Another season, another weak start for Edmonton's beloved CFL team.
After making wholesale changes in the 2025 offseason, the Edmonton Elks have built themselves yet another brutal start to their Regular Season, posting a 1-4 record with a 1-5 record possible should they lose to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night. This begs the question: Can the Elks save this Season?
The Elks announced today that Quarterback Cody Fajardo will get the start against his old team on Friday, giving a feel good storyline to follow. The problem is that the fans want wins now, and that feel good will only come with wins. Will Fajardo be enough of a change to secure a win though?
Statistics show that QB Tre Ford likes playing in Saskatchewan, with his last two starts in Regina showing great performances and wins from the young quarterback, but his two most recent games in Edmonton have proved both his ceiling and his floor. After two inconsistent performances, he has been relegated to QB2 for the upcoming game, and while many fans agree that this is the right choice the switch also does allow Ford to draw into some plays that feature the 2 QB system recently implemented and allowed by the CFL. Time of possession was very lopsided in the EE's last game, proving that the offense is not staying on the field long enough to sustain drives, achieve first downs or even offer competitive play. The Elks had the ball for just over 1 quarter, in comparison to BC with nearly 3 quarters of offensive possession.
As alarming as the offense has been, the defense has also shown its flaws through the first 5 games of the 2025 season. Too many holes, not enough sacks, and with an average of 32.4 points allowed per game, the money spent on defense in the offseason simply isn't translating to the performance we need to see on the turf. With Robbie Smith on the 6-Game injury list, combined with Noah Curtis sidelined for the season and a Jake Ceresna scare in the last game, and suddenly the injuries and concerns are racking up for the defensive line. The "Next man up" mentality may take a back seat to bringing in a proven veteran lineman if these next two weeks are more of the same.
On Special Teams, Kicker Vincent Blanchard and Punter Cody Grace have been the most consistent players on a team of inconsistency. Blanchard has completed 8 field goals on 10 attempts, his longest being a 42-yard kick, and Cody Grace is averaging 48.3 yards per punt, his longest being a 66-yard boot. Incredible numbers by the boots, despite the rest of the phase struggling to prevent return yardage.
So can the Edmonton Elks save their season? One would like to think, and this fan base sure hopes so. While the Elks can't risk their entire season on the game plan or a quarterback's development, they also need to prevent touchdowns and field goals, any score in general, from being posted on their side of the scoreboard. Chemistry and cohesion are not coming fast enough, and for a team that has been trying to "stop the revolving door", the reality is that the door itself cannot be stopped. Between injuries and necessary depth chart changes, the football business sees continuity with what works, and with the Elks struggling to perform on the turf change is a necessary evil, often required in these scenarios. Progress will only come with time and wins, whether they be a small battle on the field or the entire game as a whole. Fajardo's start will give Elks fans and coaches an idea of where the flaws are with this offense, as well as the defense should the Elks sustain drives under the Friday Night Lights at Mosiac Stadium.
The season can still be saved, a big thanks to pitiful performances from the teams in the CFL East. Friday is the next opportunity for the Elks to post a win, and against all odds this team CAN do it. Will they, well that's yet to be seen, coming up in Regina with Cody Fajardo playing as the opponent for the first time in his career. Fans want to see progress week over week, and Friday is the next opportunity to show improvement against a very formidable 5-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Great summary of where we stand Scout. But, in general, if you want to win some games lets fix the defense. Going into the season the defense was the focus with the hope that their vastly improved play would give Tre some time to develop into the QB that most feel he could become. That clearly has not been the case – hopelessly horrible defense continue to plague this team. Worst in the CFL easily. 1 inception (by a D-Lineman) and fewest sacks in the league just isn’t performance. So while it is really easy to blame the QB, if you can not keep the other team from getting first downs then you will most certainly will lose way more than you win. With a rookie head coach teamed up with a host of rookie coaches on the D side of things, we likely would have been better off bringing in a big time D Coordinator to help Killam’s staff. That said, I am a big fan of all the staff we hired….hopefully they find the chemistry soon.