Elks roll with the changes

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This article was published 29/06/2021 (1540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No team in the CFL has gone through more changes since the 2019 season than the Edmonton Elks.

From a name change to a new president, to replacing a new head coach and some of his assistants, not to mention a number of new faces on the roster, the Elks are certainly one of the more intriguing clubs heading into 2021. Just how quickly the Elks can build chemistry with so many moving parts should determine where they finish in what should be another deep and competitive West Division race.

Edmonton finished fourth place in 2019 and will be looking to improve on its 8-10 record. Gelling as a team early will be paramount, and it will be up to new head coach Jamie Elizondo to get his troops ready in time for a Week 1 matchup Aug. 5 against his former Ottawa Redblacks.

Here is an early season preview of the Elks, in what is the second instalment of a Free Press series titled, Around the CFL.

Three training camp storylines:

Secondary strength: If anything was broken with Edmonton in 2019 it was the play of its secondary — a group that struggled mightily with injuries and inconsistency. With a complete overhaul in 2021, the secondary figures to be among the team’s greatest strengths this year.

Of the six starters in the secondary for the Elks in the East semi-final in 2019 (Edmonton earned the crossover playoff spot), including at strong-side linebacker, only two players — safety Jordan Hoover and defensive back Brian Walker — are returning this season. Joining them are a trio of significant signings, including defensive backs Arron Grymes, Jonathon Mincy and Jonathan Rose.

The questions now is how the Elks plan to arrange the secondary, and what exactly can they expect from their newcomers? Mincy and Rose will battle for the corner positions, with Mincy likely to get the nod at the boundary side. Neither player saw much action in 2019, with Mincy spending time with the NFL’s Chicago Bears and Rose recovering from a serious neck injury.

Grymes spent his first five seasons in Edmonton so there’s knowledge of what he can do. It’s whether they want him playing halfback on the field or boundary side that remains unanswered, with the open halfback spot expected to be a battle between Robert Priester and Forrest Hightower.

The middlemen: You might think the loss of Almondo Sewell and Nick Usher on the defensive line would have the Elks concerned about their pass rush. But with the likes of Canadian Kwaku Boateng and Mike Moore, the team’s sack leader in 2019 with nine, as well as newcomer Shawn Lemon, Edmonton is just fine with its defensive line potential.

Where there’s less certainty is with the men in the middle, a group of linebackers that will be missing some integral parts from 2019. Kevin Brown II, who spent three seasons in Ottawa, was signed to ease the pain of losing all-star middle linebacker Larry Dean to Saskatchewan.

Brown can play in the middle or at weak side, and the same can be said for Vontae Diggs, who had a standout season in 2019 playing the weak side for an injured – and now departed – Jovan Santos-Knox, while also providing depth behind Dean. The Elks haven’t decided where Diggs and Brown will end up come Week 1, though it’s clear Brian Walker will take over for Don Unamba at strong-side linebacker.

QB depth: Trevor Harris was the early front-runner for the CFL’s most outstanding player award, after averaging more than 335 passing yards per game through the first 11 games — a stretch that saw him throw for 14 touchdowns compared to three interceptions. A non-contact injury to his throwing arm in Week 12 left Harris on the shelf for more than a month and the Elks scrambling for a replacement.

They would lose more games than they won with Harris out of the lineup, but at least the Elks had an experienced backup in Logan Kilgore to help ease the damage of playing without their leader and best player. With Kilgore now retired and no one with real experience in the CFL game behind him, the options in the event of another worst-case scenario appear slim.

Of the three other quarterbacks currently on the roster, two of them — Troy Williams and Jeremiah Briscoe — combined for three total pass attempts in 2019, with only Williams able to register a completion. Taylor Cornelius was signed in February and has never played in the CFL.

There will be another option in camp. The Elks announced in their season preview press conference Tuesday they’ve brought in Drew Anderson. Anderson, 25, went undrafted into the NFL but spent much of 2019 with the Arizona Cardinals before he was released last summer.

Three players to watch

1) QB Trevor Harris — he’s the heartbeat of the offense and, at 35 years old, believes he’s got many more pro years left in him. With a sturdy offensive line in front of him, Harris has the potential to throw the lights out every night. What he’ll need to work on is his finish, as the Elks were only better than Ottawa when it came to red-zone efficiency in 2019, with just 27 touchdowns in 54 drives.

2) RB James Wilder Jr. — sick and tired of waiting on the CFL to return, Wilder decided to retire in June 2020. Fast-forward a year and he’s primed to earn the lion’s share of carries in the Elks backfield. The question with the 29-year-old is which version of James Wilder Jr. will we see in 2021? The one who dominated for the Toronto Argonauts in 2017, where he took over late in the season en route to a Grey Cup. Or the up-and-down version from 2018 and 2019, where those flashy bursts were few and far between?

3) RB Terry Williams — the last time the Elks returned a kickoff or punt for a touchdown was back on Aug. 28, 2015. Indeed, it’s been four full seasons in what has to be one of the more eye-popping droughts in the CFL. Williams should do the trick in fixing that in 2021. The former Calgary Stampeder returned three punts for touchdowns in 2018, and in 2019 had a kickoff returned for a score. With the weapons the Elks have on offence, earning strong field position will only make them a tougher group to handle each week.

X-Factor: HC Jamie Elizondo

After coaching football for more than 20 years, Jamie Elizondo finally gets his first chance at being a head coach. If we learned anything from the two teams in the 2019 Grey Cup — Winnipeg and Hamilton — it’s the importance of having a coach capable of inspiring his players. Elizondo has a lot of talent around him, including a strong group of receivers who should make Harris’s job easier. He’s the offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach as well. In a shortened season where a strong start is paramount for success, Elizondo won’t have time for any growing pains.

Final word:

“I don’t think a lot of people are picking us prior to the season and I think that’s really funny. I’m actually really excited by that, but I think we’re kinda low-key loaded and I’m excited to see how we’re going to come out and play.”

— Elks quarterback Trevor Harris

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton