Zach Collaros’ bad Mock Game means panic, but not quite yet

Published: Tuesday, May 28th 2019, 2:05pm
Don’t Panic Yet RiderNation, But Be Ready To
By Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD)
If starting Quarterback Zach Collaros’ day at the annual Green and White mock game means anything, it’s that the panic on how the offence will perform is completely warranted.
Collaros struggled and went 1/10 (unofficially) while backups Cody Fajardo, David Watford and Isaac Harker all showed much better. ONE FOR TEN!! This is a dink and dunk offense, a ball control offence and he couldn’t come CLOSE to being 50%!
Is it time to panic? No. Let’s hold off on that… for now. Can we at least wait to see what he does in a proper game first? Who knows what kind of reps he will take on Friday in Calgary for the first preseason game (we are told we will find out Wednesday) and we don’t even know if he will play to begin with.
Based on what happened to him last year in the preseason, there’s absolutely zero chance I would play Collaros unless ALL the #1 offense is there with him. O-Line, RB, WRs, ALL of come into them.
We know that Collaros is the game 1 starter. Does he need the reps with his team against starters of other teams? Yep, it appears he needs all he can get, but we need to protect him at all costs. I wouldn’t give him more than a series before I give Fajardo some time with the starters.
The fact that he struggled big time in a mock game… (A MOCK GAME!!!) is big time cause for concern. I don’t care that the right reads were made, I only care about execution. If he doesn’t get this figured by June 13th, THEN we can panic.
Like I said, this is a dink and dunk offense. It isn’t extravagant by any means. Hitches, screens, short outs, dump offs… it’s not exciting and EXTREMELY predictable, but you have to execute the basic of passes. Opposing defenses are going to show NO respect to this offence if this becomes the norm.
Don’t panic yet, but if Collaros has bad preseason reps over the next two weeks, time to hit the button.
Don’t forget to check out episode 115 of the Piffles Podcast and remember that from now until the end of the season we go weekly! Episode 116 presented by Dairy Queen on Elphinstone and Sask Drive in Regina will be out Wednesday night and we will chat with special guest Rod Pedersen about his new Facebook show!
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