Toronto Argonauts: McLeod Bethel-Thompson the next quarterback up

In a surprising turn of events, Marc Trestman is turning to McLeod Bethel-Thompson as the Toronto Argonauts starting quarterback against the Ottawa Redblacks.

When Marc Trestman named James Franklin the Toronto Argonauts starting quarterback with Ricky Ray sidelined, it was with the understanding that the evaluation period was ongoing.

"“We’re not anointing him but he certainly deserves the chance to get a full week of practice in knowing that he’s going to be the starting quarterback,” Trestman said back on July 2. “And we’re not going to hide from that.”"

Since then the Argos have gone 1-3 with Franklin completing 65 per cent of his passes for 967 yards. The troubling stat that probably led to the young quarterback’s demotion was that he his touchdown to interceptions ratio (1:6) over three games.

Trestman is now turning to McLeod Bethel-Thompson who was battling with Franklin for the backup job during training camp. Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Redblacks will be his first CFL start since he joined the team last season.

He also made it clear that Franklin has not lost the chance to play again this season rather that he wanted to give Bethel-Thompson his chance especially with the work ethic he’s displayed since joining the team.

"“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do since he got here a year ago and now he’s got the opportunity that he’s been waiting for and I think everybody’s excited to see him play,” Trestman said about going with Bethel-Thompson.“It will be new for him starting this game, a new environment for him so it’s his time to show what he can do and we’re going to give him that opportunity.”"

More from Tip of the Tower

• Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
• Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
• Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
• Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

This has been a long journey for the QB who played out at Sacramento State and has made several stops in the Arena Football League, the UFL and the NFL.

He came to the team on May 23, 2017, and saw time all over the field including his time at defensive back where he recorded an interception in his first preseason game. Eventually, he worked his way up the depth chart and became the backup for Ray leading into the playoffs.

Now he gets his chance in the spotlight and hopefully his familiarity with the offensive system puts him in a position to succeed.

That’s not the only change the Argos are making with TJ Heath being traded to the Montreal Alouettes for Ryan Bomben who both Trestman and Jim Popp are very familiar with from their days in Montreal.

"“We had Ryan in Montreal for a few years, we knew his athleticism and we think he’s at the top of his career right now in terms of his ability,” said Trestman about the newly acquired Bomben.“We’re going to try to get him involved in some fashion this week so we’ll see how it goes in practice  and we’re going to work at it the next 48 hours to see if he can be involved in some of the things we’re doing and he’s familiar with what we’ve done.”"

There is a lot of pressure on the Argos to try and turn things around with second spot in the East still up for grabs despite their tough start. That’s why the focus has been on sticking to the gameplan with the veteran players keeping everything in check despite all the changes.

"“It comes with the business, the sport, things like that happen all the time,” Ronnie Yell said about the trade. “Unfortunately, you know for TJ [Heath] this was the second time like that in a similar situation but you know it’s the next man up policy so our young guys have to step up and we can’t miss a beat.”"

Some players will have to shuffle around like Aldon Darby playing in the boundary corner, Yell playing the field corner spot and rookie Trumaine Washington ready to step in.

Bear Woods is not expected to return until after the bye week but has been a participant in practice while Trestman said that Taylor Reed continues to recover from his back injury in Texas.