The 2013 Canadian Football League season hasn't even started yet, but there is no doubt in my mind that I will hear some "bright" Saskatchewan Roughrider fan yell 'throw in Drew Willy' after Darian Durant's first questionable pass of the year.
The backup quarterback is, after all, most Roughrider fans' favourite player. Every game I have been to, I have heard someone yell for the backup QB at least once during the game. It doesn't matter whether Durant, or past starters, has played a perfect or poor game, they want to see what other guy can do.
That begs the question - what would happen if these uneducated Roughrider fans sat in Brendan Taman's chair and played general manager? Well let's take a look at what the facts suggest.
Durant's 3,878 passing yards sat sixth in the CFL last year behind the Hamilton Tiger Cats' Henry Burris (5,367), the Montreal Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo (5,082), the B.C. Lions' Travis Lulay (4,231), the Calgary Stampeders' Kevin Glenn (4,220), and the Toronto Argonauts' Rick Ray (4,059).
The Florence, SC., native's passing percentage of 64.4 sat fifth in that group of six. Durant edged Calvillo by 4.4 per cent and sat just .3 per cent behind Burris for fourth spot.
As for interceptions, Durant threw less than Burris, Calvillo, and Glenn, but two more than Lulay and one more than Ray. So it seems the 30-year-old is better than average for avoiding throwing the ball to the other team.
In Willy's rookie season, he averaged a better passing percentage than Durant - 72.6. But if he would have went on to throw more than 95 balls, it undoubtedly would have went down. He did, after all, best Burris, Lulay, Ray, Calvillo, and Glenn as well. Precedents clearly suggest that wouldn't have stood up over 300-plus passes.
Willy's touchdown - interception ratio of 5-4 wasn't too hot to say the least. It doesn't exactly stand up next to Durant's 20-12 ratio. But no different than his passing percentage ratio, it's a small sample. Because of Willy's little playing time, you can't take it with more than a grain of salt.
Throwing the ball is only half of Durant's story, though. The numbers clearly show he is one the best running quarterbacks in the league. The 5-foot-11, 214-pounder ran the ball 32 times last year for 342 yards, averaging 10.7 yards a rush.
Lulay (477) and Burris (343) did rush for more yards. Durant, however, blew them out of the water is yards-per rush. Lulay averaged 7.3 yards a carry; Burris averaged 7.6.
Durant and Lulay fumbled the ball three times. Burris, meanwhile, fumbled the ball a whopping 11 times.
Therefore, based the numbers, Durant and Lulay are easily the top running quarterbacks in the league. There is a strong argument that Durant has the edge on Lulay since he averaged 3.4 more yards a carry. But you have to remember Lulay averaged 1.6 more yards a carry the year before. So it's unfair to say Durant is clearly the best running quarterback because of how close their averages have been in past years.
Surprisingly, Willy rushed the ball once more than Durant last year for 33 carries. He only accumulated 115 yards though, averaging 3.5 yards a carry, which sits 7.2 less yards a carry than Durant.
All that said, the Roughriders know exactly what they have in Durant. He is definitely not the top quarterback in the league, but he's easily in the top-6, and with Calvillo's age and Burris' fumble and interception issues, you could make a strong argument that he's in the top-4.
Willy, meanwhile, could very well be the better quarterback in the long run. As of now though, he is unproven. There is nothing to suggest Willy has a better shot of winning a game than Durant other than a whim and a prayer.
