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The football is in James Franklin’s hands, literally and figuratively.

The 27-year-old quarterback will be given every chance in 2019 to lead the Toronto Argonauts back to a level of respect following a disastrous 2018 season which featured four wins and the firing of coach Marc Trestman mere hours after it was done.

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“I think right now, he is the starting quarterback,” Argos head coach Corey Chamblin said on Sunday following the team’s first session of training camp at York University.

“This is his opportunity, this is his time to shine. It won’t just be all on him. Defence, special teams, all of us. We’re not asking him to throw the ball 55, 60 times a game. It takes all of us … a lot of different things to make sure that he is able to do what he needs to do to win games.

“As a quarterback he is going to manage the system, not manage the ball game, but manage the system.”

Franklin, after he was unable to gain control of the role last season when Ricky Ray was injured in Week 2, is prepared to use the overall experience of 2018 to his advantage. There’s going to be an adjustment period as Franklin and new offensive co-ordinator/quarterbacks coach Jacques Chapdelaine work to get on the same page but all the while, the memories of last season will nip at Franklin’s heels. In a constructive sense, Franklin figured.