With Bo Levi Mitchell and Drew Willy hurt, the state of CFL quarterbacking might get worse

The state of the CFL's quarterbacks wasn't looking good when Darian Durant and Travis Lulay went down last week, and the injuries to Bo Levi Mitchell and Drew Willy Saturday night could make that worse. If they're out for any length of time, that means four of the league's nine teams would be without their starting quarterback down the stretch. Throw in the other quarterback injuries we've seen this year and the general struggles of passing offences across the league, and it may turn out to be truly an annus horribilis for CFL quarterback play.

Before Saturday night, Mitchell and Willy were two of the only four opening-day starters to start every game for their team this season. (The others are Toronto's Ricky Ray and Ottawa's Henry Burris.) All five other teams have had quarterback issues, with Hamilton losing first Zach Collaros and then Dan LeFevour, Edmonton briefly losing Mike Reilly, B.C. forced to rely on Kevin Glenn thanks to Lulay's slow recovery, then having to go back to Glenn once Lulay was hurt again, Saskatchewan starting Tino Sunseri now Durant's gone and Montreal eventually putting Troy Smith on the injured list (although whether that was thanks purely to injury is debateable). Collaros and Reilly are back now, but that's still a laundry list of injured quarterbacks, and one that doesn't bode well for the league.

Keep in mind that passing offence was down dramatically across the CFL even before these last couple of weeks' injuries. It seems unlikely that's going to get any better with four of the nine teams now missing their preferred starters. Of course, Calgary might be in a better position to survive the loss than most teams, as their backup is Drew Tate, who started the season for them last year and has been very good when healthy. B.C. also isn't terribly hurt; Glenn is a proven CFL starter, and he did a great job for them Saturday against Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers might be in trouble, though, as they had to go to second-year CFL man Brian Brohm (who didn't even record a stat last year) once Willy went down, and he didn't look effective. The Riders also could be facing issues, as second-year CFL Tino Sunseri didn't look good Sunday against Hamilton.

We'll see if the Mitchell and Willy injuries prove to be minor, or if they wind up being more serious. Either way, those will likely have an effect on not just the Stampeders and Bombers, but on the CFL as a whole. This is still a quarterback-centric league, and losing top quarterbacks could dramatically effect the quality of play. If some or all of Tate, Brohm, Glenn and Sunseri step up, maybe there won't be much of a difference. Otherwise, though, passing offence might continue to plunge.