Will Kerry Joseph's return to the Roughriders accomplish anything more than just nostalgia?

The Saskatchewan Roughriders may not have Darian Durant, who led them to the Grey Cup last season, back from injury just yet, but they're bringing in the quarterback who won the team's previous Grey Cup. That would be Kerry Joseph, who was a key part of Saskatchewan's 2007 Grey Cup victory. However, while Joseph has a lot of CFL experience with the Ottawa Renegades, the Roughriders, the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos, and while he has found success in Rider green before, he's 41, hasn't played in the CFL since 2013 with Edmonton (where he didn't see much action), and officially retired earlier this year. He might bethe oldest Roughrider ever, too, if far from the oldest CFLer (even just amongst quarterbacks, Damon Allen played until 43, while Anthony Calvillo played until 41). While Joseph was a key figure for Saskatchewan in 2007, will signing him actually boost the Riders' quarterback situation this year?

If they get the Joseph who played in 2013, he probably won't be much help as a starter. Last year, Joseph didn't play much, but when he did, he wasn't effective, completing just 18 of 34 passing attempts (52.9 per cent) for 247 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was involved in several failed pitches and short-yardage sneaks, too. Joseph's 2013 was certainly better than the 3-for-9 showing (with three interceptions) Seth Doege turned in Friday against Calgary, but Doege is young and may still have potential for the future. Moreover, the Riders already have a quarterback in Tino Sunseri who can probably give them better numbers than what Joseph did last year. Joseph isn't a long-term solution in any case, but if he plays at his 2013 level, he won't even be a useful potential starter.

However, if Joseph's able to turn back the clock to some of his better years, this might work out. Even his 2012 showing wasn't awful; 2,187 passing yards, a 60.2 per cent completion rating and 12 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. That year looked bad by comparison, as the Eskimos had just traded Ricky Ray that offseason, but those kind of numbers would be a respectable veteran performance, and maybe an upgrade over what the Riders have without Durant.

It's notable that Joseph hasn't really found substantial success since he was traded from Saskatchewan to Toronto, though (and that trade came in the 2007-08 offseason, after he was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player and after he led the Riders to the Grey Cup, suggesting the organization wasn't even all that high on his long-term potential at the time). He struggled with the Argonauts for two seasons, then wound up in Edmonton midway through 2010, and although he eventually wound up doing okay there, his play was far from superstar level. Even his 2007 season shows some weaknesses in retrospect; yes, he threw for 4,002 yards and tossed 24 touchdowns against eight interceptions, posting a career-best 97.1 quarterback rating, but his 58.2 per cent completion rate was low by CFL standards. That helps to explain why Eric Tillman traded him (and got some pretty good players in return) in the following offseason. If Joseph can somehow deliver 2007 form, fantastic, but even that form had some problems.

Joseph's biggest impact may come as a mentor and as an extra option, though, and he could be valuable there. He knows plenty about playing quarterback in the CFL (this will be his 11th season in the league) and plenty about football in general. After a college career at McNeese State, he had some NFL tryouts, went to NFL Europe as a quarterback initially, came back to try the NFL as a slotback with Washington, went back to NFL Europe, came back and played safety in the NFL for Seattle for four years before getting cut and heading to Ottawa as a quarterback. Having him around could help young quarterbacks like Sunseri and Doege in their attempts to acclimatize to the CFL.

Moreover, Doege in particular has shown he isn't game-ready at this point in time. Joseph might be a better replacement if Sunseri goes down or is ineffective, and having him around could be valuable despite Durant's plans to return in the last part of the regular season. If Durant has a setback or if he gets hurt again, quarterback depth could be valuable for the Roughriders. Unless he's really turned back the clock, though, it seems highly unlikely Joseph will be an effective starter this season.