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Toronto Argonauts: Ricky Ray’s Return Can’t Come Soon Enough

By Paul Taylor

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Unfortunately for the Toronto Argonauts, Logan Kilgore hasn’t delivered and they now need Ricky Ray to return before their season falls apart.

Just two weeks ago, the Toronto Argonauts appeared to be in a strong position. They were sitting at 4-2, with three consecutive games coming up on home turf.

Unfortunately for the Argos, moving to BMO Field has not provided the advantage they were looking for. Everyone has their theories about what the problem is, but the reality is there is no excuse for having a 1-4 record on your home field.

The last two performances have been particularly disastrous, losing 34-17 and 46-23 to the Blue Bombers and Eskimos respectively. And while the defense played poorly in both games, Logan Kilgore must also take a major portion of blame.

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Things had looked so promising when Kilgore first entered the starting lineup for the Argonauts. He threw for over 300 yards and led the team to an upset win against the Redblacks, in Ottawa no less.

However, lost in the euphoria of the surprising 23-20 victory, was the 26-year old’s issue with accuracy, which resulted in two interceptions. Yes, it was his first game as a starter, but the picks turned out to be a prelude of what was to come.

Things started off well enough for Kilgore in his next game against Winnipeg, leading the Boatmen to a 10-3 lead after one quarter. However, the wheels then completely came off, as he proceeded to throw five interceptions, thus rendering his second consecutive 300-yard passing game redundant.

Unfortunately for the Rocklin, California native, it didn’t get any better against the Eskimos. In fact, he ended up getting pulled, after throwing two picks and managing just 41 yards in the air on 14 pass attempts.

Overall, Kilgore does not appear to be the second coming of Zach Collaros or Trevor Harris. Certainly, it looks even worse, when on the same weekend as the Eskimos debacle, Collaros threw five touchdown passes in the Ti-Cats’ 53-7 beat-down of the Roughriders.

With all this in mind, Ricky Ray’s return can’t come soon enough for the Argonauts. The team badly misses his efficiency, which so far this season has seen him complete 73.7 percent of his passes and throw just one interception.

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In that respect, as reported by the Toronto Star, Ray appears close to returning. Speaking to Chris O’Leary, he said: “I’m working to get there.

“Obviously being able to get out here and practise and move around and throw some (passes) to guys. (It) gives me a good feeling of how it’s going each day and so far it’s been doing really well.”

What increases the three-time Grey Cup winners chances of being available for the next game, is the fact the Argonauts have a bye this week. As such, they don’t face the BC Lions until August 31st.

Assuming Ray does take the field against the Lions, he will need to shake off the rust quickly, while also helping the team overcome the conundrum of playing at BMO Field. If not, it could be another long evening for the Argonauts, who are desperate to save what started off as a promising season.

Next: Brian Bulcke release represents missed chance for Argos

What’s your take on how Kilgore has performed as starting quarterback? Has he played that badly, or is he getting an unfair amount of the blame? Let us know in the comments section below.

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