A huge point of discussion for the Edmonton Elks this offseason has been who will be or who will emerge as their number one receiver.
Kurleigh Gittens Jr., Steven Dunbar Jr., and Kaion Julien-Grant were all names that got thrown around frequently, while Eddie and I had thrown out Odieu Hiliare and Binjimen Victor.
I’m not sure anyone had Austin Mack on their bingo card but this is the type of spot you stamp with emphasis right before you throw your card up in the air and yell bingo.
When you look at his stats in a vacuum, they may not jump out to you outside of the 2023 season, but anyone who watches the game with two eyes in their head knows how great of a talent he is. He gets out his routes with great speed, has great pop off the line and can go through a whole route tree. He’s not the biggest target in the world, only listed at 6-foot-1-inch, but his ability and his movement make up for any lack of size he has.
You do have to feel for Mack — he signed a four-year deal with the Als in 2024, and is out shortly thereafter. He moved his family there, thought he could establish himself as a franchise centrepiece and someone who could be on billboards in the city for the club. Someone the team could really stamp as “the guy”. Unfortunately for him, and injuries certainly were a factor, it didn’t go that way, but for the Elks, what a signing.
One thing we came to learn about Cody Fajardo last year was how much he relied on his chemistry with former teammate Julien-Grant. The chemistry he had with Austin Mack in 2023 was good for 78 receptions (4th in the CFL), 1,154 yards (5th in the CFL) as well as four touchdowns en route to being a CFL East and CFL All-Star, as well as Grey Cup Champion. And hey, by the way, he had six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in the Grey Cup. Not bad at all.
Another reality of the Elks when you have the playoff drought they’ve had is that you have to go all in on certain moves. You have to take the big swings. This is a big swing. And this is a big swing that kind of feels like you have a .300 batter on deck and the pitcher has a 68 MPH fastball — something that should be a home run. Now I don’t want to get ahead of myself either, which it probably seems like I’m doing. The last two years he’s only played 15 games, and only totalled a little over 800 yards, but the talent is there.
You don’t end up playing collegiate ball at Ohio State, being a four-star recruit, and being the number one recruit in your state (Indiana) without supreme talent. And yes, that was a long time ago, and yes, pro ball is infinitely different, but you’re certainly not signing him based on the stats of the last two years. You’re signing him because of what he can do at the peak of his powers and his chemistry with Fajardo.
So yeah, let’s be excited. This is huge. The Elks have lacked a true number one receiver. We thought it could’ve been Gittens Jr., maybe Dunbar Jr., maybe Julien-Grant? I think now you have one on paper. I’m very excited for the prospect of what Mack will be.
Time will tell if it pays off, but I’ll leave it with this final point. He better. The Elks can’t afford misses. Not when it’s been five seasons with no playoffs. Not when things are starting to look up but you’re still falling just short. Not when there hasn’t been a real true QB-WR number one connection in a while. And I think the Elks now have one in Fajardo and Mack.
