Houston Gamblers starting quarterback Clayton Thorson was placed on the inactive list after suffering an elbow injury last week.
The team made the announcement Thursday morning on Twitter as he was the only player announced to be transferred to the inactive/injured reserve roster.
Thorson has been the starting quarterback for all seven games this season for Houston. So far on the season, he has completed 57% of his passes for 987 yards along with ten touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has also added 71 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Going into week eight, he was the league leader in touchdowns and was sacked the least amount among quarterbacks who started every game with four.
Thorson got off to a rocky start in the season with inconsistent play, inaccurate throws, and turnovers that plagued Houston in many games. After throwing four interceptions in the first two weeks, he started to perform better with just three picks in the last five weeks. His completion percentage has improved as he has completed 72.8% of his passes in the last two weeks alone.
In last week’s 35-24 loss to the Philadelphia Stars, Thorson took a hit on his elbow in the second quarter that knocked him out for the rest of the game. Fans could see his elbow wrapped up for the remainder of the game. Kenji Bahar replaced him the rest of the way. Bahar finished the game completing ten of 13 passes for 101 yards adding a touchdown and two turnovers in the loss.
It appears going forward, Bahar is in line to take over as the starter for at least this weekend’s Sunday contest against the Tampa Bay Bandits. Former Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson signed onto the team last week and was inactive for the game against the Stars. Wilson should get the backup job to help support Bahar.
Fans can expect a different type of offense with Bahar taking over. The mobile quarterback has already shown that he can make all the passes in the pocket when given protection from the offensive line. His running skills were not showcased as much last week, but expect more RPOs and play-action calls to be made to utilize Bahar’s legs.
