Why would I start Buck? Because if he fails its easier for Lulay to step in. Its also easier to pull Buck if he is not moving the offence than it would be to pull Lulay. Secondly I know our record of going with or overusing a rusty quarterback in the playoffs.
Why will Lulay start? Because he won a Grey Cup for us in 2011, had a good season in 2012 and because he is our #1 starter if healthy. I would rather take the pressure off starting him. He is often a slow starter in games when he is not rusty. Buck has played well in his last two games. The risk is lower to start Buck and then insert Lulay if Buck is not hot.
But I realize there will be different views.
Here is a Province article which looks at the topic and incorporates Matt Dunigan's thoughs on the subject.
Lulay not fragile nor frustrated by pundits
TSN’s Matt Dunigan doesn’t think the Lions’ QB is ready for playoff action, but Travis Lulay begs to disagree
By Lowell Ullrich, The Province November 5, 2013 7:04 PM
He came. He threw. He didn’t wince. He didn’t look fragile.
Travis Lulay will not ever win over everyone who follows the B.C. Lions nor attempt to do so, but he won over his team again last week and Tuesday made even more of an impression on his coach as the CFL team began to get serious for their West Division playoff final date against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
If it was up to a former Lions legend like Matt Dunigan, the move as to who should start at quarterback Sunday would be to go first with Buck Pierce, then to Thomas DeMarco.
Dunigan said on Team 1040 this week that Lulay was still fragile, unable to make the throws necessary against a dominant Saskatchewan defensive front.
The TSN analyst also wrote at the network’s website that his arm wasn’t nearly 100 per cent, though he could envision a scenario whereby Lulay came off the bench, as he did Friday against the Calgary Stampeders.
But start? According to Dunigan, that should be Pierce, the same quarterback that he suggested in 2012 — when Pierce was with Winnipeg — who should consider retirement.
“I believe (Lulay’s) not ready,” Dunigan wrote. “It’s one thing to make some throws during practice with no setbacks, and it’s one thing to complete three passes and score a touchdown in a real game without a hand being laid on you, but it’s a totally different ball game when asked to make all the throws on the field and take real football shots from an angry Rider Nation defence looking to punish an already wonky throwing shoulder any chance they get.”
But when the work week began, Lulay was first to take offensive reps and didn’t show any signs of stress on his throwing shoulder.
A quarterback who didn’t need motivation to make his first start in almost two months looked like a guy who had just been handed another boost when the Lions had just finished their first workout of the week at B.C. Place Stadium.
“I don’t know what I would have said to give him that impression,” said Lulay of a conversation he had with Dunigan.
“Do I need to prove my toughness? Don’t listen to the pundits. It was another positive step today.”
Indeed, if coach Mike Benevides was leaning toward giving Pierce the start Sunday, the quarterback whose skill set is the basis of the offensive scheme has made it a more formidable decision.
But the Lions have clearly reached playoff mode, where truth is often the first casualty, and even if Benevides has determined the 13 plays Lulay had last week against Calgary was enough to convince him to go back to his leader, he wasn’t saying.
“If you were honest with yourself, it was a small sample size (against Calgary) but he was able to draw together our team, made a deep throw and a play in the end zone,” Benevides said after watching Lulay and Pierce divide reps, which has been the norm among Lions quarterbacks for some time.
“To see him be emotional, that’s important because let’s understand something: him being out there is a tremendous boost. I don’t seem him as being fragile at all.”
But the quarterbacking scenario won’t be finalized until after the Lions hold a closed practice Thursday, and may not be the only move made by a team which is about to play the Riders for the fourth time in less than two months.
B.C. had to practice Tuesday with Korey Williams replacing fellow receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux, who was slowed by a leg issue in the Lions’ last game. Defensive lineman Keron Williams, on the other hand, wore a scout team jersey for a brief stretch, though fellow defensive starters Korey Banks and Josh Bell had returned.
“I’m 100 per cent healthy,” said Williams, and as such expects to play Sunday.
So too does Lulay, even if that does not produce a universally positive reaction.
lullrich@theprovince.com
