Moddejonge: Fajardo back with EE but the big QB question still remains

The good news is the Edmonton Elks are bringing their quarterback back.

The bad news? They still need to do something about the quarterback position. And desperately.

And they have had to for a long time.

Nothing against Cody Fajardo, two years removed from winning the 110th Grey Cup MVP. And before he won the big game, he watched Ricky Ray win him a ring in 2017.

He was named a CFL all-star and led the CFL in passing the year he moved to Saskatchewan to take over the most scrutinized position in the football fishbowl that is Regina.

And last year, he took over the starting role in Edmonton on his way to continuing his legacy as the most accurate passer in Canadian Football League history.

And next year, when he turns 34, he will still likely show everyone he’s still got what it takes to play the game and can get the job done.

But in Edmonton, where things have gone the complete and actual opposite of ‘according to plan’ for the past — oh, let’s not kid ourselves: Since the new Elks Era began amid the mess that was 2020, the double-E doesn’t need simply serviceable. They can trumpet passer accuracy all they want. No one is going to notice until this team gets back to the playoffs.

And to get into the playoffs, even in a nine-team league, you gotta win.

And to win in football, I’m sorry, but you need a quarterback.

The Elks haven’t had a franchise guy since Trevor Harris last led them to the post-season back in 2019 under the guidance of head coach Jason Maas, at the time.

And I don’t have to remind you both of them squared off against each other on the big stage last month, with Harris winning Grey Cup MVP honours this time around.

You want to talk about pass accuracy? The last time the then-Eskimos won a playoff game, Harris demolished the Montreal Alouettes in the crossover, setting post-season records of 22 consecutive completions on the way to a 92.3 per cent accuracy to beat his own record of 90.6 per cent he set the previous year.

And it still wasn’t enough. Those performances were one-offs for Harris. Word had it that half the dressing room didn’t buy into his leadership style, which they saw as more goody-two-shoes than straight-edge.

No, to find the last true field general in Edmonton, you’d have to go back to the days of Michael Reilly. The guy quite literally picked this team up onto his shoulders and carried them from the depths of a four-win season in 2013 to the very top of the mountain just two years later.

It’s been nothing but 2013 around here for going on five seasons now. And that’s the kind of guy the double-E needs. Not some Band-Aid solution on the downside of his career they hope can get them through another season until they find their quarterback of the future.

Because it’s not going to be Tre Ford.

Never was. Never will be.

Sure, they pinned the title of starter on his chest last off-season, hoping against hope his youthful vigour and supreme athleticism would create as much excitement to watch as it would success in the standings.

But if that was even possibly the case, don’t you think the GM that drafted him would have given him all the time in the world to develop into more than an efficient spark plug to come in and win the odd game?

Make no mistake, Ford can be a good quarterback. And he has been, hands down, the most exciting factor on any given snap in the three-down circuit since fellow Canadian Nathan Rourke.

But Ford showed he was neither consistent enough or had the mental capacity, the leadership qualities or the injury durability to keep him off the bench under Chris Jones — a fact the new regime realized after banging their heads against the wall to 1-4. (The behind-the-scenes scouting report is Ford’s the type of player who puts the ‘M’ and ‘E’ in ‘team’).

So, if it’s not him, then who?

Heck, it almost feels like the Edmonton Oilers would have better luck finding a legitimate starting goaltender everyone in this city can agree to get behind and believe in before the double-E finds their next QB.

Ed Hervey’s already done it once before, bringing Reilly aboard during his first time around as Eskimos general manager. And he had to try and fill the legendary shoes of Ricky Ray. This time around, there aren’t necessarily anyone’s cleats that need filling, but the quarterback-to-be will have to haul the team out of the depths of futile obscurity, and not just the standings.

In the meantime, good luck to you, Mr. Fajardo. This city has long been in dire need of a saviour. And you are the next one in position to try and become it.

Let’s see what you can do with a full season at the helm.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge