Head coach Jaime Elizondo excited to welcome Nick Arbuckle into Elks’ QB room

Photo: Nik Kowalski/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

A turbulent few weeks in Edmonton continued with the Elks acquiring quarterback Nick Arbuckle from Toronto.

During seven games with the Argonauts — including four starts — Arbuckle passed for 1,158 yards, five touchdowns against six interceptions with a 62.7 completion percentage. The California native also helped the Boatmen hand the Bombers their only loss of the season back in Week 3.

Elks’ head coach Jaime Elizondo told reporters his impressions of his new QB.

“Good quarterback, a lot of experience, knows the league, does a lot of really good things on tape — accurate. He’s going to provide at least initially some great depth for us. A guy that knows the CFL and knows the league but that being said, Taylor [Cornelius] and Dakota [Prukop] are our guys.”

The Elks created an opening at QB when they traded Trevor Harris to Montreal. Cornelius has started three of the last four games, though Elizondo doesn’t expect Cornelius to be worried about a potential quarterback controversy.

“If you are a competitor like Taylor is, like Dakota is, you really want the best guys around you, period. You don’t look over your shoulder because you are a competitor, because you want to beat out the best possible guys,” said the rookie head coach.

“That’s what I love about those two guys, they don’t look over their shoulder, they don’t have to worry. They didn’t even flinch when I told them this morning they said, ‘OK, great.’ And I think that’s a very genuine response because of who they are.”

It has been a disappointing season in Edmonton, where the team currently sits at 2-7 amid a five-game losing streak and six points out of a playoff spot, last place in the West Division.

Edmonton plays host to Hamilton (5-5) on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium.