12 Audibles: How will Dan LeFevour do in Ricky Ray's place?

Welcome to another week of 12 Audibles, our regular look at storylines from around the CFL. This time around, we start with a look at the Argonauts' quarterback situation.

1. LeFevour Pitch: While Thursday's report that Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray had a punctured lung and would miss the rest of the season now appears slightly off, with Argos head coach Scott Milanovich saying Friday Ray has a fractured rib and had a partially deflated lung, there's still going to be a gap where Ray isn't suiting up for Toronto. Milanovich said "His health is not in jeopardy, he's four to six weeks, his season is not over," so by that, we haven't seen the last of Ray, but the Argos will have to see what they can do without him for a while. Also in that above press conference, Milanovich officially named Dan LeFevour the starter for Sunday's game, so the focus now shifts to him and what he'll be able to do.

There's no question that LeFevour has been quite capable at times. He's been in the league since joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2012 (although he didn't play that year), and he found some success with them in 2013 and 2014, even taking over the starting role for a while that latter year. However, he hasn't been able to stay healthy; an ACL tear ended his time in Hamilton, and while he went to Montreal with high hopes in the 2014-15 offseason, he dislocated his shoulder in June 2015 and missed the rest of the year. The Alouettes cut him in the offseason, and while the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought him in briefly, he wound up being cut there. That stint may have helped him get back to the CFL, though; he signed a practice-roster deal with the Argos August 8, worked his way up to the #2 spot, and now will get a chance to start. What can we expect from him?

Well, LeFevour's overall passing stats are more solid than spectacular. During his CFL career, he has 141 completions on 212 attempts (62 with Hamilton in 2013, 149 with Hamilton in 2014, one with Montreal in 2015), 66.5 per cent, for 1,670 yards. That's not too bad, but he does have only five touchdowns against six interceptions. His stats are better than some other CFL backups, but they're from a reasonably small sample size, and it's notable that he hasn't played much in years thanks to those injuries. He's also relatively new to the Argonauts' offence, as he wasn't there in training camp or the preseason and has only been with them for a month.

A big part of LeFevour's success in the past has come from his mobility and his ability to be a rushing threat, too; he ran for almost 3,000 yards in college and has 642 CFL rushing yards. Will he still have that mobility after his 2014 ACL tear? We don't know, as we haven't really seen him play much since then. LeFevour is older (29) and more experienced than your typical fill-in QB, so he seems like a better option than some teams have, and he certainly has potential, but the big questions are how well he can run Toronto's offence and if he can stay healthy (especially against Hamilton's fearsome defensive line Sunday). It's positive for the Argos that Ray may be able to come back later this year, but there's still likely to be a drop-off with him out. We'll see if there is one and how big it is. Another team hoping to avoid a drop-off is...

2. The Calgary Stampeders. Calgary delivered yet another impressive showing Monday, thumping the Eskimos 45-24 and improving to 8-1-1 on the year. The Stampeders have been the league's most consistent and dominant team this year, and they've found success in a wide variety of areas; heading into this week's games, they lead the CFL in points per game (32.3), points allowed (20.6), yards allowed per pass (7.4), opposing completion percentage (64.9), offensive touchdowns (29), sacks allowed (10), interceptions allowed (5), and yards gained per rush (5.0). They've had games where they've won thanks to passing offence, games where they've won thanks to rushing offence, and games where they've won thanks to defence. They keep finding ways to win, and it will be interesting to see if they can maintain that Saturday in Edmonton against...

3. The Eskimos. Fans in Edmonton have to be getting a little worried at this point, as the defending Grey Cup champions are just 5-5 and sit fourth in the West. Interestingly enough, their offence has been very good overall; their 296 points for (29.6 per game) are third in the league, behind just Calgary and Hamilton, they lead the CFL in first downs with 246, and they have the league's passing leader in Mike Reilly. The issues have mostly been with the defence, which has allowed 292 points (29.2 per game), ahead of only the 1-9 Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Eskimos are giving up 6.8 yards per play, third-worst in the league, and they're tied for second-worst with 8.8 yards conceded per pass. Some of that is learning a new system under defensive coordinator Mike Benevides, but the learning curve excuse only lasts so long. One of the biggest problems is that Edmonton hasn't been able to pressure or bring down quarterbacks consistently; their 18 sacks for are second-lowest in the league, again only ahead of the Riders, and their once-fearsome front four hasn't looked as good this year. They may have to try some personnel changes or blitz more to give offences other elements to worry about. It's clear that the 70.9 per cent completion rate (third-worst) and 330.6 passing yards per game allowed aren't going to get them many wins. About the only team worse in most defensive categories is...

4. Saskatchewan. The 1-9 Riders lost the Labour Day Classic for the first time in 12 years Sunday, and while there was a controversial late PI call that went against them, the loss wasn't all about that. Kicking was an issue, with Tyler Crapigna making just one of three field goals and clanking a point-after off the upright late in the game, and while Darian Durant threw for 399 yards, his two interceptions were costly. The ground game struggled too, with Kendial Lawrence only averaging 4.3 yards per carry on six carries, and the defensive problems that have haunted Saskatchewan all year were quite evident.

On the season, the Riders are last in points allowed (34.7 per game), touchdowns allowed (34), passing touchdowns allowed (24), yards allowed (410.0 per game), yards allowed per play (7.4), yards allowed per pass (9.6), opposing rushing yards (99.4 per game), sacks (14), interceptions (3) and turnovers for (12). Head coach, general manager and defensive coordinator Chris Jones doesn't appear to have been able to get the system that worked so well for him in Edmonton to work in Regina so far, and while this is still quite early in his tenure, there hasn't been a ton of progress. The last three games have seen the Riders allow 28, 33 and 53 points respectively. Part of the issue has been....

5. The massive player turnover. As Darrell Davis reports, the Riders have almost reached a CFL record despite only being halfway through the year:

That's one area where GM Jones is causing problems for HC Jones and DC Jones. It's not simple to pick up his defensive system in particular or the CFL in general (for rookies), and constantly turning over so many players is likely hurting the on-field product. Those numbers of players used are even more staggering when you consider that Jones also extensively made over the roster in the offseason. There's very little continuity left on this team, and they're still learning how to play together, much as the expansion Ottawa Redblacks were in 2014 when they went 2-16. Could it lead to eventual dividends, as it did in Ottawa with a 12-6 season last year? Sure, but that turnaround was about some skillful free agency additions, coaching changes and other offseason moves, too.

If Jones is truly building for the long term, that's great, and perhaps the players he's using now will be able to help the Riders more down the road than the ones he started the season with. It's not like the since-released or traded guys were delivering outstanding performances, either. However, you would hope to see more progress at this point in the season. Maybe Saskatchewan can find that in...

6. The Banjo Bowl. The Bombers-Riders rematch in Winnipeg is always one of the highlights of the CFL calendar (with one of the best origin stories for its name), and it's interesting to see the Bombers head in off a win in Regina for the first time in 12 years. They're 6-4, third in the West, and in playoff position as things currently stand, and they've won five games in a row. If we look at the league-wide stats, though, it's hard to conclude that they're a dominant team. On the season, they're sixth per game in both points for (25.9) and net offensive yards (356.4). Their defence has been good from a scoring standpoint, allowing just 22.9 points per game (second in the league), but they're tied for fifth in touchdowns allowed (25) and eighth in yards allowed per game (406.1). Where Winnipeg has really shone is interceptions; they have a league-high 20, nine ahead of second-place Toronto. However, turnover margin is something that's often proven highly unsustainable. Can the Bombers keep up their winning ways and charge into the playoffs? A decisive win over the basement-dwelling Riders would certainly help, as would a dominant showing from...

7. Matt Nichols. Winnipeg has been a much better team since they made the switch to Nichols as their starter, and some of his numbers are very good. He's excelled from an efficiency perspective to date, completing 71.2 per cent of his throws and tossing seven touchdowns against just one interception. However, previous starter Drew Willy had an even better efficiency mark (71.7 per cent) and has more passing yards this year (1,473 to 1,448); his downfall was tossing four interceptions against five touchdowns. Nichols has been a substantial improvement from a turnover perspective, and he's been good at giving the Bombers enough to win this year; he's also made some excellent throws. Still, he hasn't consistently put up huge passing numbers. Winnipeg might need more from him to turn into a real contender. Another Bomber to keep an eye on is...

8. Andrew Harris. After a slow start, the Canadian running back has largely turned into what Winnipeg was hoping for when they signed him in free agency, and he leads the league with 655 rushing yards. However, he's averaging just 4.6 yards per carry. Granted, much of that is about the aforementioned slow start, and he's been better in recent games (including 80 yards with a 5.3 YPC average against Saskatchewan), but he'll need to keep those efficiency numbers up for sustained Bombers' success. Along with others, though, he is showing that...

9. The run game can still matter. The CFL trend in recent years has been heavily towards the pass, and that's been particularly prominent this season, but a balanced offence can carry a lot of benefits for teams. B.C. (96.2) and Calgary (91.5) are leading the league in rushing yards per game, and they're also the top two teams in the standings. A good ground game not only produces yardage and first downs itself, it makes things easier for the quarterback by setting up second-and-shorts and forcing the defence to stack the box to guard against run plays. Other teams might do well to incorporate a little more rushing. One such team is...

10. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Hamilton has been very good when they have run, averaging 4.8 yards per carry (tied with Edmonton for second in the league), but their 138 rushing attempts on the season are second-lowest in the league, ahead of only Saskatchewan. They have an excellent back in C.J. Gable, but don't always fully utilize him; we saw that in their 49-36 comeback win over Toronto on Monday, where Gable had 135 rushing yards on just 12 carries (an astounding 11.2 yards per carry). It's understandable that they want to throw a lot given the skill of Zach Collaros and the high-percentage scheme they run, but a few more rushing plays per game might help to keep defences honest. It's certainly worked for...

11. The B.C. Lions. Heading into Friday night's game against Montreal, B.C. leads the league in rushing yards (96.2 per game) and rushing attempts (206), and is tied for fourth in gain per rush (4.7 yards). Much has been made of the Lions' defensive play (they're second in yards allowed and touchdowns allowed, and fourth in points allowed) and of the improvement of quarterback Jonathon Jennings (2,689 passing yards so far, fourth in the league), but the ground game has also been key to their 7-3 record so far. We'll see how it does against a stingy Alouettes' defence that's allowed just four rushing touchdowns and just 20 overall touchdowns (both best in the league). Speaking of Montreal, let's consider...

12. The Alouettes' off-field issues. Herb Zurkowsky's story Friday has owner Robert Wetenhall denying that the team's for sale, but it also mentions the revenue struggles Montreal has had, particularly when it comes to attendance. The attendance of 19,817 through six games this year is not promising, and it's below the 20,997 we've estimated would be needed to break even (presuming a team is succeeding in all other areas). Zurkowsky's story suggests they might be losing millions a year, and while that may be high, it's not out of the realm of plausibility. It seems promising that Wetenhall and his sons appear to want to keep the team in the family for the long run, and that they're not clearly looking to bail at this point, but an annual loss is never a good thing in any business. We'll see if the Alouettes can find new ways to attract fans and turn this thing around. A lot of that may depend if they can improve on their 3-7 on-field record, and they have a chance to do so Friday against the Lions.

Thanks for reading 12 Audibles! Stay tuned to 55-Yard Line for CFL coverage all weekend long, and come back here next week for the next installment of this column. You can also contact me with feedback on Twitter or via e-mail. Enjoy the games this weekend!