Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

There have been lefties and righties, tall ones and short ones. There have been Canadians and Americans, U.S. college stars and no names. There have been fat dudes, skinny guys, bad asses and saints.

But not since the days of Danny McManus, circa 1990-92, have the Winnipeg Blue Bombers discovered and then developed a quarterback prospect into a legitimate long-term starter — either here or for another CFL team. And with all due respect to newcomers Bryan Randall and Cleve McCoy and the still-unproven Ryan Dinwiddie, all the candidates since then have been, essentially, one colossal disappointment after another.

And henceforth that collection of wannabees will be known as ‘The Abominable Throw-Men.’

There was former Los Angeles Raiders bad boy Todd Marinovich, who arrived for training camp in 1993, stepped in a gopher hole and blew out his knee and was never seen again. There was former Notre Dame star Kevin McDougal, who was nurtured for a long spell but — once handed the starting role — disappointed. And who can forget T.J. Rubley and Troy Kopp? Or Mike Quinn and Russ Michna? Or…

“Ultimately we’d like to have it where we developed some sort of feeder system and this is where I hope Cleve (McCoy) or Bryan (Randall) take that step to be that next Danny McManus,” said Bomber GM Brendan Taman as rookie camp opened Wednesday. “I think Bryan and Cleve both have ability. Am I certain they’re going to be able to show it in 13 days? Not yet. It’s tough.”

The three starting QBs under Taman’s watch in Winnipeg have all been acquired via trade: Kerwin Bell, Khari Jones and Kevin Glenn. Bell was a quick fix in ‘99 when Taman and Dave Ritchie began cleaning up Jeff Reinebold’s mess. And, despite the Grey Cup drought, no one can argue the success of Jones and Glenn.

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