HAMILTON — Zach Collaros’ first season as a CFL starting quarterback was head and shoulders above expectations for any first-year starter, but signs point to 2014 as just the beginning.
Kent Austin offered no shortage of praise for the 26-year-old Steubenville, Ohio native and he didn’t even have to mention the quarterback’s poise and leadership in leading the team to a Grey Cup appearance last season.
The third-year head coach and General Manager broke down a quarterback’s development in three basic parts during a pre-training camp media conference call on Tuesday, adding that Collaros has shown ample improvement in all three areas over the span of a calendar year.
If Collaros can continue to improve in the areas of decision-making, accuracy and toughness (not only physical but mental), Austin added, Collaros has nowhere near reached his ceiling.
“I knew he was very bright because of the due diligence that we did, but he’s actually brighter than I anticipated in his ability to pick up our offence and understand the nature of what we do.”
– Head Coach and General Manager Kent Austin
“The three priorities that we evaluate in that position are, one, decision making: The ability to make great decisions as a quarterback to put our offence in a position to be successful and to put the ball in the end zone,” started Austin.
“Two, accuracy: Being able to throw the ball accurately under all given situations, whether you’ve got a great pocket or the pocket is collapsing on you, it’s flushed – whatever the situation is, can you deliver accurate passes to your receivers?”
“And third is toughness,” he concluded. “Are you a tough quarterback? Are you mentally, physically tough? Typically what you find is a quarterback that’s mentally tough is usually physically tough; they tend to go hand-in-hand.”
Collaros showed improvement in all three of these traits throughout 2014, shrugging off an early-season injury and getting hot at the right time to lead his team to both a division title and a Grey Cup appearance. He threw for more than 3,000 yards, completed 65.8 per cent of his passes and compiled a passer rating of 91.9 in his first year as a Tiger-Cat.
Another off-season has already seemingly paid dividends, at least according to Austin, considered by many a quarterback guru.
“Zach, you could see in OTAs his understanding of the offence,” said Austin. “His decision-making was quicker. It was at a higher execution level, meaning that his decisions were more proper. We evaluate that every practice: What was the percentage of proper decisions made in the passing game? Those types of things.”
“He was executing at a much faster, quicker pace than he was at this time last year,” Austin continued. “That’s just general familiarity with the offence and a comfort level with understanding what we’re asking him to do – just constant repetition within the offence.”
The Ticats signed Collaros as a free agent last off-season after he was groomed behind Argos starting quarterback Ricky Ray. There, he started to earn praise and even some comparisons by fans to Doug Flutie, at least in his style of play, after leading the Argos to a team record-setting 4-0 record in four consecutive road games while Ray sat out injured.
Collaros compiled a 98.4 quarterback rating and started in 10 games throughout the 2013 season, throwing 14 touchdowns to just six interceptions and becoming a hot commodity among emerging young quarterbacks.
Austin later took what was made out to be a calculated if not bold risk in releasing proven veteran quarterback Henry Burris despite getting to the Grey Cup in 2013, and so far Collaros has exceeded even Austin’s expectations.
“I don’t mean this as a derogatory comment to Zach, and he might take it that way if he hears this,” Austin mused. “I knew he was very bright because of the due diligence that we did but he’s actually brighter than I anticipated in his ability to pick up our offence and understand the nature of what we do.”
“It’s not difficult; it’s just different and sometimes different means difficult to some people,” Austin continued. “He was a lot brighter and better-prepared, which is a real testament to Scott Milanovich in Toronto and his other previous coaches in how they prepared him as a quarterback.”
“He brought some of those habits in that I reap the benefits from.”
Just how high is the limit for Collaros? As Austin pointed out, he still sees his young pivot getting better by the day. The veteran coach and former CFL quarterback wouldn’t have gone all in on a quarterback lacking high upside.
Those Flutie comparisons back in 2013 were probably a little premature, to be fair, especially for a quarterback with only a few starts under his belt. But Austin said he can see the resemblance.
“He’s got some Doug Flutie in him,” said Austin. “He can pull stuff out of the fire that a normal quarterback can’t do. He’ll break a tackle, pull away from a guy and extend a play.”
“Because of the strength of his arm, everybody on the field is available to Zach, so you do have to cover the entire field with him, especially when he’s extending a play and buying time.”
The Ticats will go as far as Zach Collaros can take them in 2015 and in the foreseeable future. If Austin’s assessment is accurate, the sky is the limit for both.
