All nine CFL teams are in their early days of 2019 training camps. Each squad dreams of a Grey Cup victory come November 24 in Calgary.

Some dreams are more realistic than others.

At the University of Saskatchewan, many Roughrider players are already nursing sore muscles and pulled hamstrings. Check the injury list.

Players are running on the fields of the provincial university. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a provincial team. This football club is where they should be for training camp.

But is the team where they should be as far as a quarterback is concerned? Is the Rider squad where they should be as far as a realistic shot at glory come November 24th?

A quarterback and realistic shot at the Grey Cup go hand in hand. Every CFL team needs an elite QB to win a Grey Cup, however there have been a few exceptions.

Kerry Joseph was not an elite pivot. Amazingly though and for a variety of good reasons he was able to lead the Riders to a 2007 Grey Cup championship. Backup Ottawa QB Rick Cassata won the ‘73 Grey Cup by literally just getting out of the way.

That aside, normally and statistically a team usually needs an elite quarterback to win Earl Grey’s mug. Saskatchewan’s other three championships were all won by elite quarterbacks. The iconic legend Ron Lancaster sipped champagne (or beer) in 1966. Razor sharp Kent Austin likewise in ‘89. The gutsy Darian Durant in 2013.

The Roughriders have not enjoyed consistent excellence from a quarterback since Durant’s brilliance in the 2013 playoffs.

Unless current starter Zach Collaros returns to his 2015 form, and he was an elite QB that year, how do the Riders acquire an elite signal caller?

Three options ahead for Riders this season

There are three paths.

Number one you pay big bucks for a free agent. B.C., Edmonton and Calgary just did that for Mike Reilly, Trevor Harris and Bo Levi Mitchell.

Number two you recruit a quarterback that either becomes or is already elite. Kent Austin is a good example of already elite. He was outstanding in his first practice at the 1987 Rider training camp.

Number three you find a good backup QB who is stuck behind a star on another club. A strong example of number three is Ron Lancaster. The Little General came to Saskatchewan in 1963 because he was behind Hall of Famer Russ Jackson on the Ottawa depth chart. The rest is history and a pile of records broken.

The Riders tried number one in February but that wasn’t in the cards. It’s difficult to identify a good candidate from number three right now.

The Roughies are currently trying number two in training camp as they evaluate three young quarterbacks — David Watford, Isaac Harker and Ty Gangi. Check out Harker and Gangi performing in college on YouTube. Harker hits pass after pass in very tight windows.

I tip my hat to Rider GM Jeremy O’Day. So far no sign of a veteran pivot like 40-year-old Kevin Glenn. Kevin didn’t take a snap last year and at this stage of his career is clearly beyond his expiry date to win a Grey Cup.

Players get a close up, first-hand view of everything. They know how realistic their Grey Cup dreams are.

So are the Riders where they should be as far as quarterbacks and Grey Cup chances are concerned?

Perhaps not, but for once the right steps are taking place. There is risk in having to rely on and start an inexperienced QB. Where there is measured and calculated risk, there is sometimes big reward.

That’s how you keep the dreams at training camp alive.

Don Hewitt started covering the Saskatchewan Roughriders for CKCK-TV in 1979.