MONTREAL – At the end of the 2016 campaign, the reigns of the Montreal Alouettes offence looked to be in the hands of rookie quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

Adams Jr. made four starts for the Als in 2016, including the last three games of the regular season, throwing for 575 yards and four touchdowns – three of those majors and 257 yards coming in his team’s season finale against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 20.

After Kevin Glenn was sent packing to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Rakeem Cato had a tough time controlling Montreal’s offence after Glenn’s departure, Adams Jr. was given the opportunity to show newly-named Head Coach Jacques Chapdelaine, and the rest of the Alouettes organization, exactly what he had to offer under centre.

But an off-season move, one that brought veteran Darian Durant into the fold, put the 24-year-old on the back-burner – at least for now.

“I feel a quarterback’s maturity, if you really look at the stats, is about 26/27 (years old),” General Manager Kavis Reed told James Cybulski and Davis Sanchez of The Waggle Podcast. “The game starts to slow down for them a bit at about 28/29 and that’s when you start to see the upper echelon guys. “The Dak Prescott’s of the world are few and far between.

“When you have young guys like Vernon, who’s really transitioned into the professional ranks, you have to make certain you have an environment that’s conducive to their growth. We know that Vernon is an extremely talented individual but we don’t have enough evidence to say that he is yet ready to assume that next step.”

When the 2017 season gets under way, Adams will wait patiently for his turn to lead the Alouettes’ offence once again, whenever that may be. In the meantime, he’ll have the chance to watch and learn from the 11-year CFL vet, who signed a three-year deal on Thursday.

“Now there are many other things (to consider),” Reed said when asked of Adams Jr.’s impressive end to 2016. “The grind of a full season and how can a player handle that or the mental preparation? How does he handle adversity? How does he handle ridicule and criticism? Darian will serve Vernon well in that regard.”

For the full interview with Kavis Reed, and the rest of The Waggle podcast, click here or stream below.