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

Nick Arbuckle
No. 4     Toronto Argonauts
Arbuckle with the Toronto Argonauts in 2024
Born: (1993-10-04) October 4, 1993 (age 31)
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
2024–presentToronto Argonauts
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
HonorsSun Belt Player of the Year (2015)
Grey Cup Most Valuable Player (2024)
Career stats

College career

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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

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Pre-Draft Measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split
6 ft 0 in 225 lbs 5.23 s 1.69 s 2.96 s
Shuttle Cone drill Vertical Broad jump Arm span
4.65 s 7.27 s 27.0 in 8 ft 11 in 31 1/8 in
All values from Pro Day[3]

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

Calgary Stampeders

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Arbuckle with the Calgary Stampeders in 2019

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)

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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 (first stint)

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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.

 
Arbuckle with the Edmonton Elks in 2021

Edmonton Elks

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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)

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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]

 
Arbuckle with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2023

Toronto Argonauts (second stint)

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On May 19, 2024, it was announced that Arbuckle had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.[29] After Chad Kelly suffered a severe leg injury in the East Final, Arbuckle was named the starting quarterback for the 111th Grey Cup, where he led the team to victory and was named the Most Valuable Player of the game.[30][31]

CFL career statistics

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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
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
2024 TOR 18 1 65 100 65.0 799 8.0 4 3 90.4 5 10 2.0 0
Career 96 25 690 1,017 67.8 7,957 7.8 27 32 - 105 273 2.6 13

References

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  1. ^ "Nick Arbuckle Bio". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. ^ "Stamps sign pair of internationals". Calgary Stampeders. March 6, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  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. May 4, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  5. ^ "Nick Arbuckle". Calgary Stampeders. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  6. ^ "Calgary Stampeders release QB Ricky Stanzi | Calgary Sun". June 20, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  7. ^ "2019-06-29 Game Tracker - BC Lions vs. Calgary Stampeders (2570)". CFL.ca. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  8. ^ "Calgary Stampeders to place quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell on six-game injured list - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "2019-07-06 Game Tracker - Calgary Stampeders vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (2575)". CFL.ca. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  10. ^ "Bo Levi Mitchell returns as Calgary Stampeders defeat Edmonton Eskimos in Labour Day game - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  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 (October 26, 2021). "Toronto Argonauts Edmonton Elks Nick Arbuckle - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  17. ^ TSN ca Staff (October 26, 2021). "Toronto Argonauts Edmonton Elks Nick Arbuckle - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  18. ^ TSN ca Staff (January 6, 2022). "Elks re-work QB Arbuckle's contract - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  19. ^ "Elks list Canadian rookie QB Tre Ford as starter vs. Tiger-Cats". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  20. ^ "2022-07-07 Game Tracker - Calgary Stampeders vs. Edmonton Elks (6227)". CFL.ca. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  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 August 23, 2022.
  23. ^ 3Down Staff (August 23, 2022). "Ottawa Redblacks to start Nick Arbuckle at quarterback against Edmonton". 3DownNation. Retrieved August 29, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "Redblacks top Elks behind three QB rushing TDs - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  25. ^ "Nick Arbuckle Ottawa Redblacks one-year contract extension". TSN. The Canadian Press. February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  26. ^ 3Down Staff (June 6, 2023). "Ottawa Redblacks' QB Jeremiah Masoli to miss first two games of regular season". 3DownNation. Retrieved June 6, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Stampeders spoil Redblacks' home opener with first win of season". thestar.com. June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  28. ^ "Official 2024 Free Agent Tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  29. ^ "Double blue bring back QB Nick Arbuckle". Toronto Argonauts. May 19, 2024.
  30. ^ TSN Staff (November 9, 2024). "Argos QB Kelly suffers severe leg injury; Arbuckle to start Grey Cup". The Sports Network. Toronto: Bell Media . Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  31. ^ Sportsnet Staff (November 17, 2024). "Unlikely hero Nick Arbuckle leads Toronto Argonauts to Grey Cup victory". Sportsnet. Toronto: Rogers Communications. Archived from the original on November 19, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
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