Nicholas Arbuckle (born October 4, 1993) is an American professional Canadian football quarterback who is a free agent. He has been a member of the Calgary Stampeders, Ottawa Redblacks, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Nick Arbuckle
Arbuckle with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2023
Born: (1993-10-04) October 4, 1993 (age 30)
Camarillo, California, U.S.
Career information
StatusActive
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)Quarterback
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight213 lb (97 kg)
CollegeLos Angeles Pierce College
Georgia State
High schoolSt. Bonaventure
NFL draft2016, Undrafted
Career history
As player
20172019Calgary Stampeders
2020Ottawa Redblacks*
2021Toronto Argonauts
20212022Edmonton Elks
20222023Ottawa Redblacks
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Honors
Career stats

College career edit

Arbuckle played college football at Los Angeles Pierce College and Georgia State.[1] During his time playing for the Panthers, he was first-team All-Sunbelt Conference in 2015. Also in 2015, Arbuckle set a Sun Belt record 4,368 passing yards along with school records in completions (307) and touchdowns (28). In 2015, He also became the first Georgia State football player in school history to be named the conference player of the year.[2]

Professional career edit

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 0 in
(1.83 m)
225 lb
(102 kg)
31+18 in
(0.79 m)
9+18 in
(0.23 m)
5.23 s 1.69 s 2.96 s 4.65 s 7.27 s 27.0 in
(0.69 m)
8 ft 11 in
(2.72 m)
All values from Pro Day[3]

Pittsburgh Steelers edit

After going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, Arbuckle spent mini-camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL.[4]

Calgary Stampeders edit

Arbuckle signed with the Calgary Stampeders in March 2017.[5] He quickly became the Stampeders' backup quarterback behind Bo Levi Mitchell.[6] Arbuckle played sparingly in 2018, completing 17 of 25 pass attempts for 144 yards with one touchdown: He also ran for 5 touchdowns as a short-yardage quarterback. Arbuckle led the Stamps to an improbable come-from-behind victory in Week 3 of the 2019 season after Bo Levi Mitchell left with a shoulder injury.[7] Mitchell was subsequently placed on the six-game injured reserve, making Arbuckle the interim-starting quarterback.[8] Arbuckle led the Stamps to an impressive 37-10 victory the following week over conference rivals the Saskatchewan Roughriders.[9] The Stamps won four of their seven matches with Arbuckle under centre, before Mitchell returned to the starting lineup for the Labour Day game.[10] He finished the season having completed 174 of 238 pass attempts (73.1%) for 2,103 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Ottawa Redblacks (first stint) edit

On January 3, 2020, Arbuckle was traded to the Ottawa Redblacks for a third-round pick and another conditional pick in the 2020 CFL Draft.[11] After a lengthy negotiation, he re-signed with Ottawa on January 31, 2020 to a two-year contract and triggered the conditional draft pick trade that saw Ottawa and Calgary swap first-round draft picks in the 2020 draft.[12] On January 31, 2021, only a few hours after being released by the Toronto Argonauts, veteran quarterback Matt Nichols signed with the Ottawa Redblacks, who subsequently released Arbuckle.[13]

Toronto Argonauts edit

On February 1, 2021, it was announced that Arbuckle had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.[14] He made his first start with the Argonauts in week 3 of the 2021 season where he completed 23 passes out of 32 attempts for 310 yards and one touchdown in a win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on August 21, 2021.[15] Arbuckle started in the next three games for the Argos, winning once, before being replaced as the starting quarterback by veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

Edmonton Elks edit

On October 26, 2021, Arbuckle was traded to the Edmonton Elks in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 CFL Draft and the rights to former Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly from Edmonton's negotiation list.[16] On November 1, 2021, the Elks announced they had signed Arbuckle to a contract extension through the 2022 season.[17] In early January 2022 the Elks and Arbuckle modified the terms of his contract, with a reported salary of $328,000, a housing allowance of $12,000, and a signing bonus of $100,000.[18] Arbuckle and the Elks struggled to begin the 2022 season, losing their first three games which resulted in Arbuckle being benched in favour of rookie Canadian quarterback Tre Ford and also ceding snaps to Kai Locksley.[19][20] Arbuckle played in five games for the Elks, completing 74 of 115 pass attempts (64.4%) for 892 yards with two touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Ottawa Redblacks (second stint) edit

On July 11, 2022, it was announced that Arbuckle had been traded to the Redblacks in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2023 CFL Draft.[21] Arbuckle had been acquired by Ottawa in order to compete with Caleb Evans for the starting role while veteran Jeremiah Masoli recovered from a leg injury.[22] Caleb Evans started the first five games after Arbuckle arrived in Ottawa, however with the team having only one victory in nine games head coach Paul LaPolice named Nick Arbuckle as Ottawa's starting quarterback for the club's Week 12 match against his former team Edmonton.[23] Arbuckle completed 21 of 32 pass attempts for 219 yards and was able to guide the Redblacks to their second win of the season.[24] Arbuckle continued as the Redblacks starting quarterback for most of the remainder of the season, however the team saw little success and finished last place in the league with only four wins and 14 losses. On February 5, 2023, nine days before becoming a free agent, Arbuckle and Ottawa agreed on a one-year contract extension.[25] Originally it was expected that he would serve as the backup quarterback in 2023 behind Masoli, however Masoli was not healthy at the start of the campaign, so Arbuckle was announced as the team's starting quarterback.[26] Arbuckle started the first two games of the season, but was benched in the second quarter of the team's second contest and was replaced Tyrie Adams.[27] He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 13, 2024.[28]

CFL career statistics edit

Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2018 CAL 18 0 17 25 68.0 144 5.8 1 0 96.1 35 73 2.1 5
2019 CAL 18 7 174 238 73.1 2,103 8.8 11 5 106.5 27 76 2.8 4
2020 OTT Season cancelled Season cancelled
2021 TOR 7 4 96 153 62.7 1,158 7.6 5 6 80.5 17 25 1.5 2
2022 EDM 5 3 74 115 64.3 892 7.8 2 8 64.8 3 9 3.0 0
OTT 12 8 217 308 70.5 2,400 7.8 4 6 89.5 15 65 4.3 2
2023 OTT 18 2 47 78 60.3 461 5.9 0 4 55.6 3 15 5.0 0
Career 78 24 625 917 68.2 7,158 7.8 23 29 86.6 100 263 2.6 13

References edit

  1. ^ "Nick Arbuckle Bio". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  2. ^ "Stamps sign pair of internationals". Calgary Stampeders. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  3. ^ "2016 NFL Draft Scout Nick Arbuckle College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp roster". pennlive. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  5. ^ "Nick Arbuckle". Calgary Stampeders. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  6. ^ "Calgary Stampeders release QB Ricky Stanzi | Calgary Sun". 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  7. ^ "2019-06-29 Game Tracker - BC Lions vs. Calgary Stampeders (2570)". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  8. ^ "Calgary Stampeders to place quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell on six-game injured list - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  9. ^ "2019-07-06 Game Tracker - Calgary Stampeders vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (2575)". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  10. ^ "Bo Levi Mitchell returns as Calgary Stampeders defeat Edmonton Eskimos in Labour Day game - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  11. ^ "Redblacks acquire Arbuckle's rights from Stamps". Canadian Football League. January 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "Redblacks sign Nick Arbuckle". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. January 31, 2020.
  13. ^ "Redblacks sign Nichols, release Arbuckle". CFL.ca. February 1, 2021.
  14. ^ "Argos sign QB Nick Arbuckle". Toronto Argonauts. February 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "Argos hand Bombers first loss with commanding home win". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. August 21, 2021.
  16. ^ TSN ca Staff (2021-10-26). "Toronto Argonauts Edmonton Elks Nick Arbuckle - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  17. ^ TSN ca Staff (2021-10-26). "Toronto Argonauts Edmonton Elks Nick Arbuckle - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  18. ^ TSN ca Staff (2022-01-06). "Elks re-work QB Arbuckle's contract - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  19. ^ "Elks list Canadian rookie QB Tre Ford as starter vs. Tiger-Cats". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  20. ^ "2022-07-07 Game Tracker - Calgary Stampeders vs. Edmonton Elks (6227)". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  21. ^ "Redblacks acquire Arbuckle in trade with Elks". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. July 11, 2022.
  22. ^ "Masoli sidelined, but it's believed Redblacks QB could return from leg injury this season". MSN. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  23. ^ 3Down Staff (2022-08-23). "Ottawa Redblacks to start Nick Arbuckle at quarterback against Edmonton". 3DownNation. Retrieved 2022-08-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "Redblacks top Elks behind three QB rushing TDs - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
  25. ^ "Nick Arbuckle Ottawa Redblacks one-year contract extension". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  26. ^ 3Down Staff (2023-06-06). "Ottawa Redblacks' QB Jeremiah Masoli to miss first two games of regular season". 3DownNation. Retrieved 2023-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Stampeders spoil Redblacks' home opener with first win of season". thestar.com. 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  28. ^ "Official 2024 Free Agent Tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved February 23, 2024.

External links edit