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 all season because of the fractured leg he suffered in last year’s East Final.
Even with the gift of hindsight, however, it doesn’t sound like head coach Ryan Dinwiddie would have handled the situation any differently.
“I think there was a lot of unknown going into it. I think we did the best we could with it. Obviously, we’ve got to take care of the player first, but also we’ve got to look at the organization moving forward for the future,” said Dinwiddie during his end-of-year media availability.
“Last week, he was moving around better than he has. He’s shown a lot of growth as far as physicality, as far as with his leg. I just didn’t think he was mobile enough to play his game. I thought Nick (Arbuckle) stepped up and did a lot of good things for us, so I’m pretty happy with quarterback one, quarterback two, and we got a lot of youth there.”
Dinwiddie repeatedly suggested throughout the season that Kelly wasn’t far from reentering the lineup, calling him “week-to-week” as early as late July. The bench boss also denied at the time that Kelly had suffered any setbacks, though general manager Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons suggested the opposite when speaking to the media on Sunday.
“(Kelly’s recovery) was going on par for a period of time, and then there was a period in the summer where we found out that there were some things that were not happening as fast as we hoped that they would,” he said. “With that, I don’t think you want to simply count him out if there’s what looked like a good possibility that he would be at least back by the first third of the season.”
The Argonauts moved Kelly to the six-game injured list in late July, which is 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 thought there was a reasonable chance he’d be ready to play by the midway point of the summer.
In the end, Nick Arbuckle threw for 4,370 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions to go 5-10 as a starter. The 32-year-old, who led the Argonauts to a Grey Cup victory last year following Kelly’s postseason injury, set all-new career-highs and shattered his previous single-season best of 11 touchdown passes.
It’s clear that the Argonauts expect Arbuckle to return behind Kelly next season as Clemons said the team has “two solid quarterbacks going into next year.”
Third-year CFL quarterback Jarret Doege made three starts for the Argonauts, throwing for 905 yards, four touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Rookie passers Tucker Horn and Max Duggan also saw limited action, the latter of whom threw a touchdown pass in Toronto’s season-ending loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
Dinwiddie, who played five seasons in the CFL at quarterback with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders, likes what he sees from his team’s passers.
“I feel good about that position group,” he said. “If we just bring all those guys back to camp, I’d be pretty happy.”
It’s never easy to go from winning a Grey Cup to missing the postseason the following year. Though it’s clear Dinwiddie isn’t happy with how things played out, he’s also trying to maintain perspective on how things transpired in 2025.
“This year was disappointing, but at the same time, we got to have a lens on it,” said the 44-year-old. “We had injuries, all these things — it doesn’t really matter. How can we get better as an organization? That starts with me. I’m going to work. It’s unfortunate we’re watching their teams play for something and we’re getting a head start on next year.”
