Ottawa Redblacks name CFL rookie Bryson Barnes starting QB against Toronto Argonauts

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The Ottawa Redblacks have named CFL rookie Bryson Barnes as the starting quarterback for the Week 20 game against the Toronto Argonauts.

“I want to give him start, see what Bryson’s got. I feel like he’s ready for this at this stage,” head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie confirmed to the media on Wednesday.

“I’m super excited, just grateful for this opportunity,” Barnes said. “Season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, and I’m just excited that I’m able to get my opportunity to go play. I’m just excited to go out there with the guys and go play ball.”

Barnes has dressed for 14 regular-season games in his first year in the CFL. The 25-year-old has completed 10-of-13 passes for 110 yards while rushing 41 times for 95 yards and nine touchdowns.

“Early in his career, young kid. There’s going to be some ups and downs. Obviously, we’ve got to shrink the package a little bit and do things that he’s comfortable with,” Dinwiddie said.

“(He gives us) an opportunity to use his legs. I think he’s a good runner. He’s obviously done short-yardage package, but when things break down protection-wise, he can go scramble and move the chains with his legs as far as that. But he also can stand the pocket, and we can get some scramble yards, which you can see across this league is a big, big deal. I think in Montreal, you look at Davis (Alexander); he does a great job with that, and Bryson can add that to our package. Look forward to seeing that.”

Despite limited first-team reps, Barnes believes that he has a built-in rapport with Ottawa’s starting receivers.

“I can already feel the chemistry going on out there at practice, because when you’re in the back, you’re able to see the way dudes run routes and really get a feel for the way they move and how they create space versus certain coverages and defenders,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of me taking those notes that I’ve had in the back and applying them to what I see when I’m taking the snap. It’s the same thing as being able to apply what I’ve learned in the past and applying it to it now.”

Barnes finished his NCAA career at Utah State University. The Milford, Utah native completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,804 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions over 10 games, while rushing for 790 yards and five touchdowns. He previously played at the University of Utah, where he completed 60.1 percent of his passes for 2,025 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions over 24 games and rushed for 391 yards plus three scores.

The six-foot-one, 213-pound passer attended rookie minicamp with the Cleveland Browns in May, before arriving in Ottawa.

“He came into camp. He was like six days late, so we threw him into the wolves right away. He handled that in camp. Just continues to grow,” Dinwiddie recalled. “He studies. He’s in there with the other two quarterbacks. They’re here till 3:30, 4 o’clock every day, studying, going through the plans.”

The Redblacks began the season with Jake Maier as their starting quarterback after he supplanted incumbent Dru Brown in training camp. Through 12 starts, he completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,139 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. McLeod Bethel-Thompson has started the past four games, connecting on 62 percent of his throws for 1,553 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions.

“McLeod and Jake, they’ve been great for me. I couldn’t have asked for two better dudes to be there for me in the room, kind of lead me along and teach me the ways up here. I’m super grateful for those two for really leading me and teaching me throughout this entire process,” Barnes said.

“(They’ve taught me) how to handle things up here, and the navigation of teams and certain scenarios. This year, the season hasn’t gone the way we’ve wanted, and then I’ve also got experiences of when they’ve been on good teams and what those experiences have been like. I’ve learned both the things not necessarily associated with football, and then into the football, the X’s and O’s, and just different things like that, schematics, games they’ve played and experiences they’ve had on the field. Just about everything you can really imagine.”

Ottawa has yet to win a game this year, setting new CFL records for the worst start to a season (0-16) and the most consecutive defeats (22). They have two games remaining to avoid becoming the only winless team in CFL history.

“It’s important (to win), but I think the biggest thing and my approach going into the game is to just go one play at a time and try to win each play, and then whatever the score ends up, the score is going to end up the way it’s supposed to,” Barnes said. “I have a good feeling that if we go out there on offence and we win each and every rep, then that’s going to put us in a great position for success.”

“We’ve just got to make sure we play to his strengths,” Dinwiddie added. “I know he’s going to have some nerves. I don’t want him to be overwhelmed, but he’s here for a reason. If we’re going to have a mistake out there, just reload and fight back for the next drive.”

The Redblacks (0-16) will host the Toronto Argonauts (9-7) on Friday, October 16, at 7:00 p.m. EDT.