Lost in the chatter over deflated balls and preseason injuries this year has been, I think, one of the most fascinating stories of the NFL offseason: The way the Toronto Blue Jays have quietly built a team destined to soar or spectacularly implode.
For all the talk about how Chip Kelly’s unorthodox offseason moves will reveal him this season as either a genius or a lunatic, Kelly’s Eagles pale in comparison to the Blue Jays when it comes to unusual roster construction. Head coach John Gibbons has eschewed conventional football wisdom on the importance of selecting a single starting quarterback, and has openly stated that he will have as many as many as five “starters” throwing the ball this season, with numerous backups also expected to see significant reps.
This quintet of starting passers will need to find at least one reliable receiving threat, but none has emerged in the preseason. The Blue Jays lack elite size on the outside, with 6-foot-tall wideouts Jose Bautista and Ben Revere, and 5-foot-9 slot receiver Kevin Pillar manning the slot. In the red zone, the Blue Jays will look to similarly undersized tight end Troy Tulowitzki to take pressure off their questionable short-yardage run game. But on longer fields, look out for electrifying running back Josh Donaldson, who tallied an incredible 37 runs of 120 yards or more last year.
Defensively, the Blue Jays love to hit hard and hit often, but last year were frequently caught with anywhere from nine players on the field to just one. They’ll have to cut down on these unforced mental mistakes to hang with the many big-play threats they’ll face in the NFC East. Weak side linebacker Edwin Encarnacion has made strides in camp, and the team hopes to see him finally add some bite to a pass rush that, last year, did not record a single quarterback sack.
The Blue Jays are difficult to project due to their unusual and untested style of play, but if everything comes together, they could challenge the Cowboys for the division title. At the very least, they should be a lot of fun to watch.
This post features original art by make it snow.
Only 4 more potential chances this year to see the Joey Bats/Darren O’Day cage match. Fingers crossed.
Best DFO post yet. Love it. And not just because I’m drunk after my fanyasy football draft.
I missed this earlier today, but job well done, sir
If they go up against that Kansas City squad in the playoffs there will be a shitload of fireworks.
I’ll watch.
Canadian fireworks aren’t too flashy and have a faint aroma of maple.
Canadian fireworks will hold the door open and smile at you if you’re not careful.
This isn’t even the best part about the football BJs. Marcus Stroman is returning on Saturday, which has led to the past 5 days of Toronto–er, I mean “National” sports media circle jerking each other because a guy who has won 10 straight MVP awards, including shutting out his opponents 50 times and scoring 997 times in one season, is coming back from a major surgery 4 months too soon is a sign that the Bluejays will never lose again and will win the World Series. At least, that’s who is being implied to returning on Saturday.
Please let losing 2 out of 3 to the Sawx mean that the hot streak is over and the law of averages will correct things…
The Blue Jays really should have come up with their own field design instead of copying the “dirt square” one the Raiders use. I’ll give them this much, though; they’re employing a new ball design that’s impossible to deflate.
I thought that previews for NFL teams that aren’t actually real NFL teams was a one-off thing.