Many of the media that cover the CFL and more importantly the Toronto media are figuring out what a few of us have already figured out,. Jim Barker doesn’t like it.

Cleo Lemon is 3-2-0 as the Argos' starter.

Barker’s choice to go with Cleo Lemon as the starter for the Toronto Argonauts at the beginning of the season was questioned by people in the media and everywhere. Dalton Bell had much better numbers than Lemon in the preseason, but I can understand Barker’s reasoning for the choice.

Barker wanted to go with experience. With Lemon 31 this year and having played for four NFL teams, Barker figured there might be a learning curve for Lemon and things would get better as the season progressed.

The season may only be five games in, but everyone who has questioned Lemon is questioning again and wondering how long it’ll be until Barker makes the decision to switch it up.

Apparently all the questions Barker has been receiving about the quarterback choice have caused him to flip his lid. He continues to back his choice and it seems the more frustrated he gets, the more his pride seems to kick in. The more his pride gets in the way, the longer he may decide to go with Lemon for a little too long.

How many times have we seen the NFL go with a quarterback justifying their picks and dollars spent and ruining the season because their pride got in the way. Remember Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie? Johnson probably averaged more times being sacked than passes thrown, yet Buffalo stayed with him in spite of the fact Flutie could get the job done and didn’t get sacked.

Dalton Bell was thought by many to be the clear winner of the quarterback competition before the season began.

Bell may not be extremely experienced, but he’s been around the CFL game long enough to understand the game more than Lemon. Now, Lemon has been thrown to the wolves and not fared terribly, but he hasn’t wowed. His defence has done extremely well and actually won two of those three wins for the Argos. So, even though Lemon is 3-2-0 as a starter, I have to wonder how many more wins the Argos will get this season. They’re is still a chance for another 3-15 season.

Now Jim Barker is a smart guy and he has an eye for talent, but coaching has not really been his strong suit. He is very loyal and trusting, but I wonder how much that loyalty is factoring into his decision here. To be honest, I don’t really even know why Barker is so hung up on Lemon. His career stats aren’t spectacular and other than “life” experience, Lemon hasn’t been the go to guy that should garner that much confidence.

In college, Lemon set school records for attempts, completions, passing yards and touchdowns. When you look closer you see that he threw 1,128 attempts and completed only 48% of them. He did have 48 touchdowns, but threw 33 interceptions. Even his best season in college his pass completion percentage was only 47%.

His NFL experience wasn’t any better as he only started eight games in three years. His percentage moved up to 55%, but he still threw seven interceptions to his eight touchdowns. Most of his time was with the Dolphins over two years and they were one of the worst teams in NFL history as they only won one game in 2007.

Lemon hasn’t had much luck in the teams he has ended up with, but he has also never used those opportunities to turn those teams into winning teams. This year’s Argos may not be the worst team in CFL history and Lemon still isn’t the factor that is causing them to win.

The Argonauts may not have deserved some of the wins they got so far, but a lopsided loss to the Alouettes last week showed them they have a long way to go before they will compete for the East.

Part of the problem Barker is having is that he’s not even using Bell to push Lemon. Bell has only thrown six passes this year and the longer he sits on the sideline without serious game action, the longer it may take to shake off the rust if his number is called.

If Barker is having trouble swallowing his pride and admitting that Lemon isn’t the quarterback he thought he could be, losses will pile up and team confidence could be shaken to a point where this potential shown this season goes right down the toilet.

Even though he was out played by Dalton Bell, you decided to name Cleo Lemon the starting quarterback anyway Jimmy.

Dear Jim Barker,

I write to you concerning your shocking decision to name Cleo Lemon as the starting quarterback of the Toronto Argonauts instead of Dalton Bell.

Before we get in to that, let’s backtrack a little bit Jimmy. Oh, is it OK if I call you Jimmy? Anyway, I was never a fan of your hiring in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, the Argonauts made the right choice in firing Bart Andrus – who guided the team to a 3-15 record in 2009 – but I thought there were better candidates out there.

I strongly felt that Scott Milanovich, who has been a very successful offensive coordinator in Montreal, would have gladly become the new head coach if Toronto had offered him a reasonable contract.

Still, I was eager to see just what you would do to turn the team around.

I am not sure how much of an impact you had on every decision, but soon after you arrival the Argonauts made some big moves. The team got rid of all of the quarterbacks on the roster. This was a move I could live with, though having no pivot on the roster hardly inspires confidence.

A move I wasn’t so thrilled about was the decision not to bring back Jamal Robertson. Robertson was Toronto’s only offensive threat last season Jimmy. He pounded out 1,031 rushing yards last season and nine touchdowns. Furthermore, the move left your team without a solid running threat.

Even though I didn’t agree with all of the moves, Jimmy, at least you seemed to have a plan in place to rebuild the team your way. You wanted to start over with a new quarterback and running back. To your credit, Toronto did add talented slot back Jeremaine Copeland.

But Jimmy, I lost all respect for you when you decided to anoint Lemon as your starting quarterback.

A move like that makes me realize why you went 5-13 as the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders in 2003.

During Toronto’s training camp, in which the quarterback battle seemed to take centre stage, three main contenders emerged: Bell, Lemon and Ken Dorsey. It was clear, Jimmy, that you were rooting for Lemon, as you compared him to “Henry Burris”, but it was also reported that Bell and Dorsey didn’t do too bad either.

Then, preseason rolled along and upon its conclusion the decision of who should be the starting quarterback should have been clear to you.

In the first game, a 13-10 victory over the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Dorsey and Bell both put up good numbers. Bell went 7/10 for 94 yards and Dorsey went 8/17 for 96 yards and an interception.

Lemon, on the other hand, stunk up the joint. He went 3/10 for 41 yards.

How you didn’t cut Lemon at this point was amazing Jimmy. Kent Smith, a hopeful quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders who saw time in the first preseason game, went 2/12 for 32 yards and was subsequently released. That must be some love affair you and Lemon have got going.

Then, in the second preseason game, a 31-23 loss to Toronto, it was clear the competition was centered on Lemon and Bell, the only two quarterbacks who played for the Argonauts. Bell was very solid, going 11/15 for 247 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. Lemon improved from the first game, which wasn’t hard to do. He went 7/16 for 58 yards and an interception.

Just for fun, Jimmy, let’s look at both Lemon’s and Bell’s total preseason stats.

Bell: 18/26 for 341 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Lemon: 10/26 for 99 yards and one interception.

I got to say, Jimmy, that’s a pretty close call…

While about 95% of CFL fans thought Bell would be named the starter after this game, you didn’t seem so sure in the post-game interviews. You were quick to point out that Bell played against Montreal’s second-string defenders and Lemon made some good throws.

Soon after, you named Lemon the starter.

All I can say is, after looking at how poorly Lemon played in the preseason, he must be one hell of a practice quarterback. I am talking about a guy who throws effortless 60-yard spirals play after play.

Seriously, Jimmy, your stubbornness was really surprising. You obviously put a lot of stock into Lemon and weren’t willing to admit your mistake, even when Bell completely outplayed Lemon during the preseason. Lemon is not the quarterback to turn your team’s sinking ship around. Bell has more CFL experience and seems ready for the job.

Of course, this is only my opinion Jimmy. Maybe Lemon will turn out to be a fine starter. If that’s the case, feel free to send me an email at roughriderfreek@hotmail.com and rub it in my face. I won’t be expecting an email…

To leave off, I would like to wish you the best of luck in this new season Jimmy. You’ll need it. Your Argonauts look terrible on paper and will likely be in for a rough season. As for you Jimmy, well, you are the fourth head coach of this team in two years. Don’t get too comfortable.

Yours truly,
Jonathan Hamelin

Jonathan Hamelin is an aspiring journalist, who has a freelance contract with the Regina Leader-Post and is a veteran online CFL columnist. He can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Dalton Bell has sat on the practice squad, held the clipboard on the sidelines and bounced around from team to team during his professional football career.

However, the 27-year-old pivot looks to have finally found something that has eluded him his entire professional career, the starting job.

After his strong play in the Toronto Argonauts’ two preseason games – in which he was 18/26 for 341 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions – Bell should have secured the starting job. His biggest competition appears to be Cleo Lemon, who really impressed head coach Jim Barker during training camp. So much so, that Barker compared Lemon to Henry Burris.

Dalton Bell is poised to become a starting quarterback for the first time in his professional career.

What didn’t impress Barker so much was Lemon’s play in preseason. He went 10/26 for 99 yards and one interception. Ken Dorsey also had a decent showing in Toronto’s first preseason game, but didn’t see playing time in the second game.

Before this season, it seemed improbable that Bell would ever be a professional starting quarterback.

In college, Bell was a star with West Texas State A&M. He threw for 7,841 yards and 63 touchdown during his college career, guiding the Buffalo to back-to-back Lone Star Conference championships and a 20-4 record in his two seasons as a starter.

After college, Bell tried his luck with the NFL, but came no where close to landing a starting job. He signed with the Green Bay Packers in 2007 and was quickly released. The next year, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks and spent the majority of the time on the practice roster before being released that same year.

Bell next turned to the CFL, signing on with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2008. Once again, he was never in position to earn the starting job. At best, he was a third string quarterback with the team.

This could have been the end of Bell’s starting aspirations. He could have merely played out the rest his career on Saskatchewan’s bench or have been released.

But then, on Bell’s birthday (March 9, 2010), he was traded to the Toronto Argonauts for a fifth round draft pick in 2010 CFL draft. This could turn out to be the best move in his career.

In Toronto, a feat that had once seemed improbable suddenly became probable.

Bell couldn’t have landed in a better spot to try to become a starting quarterback. Toronto was a wreck after a 3-15 season. Management had cleaned house in the off-season, releasing all of the team’s quarterback from 2009.

Bell would be competing against Dorsey, Lemon, Gibran Hamdan and Canadian Danny Brannagan for the job.

Bell had a good shot in the beginning, being the only quarterback with any kind of CFL experience. His luck quickly improved again when Hamdan retired. Brannagan was never a serious contender for the position and Bell helped himself by out performing Lemon and Dorsey in preseason.

If he does get the starting job in Toronto, Bell has no easy task ahead of him. Toronto scored under 20 points a game last season. Furthermore, they averaged only 82 rush yards a game and threw for only 229 yards a game.

The team hasn’t made the playoffs for the last two seasons.

The running game appears to be in rough shape again this season. Toronto let go of solid running back Jamal Robertson in the off-season, meaning it will likely be an inexperienced running back getting the start. Though, Cory Boyd shows promise – he ran for 147 yards and a touchdown in Toronto’s second preseason game.

The passing game has potential for Toronto. Jeremaine Copeland, Chad Lucas and Reggie McNeal are inviting targets. All they need is a quarterback to get the ball to them.

Could Bell get the job done?

Welcome to the big stage Bell, it is time to see how ready you actually are.