The Edmonton Elks have been outsiders for far too long, now, missing the Grey Cup playoffs for five seasons straight.
In those five seasons, the Elks started out 3-3, 2-4, 0-6, 0-6, and, last year, 1-5.
Each year, changes came and hopes were raised, with the team looking improved as training camp opened.
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After another miserable start in 2025, Edmonton began to turn things around by mid-season, and with plenty of returning players gearing up for 2026, as well as some eye-catching free agency additions, hopes are once again raised.
Could this year be different?
Here are five things to know about the Edmonton Elks.
NO QUESTION AT QB
It’s Cody Fajardo’s team from Day 1, in 2026.
Last year, the Elks had the veteran quarterback on their roster as backup to the young, inconsistent Tre Ford but Fajardo took over as the starter in Week 8. The Elks responded with a more consistent offence and a record of 6-7 under Fajardo, with four of those losses coming against Saskatchewan, Calgary and Hamilton (twice) by a total of just 11 points.
This time, Fajardo comes into the campaign with a full off-season of prep work and of playbook digestion, and the knowledge that he is the undisputed QB1 from the outset.
Oh, and if there’s any unforeseen problem with the 34-year-old as the starter, the Elks went out and got former Ticat Taylor Powell to be the backup so the team is solid, solid, solid at that most crucial position.
SPEAKING OF CONSISTENCY: YEAR TWO OF J.C. SHERRITT
It’s not just the Edmonton offence that’s looking to extend a momentum-building rise from the second half of last season.
Coordinator J.C. Sherritt saw his defence struggle mightily at the beginning of last year, but like the offence, Edmonton’s defence started to get grooving in the last couple of months.
2025 was Sherritt’s rookie season as a DC. You would expect having the consistency of another year of his schemes and leadership to pay off for a defence that has an awful lot going for it, talent-wise.
Led by the team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, halfback Kordell Jackson (10th in the CFL with 94 defensive plays, tops among DBs), the Elks return a great many of their starters from a year ago and so this is a group that is well-versed in Sherritt’s plans right from the start.
The linebacking corps is strong enough that the Elks could afford to say goodbye to veteran Nyles Morgan, traded to Ottawa after the 2025 rise of Joel Dublanko.
They’ll hope to get more out of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2024, Nick Anderson, who missed all but seven games last year due to injury. In his absence, rookie linebacker Brock Mogensen stepped up, and he returns for 2026 as does SAM linebacker Kenneth Logan Jr., coming off his own impressive rookie season.
But, wait. There’s more.
GOT A NEW CRUSHER COMING OFF THE EDGE
SACKED!
Big stop on second down for Malik Carney and Micah Johnson! #CFLGameDay
🗓️: Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. @sskroughriders LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, CTV
🇺🇸: CBSSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/WjFWpmTOkP— CFL (@CFL) August 16, 2025
The Elks’ defence did not exactly rack up the sacks in 2025, finishing in a tie for seventh with a total of 24, just one ahead of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who brought up the rear with 23.
There’s little doubt that a goal for the D is to get to the quarterback much more in 2026, and the addition of free agent defensive end Malik Carney should be exceptionally helpful in that regard.
The 30-year-old had a banner season in Saskatchewan last year, totalling 39 tackles and a career-high eight sacks, while being a problem for his opponents on every snap he played.
In Carney, the Elks have a big time difference-maker on the field for 2026.
Will his constant hurrying of opposing quarterbacks lead to more interceptions on the back end?
A REUNION SHOULD BE A BIG BOOST FOR THE PASSING GAME
When the Montreal Alouettes released receiver Austin Mack in January, it came as a surprise to many.
A happy surprise for the Elks, who snapped him up and have reunited him with quarterback Cody Fajardo, with whom Mack tasted his greatest CFL success so far.
With Fajardo at the Montreal helm, Mack caught 78 passes for 1,154 yards in 2023, the year the Alouettes went on a late-season run, topping out with a 110th Grey Cup victory, a game in which the two combined for 104 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Last season, though, was a tough one for Mack, with injuries limiting him in both regular season and post-season production.
The Elks hope that a new start — with an old pal — will see a return to dominating form for the 28-year-old.
AN UPGRADED O-LINE
Fajardo was sacked 40 times in 2025 and he took off running 35 times as well. Both those numbers were league highs and I’ll remind you that he only started 13 games, playing just a wee bit in two additional games prior to being named the starter.
Overall, the Elks allowed 52 sacks, standing the team eighth in the category, ahead of only Toronto (56).
So, in free agency, Edmonton went shopping for beef and found one-stop satisfaction in Hamilton, signing former Ticats Coulter Woodmansey, Brendan Bordner and Jordan Murray.
Woodmansey has already had Elks’ head coach Mark Kilam cracking a smile, bringing some high-level competitive juices to the early days of camp.
“He’s bringing a lot of nasty out there, and that’s why he’s here,” Kilam told reporters.
If the players manning the wall in front of Fajardo — and running back Justin Rankin — perform up to expectations, this could be special year for the Edmonton offence.
