The Toronto Argonauts missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019, due in part to the absence of franchise quarterback Chad Kelly, who was unable to play the entire season due to a broken leg he suffered in last year's East final.
However, even with the gift of foresight, it doesn't seem like head coach Ryan Dinwiddie would have handled the situation differently.
“I think there were a lot of unknowns. I think we did the best we could. Obviously we have to take care of the player first, but we also have to look at how the organization moves forward in the future.” Dinwiddie said during his year-end media appearance..
“He was moving better last week than he is now. He showed a lot of growth in both his conditioning and his leg. I just didn't think he was mobile enough to play his game. I thought Nick (Arbuckle) came out and did a lot of good things for us, so I'm really happy with the first and second quarterback and we have a lot of young people there.”
Dinwiddie has said multiple times throughout the season that Kelly is close to returning to the lineup. calling it “week after week” back at the end of July. The bench boss also denied at the time that Kelly suffered any setbacks, although general manager Mike “Pinball” Clemons suggested otherwise when speaking to the media on Sunday.
“(Kelly's recovery) went well for a while and then there was a period in the summer where we found some things weren't happening as quickly as we had hoped,” he said. “That being said, I don't think you want to just write him off if there's a good chance he'll be back for at least the first third of the season.”
In late July, the Argonauts placed Kelly on the six-game injured list, where he spent the rest of the season. He spent the first seven weeks of the year on the one-game injured list, a strong indication that the team believed there was a reasonable chance he would be ready to play by mid-summer.
Nick Arbuckle ended up throwing for 4,370 yards, 26 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and went 5-10 as a starter. The 32-year-old, who led the Argonauts to a Gray Cup title last year after Kelly's postseason injury, set brand new career highs and broke his previous single-season best of 11 touchdowns.
It's clear the Argonauts expect Arbuckle to return behind Kelly next season, as Clemons said the team has “two solid quarterbacks” next year.
Third-year CFL quarterback Jarrett Doege made three starts for the Argonauts, throwing for 905 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. Rookie passers Tucker Horn and Maxx Duggan also saw limited play, the latter of whom scored a touchdown in Toronto's late-season loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
Dinwiddie, who spent five seasons in the CFL as a quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders, likes what he sees in his team's passers.
“I feel good about this position group,” he said. “If we can just get all these guys back to camp, I’ll be really happy.”
It's never easy to go from winning the Gray Cup to missing the postseason the following year. While it's clear that Dinwiddie isn't happy with how things turned out, he's also trying to maintain perspective on how things happened in 2025.
“This year has been disappointing, but at the same time we needed to put a lens on it,” the 44-year-old said. “We've had injuries and all these things – it doesn't really matter. How can we get better as an organization? It starts with me. I'm going to work. It's unfortunate that we're watching their teams play for something and we have a head start next year.”
