THE CANADIAN PRESS
The next is now for the Canadian Football League behind centre.
Bo Levi Mitchell and Zach Collaros both took their teams to the Grey Cup in their first full season as starting quarterbacks.
Trevor Harris looks in control of the Toronto’s offence, with Ricky Ray injured.
Even Rakeem Cato has impressed in his first three games as a starter, locking down a 2-1 record including wins over the aforementioned Mitchell and Collaros.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Drew Willy would love to be a part of that next group of quarterbacks that will threaten the records of those that have come before them.
Tonight, he and Bo Levi Mitchell will square off in Calgary in a game that will preview a quarterback duel that could be featured in the CFL for years to come.
“Bo does a good job, he can make all the throws, he’s a good leader from what I hear,” Willy says as he prepares for their Week 4 matchup.
“I have a lot of respect for him, obviously, winning a Grey Cup in his first full year as a starter you give a lot of respect from him and that organization.”
For Willy, his first full year as a starter ended in disappointment, all while showing tremendous promise that he could be among the next ones.
It cemented that after living in the shadow of Darian Durant in Riderville for two seasons, Willy made the right decision to go somewhere else and take control of an offence all to his own. He knew that wouldn’t happen in Saskatchewan so in the winter of 2014 the Riders helped him by trading his rights to Winnipeg where he’d solidify his spot as the number one guy in Blue and Gold.
“It’s one of those things you dream of as a younger player to be the starting quarterback of a Grey Cup or any kind of a championship team.”
– Drew Willy
“Me personally, yeah, I wanted to become a starter and I felt like Winnipeg was my best opportunity to do that and I love being here and I think we’re striving to become one of the best teams in the league, but I know it’s going to take time.”
How much time is uncertain as the Bombers ride a 2-1 record into Calgary to face the defending Grey Cup Champions.
Willy knows that in order to put ‘Grey Cup Championship MVP’ on his resume, like Bo Levi Mitchell has been able to do in his short tenure as starter of the Stampeders, he needs to be a lot more consistent.
“When you’re a first-year starter you’ll have the ups and downs and you realize it is a marathon season so you don’t want to get too high, you don’t want to get too low. Even talking to Darian in the off-season, he was just telling me when you have a game that you’re not really happy with you just have to flush it,” admits Willy.
“It’s really one of those things you have to have a short memory or even when you play great and have three or four touchdowns, the next week is the next week and you have to get ready for that new defence.”
Willy prides himself on being a member of the Riders’ 2013 Grey Cup Championship team and the knowledge he was able to take with him from the limited games he did get to throw the ball to Weston Dressler or Chris Getzlaf, but he also relishes the relationships he was able to form, like the one with Durant.
And while he looks at that ring with pride, getting one of his own would be that much more special.
“It’s one of those things you dream of as a younger player to be the starting quarterback of a Grey Cup or any kind of a championship team, even when you’re a little kid, and that’s something that I’m striving to do every single day.”
On Saturday, Willy and the Bombers get to size themselves up against the defending Grey Cup Champs in Calgary but for the Bombers starter he’ll be looking to out duel the Grey Cup MVP in their first real head to head matchup.
“You’re a competitor so you always want to do well against the other opponent. You always want to compete against the best in the league and whether it’s at the quarterback position or receiver you just want to win that battle, whatever it is. For me it’s looking at competing against their defence but at the same time when you see him make a good play you want to go out there and match it.”
Willy knows that deep down you can make all the plays you want but winning is all that matters. And for he and the other next gen quarterbacks starting to take the league by storm, winning will define if and how they’ll be remembered when it’s time for them to pass the torch.
“You definitely want to be one of the greats and one of the legends and build your legacy and the easiest way to get that done is by winning and obviously when you’re winning all the other things, the awards and the statistics will come with that.”
Drew Willy has put the work in this off-season to take that next step and gets an early indication on Saturday to see if that work has his Bombers that much closer to being the championship calibre team they want to be.
