Toronto Argonauts: Jim Popp trying to establish continuity with roster

With the Toronto Argonauts suffering a big blow to their playoff hopes, general manager Jim Popp does not expect to make any big trades or changes to the roster.

It is hard to dress up the Toronto Argonauts 1-9 record as anything positive but general manager Jim Popp is trying to look on the brightside of things.

Speaking to the media after practice, Popp made it a point to say the team doesn’t expect to make any trades that will break up the core of the team but would be listening to teams calling to make a deal. This mindset makes sense considering teams don’t look at trades to improve for the future and for once, the Argos need to think about maintaining a core.

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Considering how many changes this roster has gone through since winning the Grey Cup in 2017. This is a young roster that is struggling to find the winning formula but Popp is encouraged with the effort the team is putting together.

"“It’s frustrating for all of us but it isn’t hard work, it’s not effort. I know we’re 1-9 but we’re not out of this by any means, said Popp we’ve got to take care of our own business. If you take care of your own business, you’ve got a much better chance.”"

You have to wonder what the future holds for Popp and the coaching staff considering what happened to Marc Trestman at the end of last season. Granted, the Argos have made strides, the results just haven’t been there and unfortunately, that is all that matters.

The team will get another chance to get past the one win mark against the struggling Ottawa Redblacks and you can bet if they don’t, the team could be looking to make some considerable change.

There has been a lot of talk about how McLeod Bethel-Thompson is putting together some impressive stat lines. He is first in the league with 16 touchdown passes but only has a 1-7 record this season to show for it.

While some might seem to have all the confidence in Bethel-Thompson as a starting quarterback, you wonder if Zach Collaros would be the starter if he was medically cleared to practice.

"“This trade was a risk-reward trade whether we’d have him for however many games this year but it’s also for the future,” Popp said about trading for Collaros. “Zach said he wants to play at least five or six more years and I think he’d love to be here in Toronto and I’ve known that.“How much can he help us this year? Will he get on the field this year versus the future? That’s day to day, week to week and we’ll see what takes place. But again, it was well worth as an organizational decision.”"

Popp is in the final year of his contract but if he brought back next season, you can bet Collaros will likely be brought back next season. Whether any of the current quarterbacks other than Collaros are back remains to be seen.

James Franklin hasn’t worked out to this point although he hasn’t really had the consistent reps either and it would tough to see him wanting to return to Toronto.

At this point, Popp has a couple of things he needs to do in the next few months. For starters, he needs to convince president Bill Manning that he is the right person to steer the team back in the right direction. If he is given the vote of approval, he needs to do what he can to keep parts of the team that are working especially Derel Walker.

This is the type of continuity that the Argos should be looking to bring with the roster but will that lead to success? If the team has faith in what they have out on the field and in Corey Chamblin then it’s a step in the right direction but if there is any doubt then this won’t work.

Next. Argos' second-half performance proves costly in Labour Day loss. dark

What do you think the Argos should do going forward? Should they hit the reset button or try to run back with the same team next season? Let us know in the comments below.

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