The Edmonton Eskimos shocked no one with their announcement Sunday afternoon, that Kavis Reed was taking over Offensive Coordinator duties from Marcus Crandell, for the remainder of the season. The shocker was, he than names Kerry Joseph as his starting quarterback.

PHOTO CREDIT - Esks.com

Edmonton - September 30, 2012 - Well it is now official, Kavis Reed has lost all sense of reality. While no one was terribly surprised by the Edmonton Eskimos announcement of Reed taking over the Offensive Coordinator duties from Marcus Crandell, for the remainder of the season. The shocker was, he immediately named Kerry Joseph as his starting quarterback. Leaving rookie Matt Nichols and former starter Steven Jyles, on the sidelines in backup role.

After speculating weeks ago, that the Esks were actually considering to go with the soon-to-be 39 year old as their starter down the stretch, Reed still stunned everyone in the Alberta capital with the announcement. It is clear they don't have the confidence in Jyles to get the job down and think Nichols isn't ready for prime time. How on earth they believe anointing Joseph as their man, in my mind, is frankly mind-boggling.

The plan moving forward, is run with Joseph as the starter, Nichols as the backup and Jyles as the number three guy. Apparently, I'm missing something here. Only one of three has proven capable of winning football games, no matter how he has done it, and he's number three on the depth chart. If that's the plan, than why exactly isn't Nichols starting?

Safe to say Reed will point to Joseph's 66% completion rate as a big reason for the move and the fact he is a "seasoned" veteran. However, individual stats don't always tell the whole story. Perfect example, being the Labour Day rematch. Anyone who watched that game, saw an offence, that outside of a couple late fourth quarter drives, was absolutely brutal.

Yet at the end of the night, you hear how Joseph had a "pretty good" game. Excuse me? Are we now grading quarterback performance strictly on passing yardage? Last time I checked, every game Joseph has started this season, Edmonton has lost. Something that clearly doesn't resonate with the Eskimos hierarchy.

With the Eskimos situation being what it is, even if they somehow find a way into the CFL playoffs, they are going nowhere. So why not use the last five games as a chance to get Matt Nichols some invaluable experience? Heck, wide receiver Fred Stamps said he hoped the kid would get another shot during his post game interview, after being thumped by the Stampeders.

At the end day, someone will end up taking the fall for what has turned into a rather disappointing season for the Edmonton Eskimos. While the masses will undoubtedly want General Manger Eric Tillman to be the one to ultimately take the fall, it looks as though Kavis Reed is going to do his very best to either join his GM on the unemployment line or be the one who is shown the door, in his place.