturt

[Iwatch theCFL]

Training camp ended on Wednesday, and Cato is still #4 on the depth chart.  For him to move up, the only way remaining is to be much better than Bridge in Thursday's game against Toronto. 

Note that in the CFL, there are designated short-yardage units where the backup quarterback often has to sneak or run for the first down.  Bridge would seem like a better candidate than Cato for this role simply because he is bigger and heavier.

The big buzz with the Alouettes on Wednesay was that Head Coach Tom Higgins told the media that poor play from Crompton on Thursday might result in a change of plan at starting quarterback for the season opener.

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes/pressure-is-on-qb-crompton-to-deliver-in-preseason-finale

Although hardly a secret to anybody who is following the quarterback situation, this is the first time the Head Coach has not been 100% behind Crompton.  While a change at starter is not likely going to happen in week 1, almost everybody expects it will happen eventually this year.

If Cato plays about the same or worse than Bridge, I would expect him to stay at #4.  As the final rosters cuts will be on Saturday night, Cato could be on the list of those released.  If the Alouettes want to put him on the Practice Roster, they will ask if he wishes to be placed there.  Player has the option of becoming a free agent instead because you get much less money on the Practice Roster.  A team could alternatively put somebody temporarily on the injured list.

Taking into account the usual injuries to quarterbacks in the CFL and the fact that the Alouette depth chart is written in pencil with an eraser, I would not rule out anything that might happen at the quarterback position this coming season.   

[gcherd]

No word quite yet!...

http://www.cfl.ca/page/transactions

Also, within the link you can click on News...Alouettes News which will likely have the story when cuts are made.

Note: I noticed if you click on Game Stats they don't even list Cato's 3 pass attempts! :(