Drew Willy's Relentless Drive to CFL Stardom

[ubbullrun]

http://www.ubbullrun.com/2014/7/2/5854096/drew-willy-something-something-something

 

After the worst outing of his career, (13 for 25, 80 yards, 2 INTs) en route to a 41-0 loss at Boston College, Drew Willy's week got even worse. In practice, Willy broke his thumb in a drill to test Willy's skill at passing under duress. Then it got worse, the following Saturday, Willy's backup Tony Paoli led Buffalo to their second win of the season, a rousing 41-14 win over Kent State.

 

Behind the scenes, it looked like Drew Willy's career as UB starting QB was over. A high school quarterback 30 miles east of Willy's hometown of Randolph, New Jersey caught the eye of Turner Gill. His first recruiting win, Buffalo signed Chris Johnson, 3-star QB from Patterson, New Jersey. Johnson was seen as Gill's savior, the QB he would bring in to put a stamp on his program. Drew Willy would have to fight for his job in the summer of 2007, but It was a foregone conclusion that the job would probably go to Johnson.

 

.....

[Doublezero]

Its early in Drew Willy's CFL career, really. But he seems confident, yet pretty humble too. If he couldn't handle adversity, he wouldn't have made it this far.

[Atomic]

Hey, did you write that?  That's a great article.  Thanks for sharing.

[Jpan85]

I mean if you watched Friday Night Lights show you would think the used Willy for the Matt Scaracen character.

[Chaosmonkey]

I must say, that is a creative url.

[johnzo]

In fact this time he was the one who knocked. His old Las Vegas teammate/job stealer Chase Clement was signed by Winnipeg, but this time he couldn't take the starting QB job away from Drew.

Chase Clement was a Bomber (briefly) in 2013, not in 2014. He didn't make it out of training camp, he was clearly a step behind the guys we did have.

[gbill2004]

In fact this time he was the one who knocked. His old Las Vegas teammate/job stealer Chase Clement was signed by Winnipeg, but this time he couldn't take the starting QB job away from Drew.

Chase Clement was a Bomber (briefly) in 2013, not in 2014. He didn't make it out of training camp, he was clearly a step behind the guys we did have.

Yep I noticed that too.

[ubbullrun]

Yea the URL thing bit us... The author took two days to write it and put a place holder in the title until he was done. We forgot to update the url name when he put the title in..

[O2L]

Very fun read, please keep sharing pieces like this. It's cool to have you here, ubbullrun. I think it's great that you're so passionate about your players that you follow their careers!

[Blitzy]

Great article! Thanks for this!

[bearpants]

Great article, thanks.... but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump the gun on "stardom".... one good game doesn't make a star

 

Breaking bad reference??:

 "In fact this time he was the one who knocked."

[Floyd]

Troy Westwood @TroyWestwood

Through two games Willy now 40/60 for 67% comp rate, 615 yards, 4 TDs, 2 Ints. Pretty dang solid.

[Adrenaline_x]

Great article, thanks.... but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump the gun on "stardom".... one good game doesn't make a star

 

Breaking bad reference??:

 "In fact this time he was the one who knocked."

How about now

Looks legit. He can move the offence really well.

It's nice not feeling defeated once the other team goes up by 7

[mbrg]

It's nice not feeling defeated once the other team goes up by 7

 

He's going to win some, he's going to lose some, he'll have some bad games yet.  But it's pretty apparent that the game is not moving too fast for him.  He is not overwhelmed out there.  Combining that with his passing skills, there is reason to have confidence in him this early in his Bomber career.

[kelownabomberfan]

Last night's comeback had me thinking of the 2012 Banjo Bowl when Brainiac Burke decided to punt with 36 seconds left and gave the Riders the ball back on the 20 yard line and Willy drove the Riders down the field in three plays and won the game on a FG on the last play of the game.

Here's the second half again:

Willy showed great poise in this game. You just knew that he was going to be a good one.

[Mr. Perfect]

Knew it before this, he had already shown it previously. The kid is a gamer and I'm beyond thrilled for us and our long term prospects that he's on the team.

[Brandon]

Leading the league in passing yards (for now) and Winnipeg has the #1 rb and receiver....