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The opening two weeks of the Canadian Football League season have been nothing short of devastating for starting quarterbacks.
 
Some had their knees fallen into by 280-pound defensive lineman, like Edmonton Eskimos starter Mike Reilly. Montreal saw starter Jonathan Crompton and backup Dan LeFevour take violent blows, forcing them from the season opener. Saskatchewan Roughriders pivot Darian Durant ruptured his Achilles tendon when he landed awkwardly on a simple throw, his season ended by a freak injury on a motion he has attempted in games alone more than 3,000 times in his collegiate and professional career.
 
Factor in Winnipeg starter Drew Willy being helped off the field in Week 2 action against Hamilton, plus Toronto Argonauts starter Ricky Ray being unable to begin the season due to off-season shoulder surgery, and you have a league - fairly or not - questioning its identity, marketing and player protection policies.
 
Many who watch the league on a casual basis have deemed this a lost season, a down year absent many of the top stars of the Canadian game. But there might be an upside to all of these injuries, one that could help the league expand its reach and popularity before a Grey Cup champion is crowned November 29th in Winnipeg.

For too long the Canadian Football league has adopted principles of injury disaster management which would make Environment Canada applaud emphatically.

Reduce, reuse, recycle.
 
When starting quarterbacks have fallen to injury in previous seasons, head coaches and general managers have typically scrambled to find their rolodex from the Ottawa Renegades era of the CFL to find replacements. Instead of turning to a young pivot, team executives scrambled to find familiar  names over and over again in their time of need.
 
When Calgary's Drew Tate was injured in the 2011 preseason, Stampeders management called Michael Bishop despite the fact he didn't play the previous season. The 35-year-old former Argonaut, Roughrider and Blue Bomber was released by August before being signed again by Winnipeg due to a rash of quarterback injuries.
 
In October of last season, Kerry Joseph announced he was coming out of retirement to rejoin the CFL at the ripe age of 40. It would be Joseph's second stint in Regina after spending time with the Renegades, Roughriders, Argonauts and Eskimos. Joseph would throw five interceptions on 17 attempts in a playoff game. He 'retired' again less than a month later.
 
Just last year, then Alouettes quarterbacks coach and former Grey Cup MVP Jeff Garcia hinted at a return to action in Montreal at age 44 if his quarterbacks, "continued to struggle."
 
Some quarterbacks earned their right to longevity. Ricky Ray, Anthony Calvillo, Damon Allen, Henry Burris, Kevin Glenn and Dave Dickenson are just a few of the names that come to mind. The differentiating factor is those players stayed productive until well into their second decade in the CFL.
 
The assumed understanding of the Canadian game, its field and concepts in a veteran player is undeniable. However, Canadian football is not molecular biology.
 
Ask any of the league's 102 new players this season. Those players account for 20 per cent of the CFL's athlete employment. When asked about the difficulties in transitioning to the professional Canadian game, most, if not all, play down the affect receiver motion and other rule differences have on their ability to execute a gameplan.
 
So why keep bringing back quarterbacks of yesteryear when there are numerous pivots standing in football's never-ending unemployment line waiting for a call? 
 
It's just too easy. Need a backup quarterback ready to put pads on in six days? It's much easier to call a five-year veteran of Canadian football who has likely played for your coach before than it is to find someone new and teach them an entire system.
 
The league has taken a turn for the better while facing adversity early in 2015. Despite the devastation of losing half the leagues projected Week 1 starters over the first seven days of competition veteran phones have remained silent.

Despite 34-year-old Casey Printers' casual plea for employment after Darian Durant ruptured his achilles the league has successfully avoided general mangers pressing *speed dial* to old yellers in 2015.

The reduce, reuse, recycle model is being replaced in 2015. The defining moment in this evolution came when 23-year-old first time starter Rakeem Cato completed 80% of his passes for 241 yards in a victory over the defending Grey Cup champions Friday. A game Cato started by a minimal advantage over fellow 23-year-old Canadian native Brandon Bridge.

After 27-year-old Jonathan Crompton and 28-year-old Dan LeFevour were injured in Week 1, Alouettes general manager Jim Popp did not sign a veteran replacement. No Michael Bishop needed. No relief for Casey Printers from his motivational speaking tour. Jason Maas did not leave his post as Ottawa Redblacks offensive coordinator for one last shot at glory and Anthony Calvillo watched from the sideline in a T-shirt.

Those quarterbacks weren't required. Instead a couple of young Montreal gun-slingers joined Toronto's Trevor Harris, Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell and Hamilton's Zach Collaros as highly effective Canadian football league quarterbacks under the age of 30.

Many teams have backups even the most knowledgeable football fan would have to google to understand where they came from. To me, that is a great step forward for the future of the Canadian Football League.

The new trend of rookie development in place of veteran signings makes one conjure an image of a bitter Cleo Lemon, Spergon Wynn and Ken Dorsey sitting around a land line with a Trevor Harris voodoo doll, waiting for one last chance at Canadian gridiron glory.

Everyone who has enjoyed the start of the 2015 season and appreciates the change happening can agree: It is time to let the kids play.