Yesterday the Edmonton Elks landed top receiver Austin Mack. It was a big addition, as the Elks lacked a true threat in the receiving core last season. Elks GM Ed Hervey joined me on my show on Sports 1440 to discuss that signing, along with the Jared Brinkman signing, and we touched on Tre Ford, Steven Dunbar and much more.
Gregor: Austin Mack gives you a legitimate #1 receiver. He also might help Cody throw a few balls into tight spots. How much did those two playing together factor in on this signing?
Hervey: I heard your analogy coming in and you hit a lot of points that are consistent with our beliefs here that we need to build a receiving core that Cody (Fajardo) will be comfortable with. Sometimes you must start with one guy and then everyone else comes along.
Clearly these two have history together and we like big, physical, athletic wide receivers with wide catch radius. There’s an opportunity for big play potential with Austin. I think for us it’s also just having a veteran in the room that has done it a high level and more importantly he can kind of calm the room, so to speak. We have a lot of young guys who are trying to find their way and have shown flashes of consistency.
It never hurts to add a talented veteran player to the room and, and one that we’re familiar with as far as the league is concerned, that has some familiarity with the offense and as you mentioned earlier has a history with the guy throwing the football.
Gregor: For Elks fans who haven’t seen Mack what is his best attributes as a receiver?
Hervey: First and foremost is his size and frame. We want big receivers here. Those guys have the ability to shield defenders and win body position battles. I think his catch radius, his ability to make plays on throws that are somewhat 50/50 balls.
He’s been very good on contested catches and above everything else, sometimes you just need someone you can rely on for second down. He knows how to get open. He’s savvy. He can play outside and inside. But I think of everything that we’re looking for is we need some reliable production on second down. We want someone who’s going to catch the ball, run up field, get the ball and get first downs for us.
And then as you mentioned earlier, when there’s an opportunity to throw the ball up, we want more guys like who can make plays in tight windows so we can make a few more of those throws. We believe that Austin gives us that and his desire for a fresh start and our need to add some veteran presence to the room seems like a perfect opportunity to bring both sides together.
Gregor: You also signed Brinkman today to a two-year extension through the 2027. He battled some nagging injuries, but his play late in the year helped your young defensive ends make some plays. What does he bring to your group that some might overlook?
Hervey: Brinkman is never going to be a sexy, flashy stat guy. Right? But if I put the tape on and you watch him play, he plays every down hard. He plays like his hair is on fire. He plays with maximum effort. He’s a load on the inside. He makes it very difficult for us to be ran on and he also makes guys work and if you leave him alone, he’s more than capable of creating pressure.
He’s an all-around good guy in our locker room and the quality human being that he is, you want to have those guys around. We’re still working on our consistency of our roster, guys who contribute in a big way on the field as well as off the field. But I would say that anyone who wants to take notice of what Brinkman does, just put on the tape and watch what happens.
He is a load and he is very difficult for offensive linemen and trust me, at the end of games, you know, the opponents know that they played a hard-fought game and I’m sure when they know they’re playing Brinkman coming into the game, they know what they’re going to get. They’re going to get max effort for four quarters. He’s the type of player we want.
Gregor: What about Tamari Fox. He battled injuries last season, what do you expect of him this season?
Hervey: This is his option year and it’s unfortunate that he sustained the injury when he did because he started to play well and started to get the feel for the CFL game. We have high expectations for him. We feel like a lot of those defensive linemen who had a chance to play showed, not only that they belong but also improved every week that they were on the field.
Going into a season, you never want your starters to get injured and when your starters don’t get injured your young guys rarely get opportunities. And then you go into the next year hoping that they’ve gained experience in some ways from not playing. But in our case, you almost feel fortunate that due to injuries, a lot of guys got a chance to play and got some valuable playing time.
And when we’re watching them on film and evaluating them, we see the promise that our defensive line has moving forward. And again, having worked together for a year and understanding the terminology and things that are going to be coached going into training camp this year, it’s not foreign to them. I’m excited about what the D line could bring.
Tamari coming back, there’s going to be an opportunity for him to shake off some rust but also show why he’s here. And above everything else, it gives him a chance to really establish himself in the competition on the interior of the D-line.
Gregor: You’ve already extended Noah Taylor as well as Brandon Barlow and today you signed Brinkman. What about Jonathan Kongbo. Will he be signed or will he be going to free agency?
Hervey: He’s going to hit free agency. A lot of guys want to see the window, and the window is the opportunity for sometimes better opportunities, sometimes for more compensation. Sometimes it sets a player’s market so those guys will have a chance to see and get a feel for what the interest level is for them.
I don’t necessarily anticipate a return. I think he’ll probably be looking for a better opportunity with more opportunity to play, I would imagine.
Gregor: What about receiver Steven Dunbar?
Hervey: When we’re looking at our receiving corps, sometimes you must make tough decisions that affect the guys that are on your team. When we look at our receiving corps, obviously a signing like Austin Mack puts a little bit of pressure on those veterans who were here prior.
My responsibility to this roster is to make decisions that improve the roster. And sometimes it doesn’t necessarily work out in favour of guys that are on the roster. He’s a good player and I’m sure that things will probably work out for him. We need to improve the receiving core, and it doesn’t necessarily count him out, but we’re seriously looking at how we can improve the offense.
Gregor: Sticking with receivers. Zach Mathis broke his tailbone and that awkward fall early in the season. Prior to his injury it looked like he was going to be a big part of the offence. Has he fully healed and are you expecting him to be a difference maker this season?
Hervey: We’re hopeful he can come back and contribute to the roster and do some thing. It’s unfortunate he was injured because he was starting to look like he was comfortable with the offense, and he looked comfortable playing.
We expect him to come in and compete and play at a high level. He’s working hard, and I’m just looking forward to seeing him healthy. He knows the offense, so there should be very little thinking out there for him. He can just read and react and with his catch radius and his overall size, there’s not many things he wouldn’t be able to do with respect to catching the ball and doing things with the ball when he has it.
He has all the tools to be a playmaker. You must stay healthy and be out there and be available. And we hope that the injury bug that hit him last year is out of his system and he can come in and have a big year for us.
Gregor: Tre Ford has a bonus due in a few days. With Fajardo’s contract it seems either a release or a contract renegotiation are the only options. Do you have an update on Ford?
Hervey: We’re at that point where something’s going to happen within the next 48 hours. We have an idea and a decision is going to be made. I’m actually meeting with our group here later after I get off the phone with you, and we’re going to just talk through some other scenarios and stuff.
But the reality is what the reality is, and our expectations is that we’ll have a decision here very soon.
Gregor: It would seem a return is unlikely, but what is the plan for the backup job. Are you comfortable with having a rookie backup, or would you like a backup with some extra experience?
Hervey: I think people will be excited to see Cole Snyder when he has a chance to play. This is a league where we always spend a lot of time talking about the vets. And then in recent years, it’s the backup quarterback that gets a lot of attention, but there needs to be opportunities for some young guys to get chances to play.
Based on how we’re constructing our roster, Cole Snyder has been in our offense for a year. We’ve had a chance to see a lot of things that he’s capable of doing and how special he is. I mean, he’s the unknown with respect to playing, and he’ll be an unknown to our fans as far as familiarity, but we’ve had a chance to watch him from training camp all the way through, and it’s just unfortunate they didn’t get a chance to put him in the game.
This is the part where you wish that there had been an opportunity to put him in the game. I think that was my biggest disappointment last year. That last game in just the way he was not given that opportunity to show what he could do.
Gregor: What does Cole Snyder do best as a quarterback?
Hervey: I think he’s got touch. He can read the offense. He’s tough. He’s got great touch down the field. He can push the ball down the field. His accuracy is there. I think his mobility is decent enough to buy time, and again he understands the offense.
He’s got that “It factor” that you want from a young quarterback. I don’t know where that takes him, but he will need an opportunity. He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. It’s just a matter of time before a young quarterback gets a chance to showcase and play. But the flip side of that is that we want Cody to stay healthy all year and play, so we’ll see where it goes. So there’s a balance in that, but in all fairness to Cole, I think it’s just a matter of time before he gets a chance to show what he’s capable of, and we hope that he makes the most of it. He’s going to have opportunities during the preseason to do it as well.
Gregor: Lastly, with the recent signings, will looking at the offensive line by your main priority in free agency?
I think it’s safe to say that we’re looking at the entire roster and anywhere we can improve. The offensive line had its share of issues last year, and that is a big conversation we’ve had all off season. We’ll be talking about that here shortly again and trying to figure out the last little bits of what strategy we want to go into the communication window with.
But there’s other areas where there’s opportunities to get better in the overall roster. We’re going to do what makes sense, and while some moves may not be flashy when you look at the grand scheme of what we’re trying to accomplish, we’re trying to build our team to compete for a championship, and clearly, you must protect the quarterback first to do that.
I can honestly tell you that we’re not going to overlook the opportunities at the offensive line if they present themselves.
PARTING SHOTS…
As expected, the Elks released Ford today before his bonus was due on February first. It wouldn’t have made financial sense to pay Ford that much money to be the backup.
I still think Ford can be a solid quarterback in this league. He’s an incredible athlete, and he just needs to work a bit more on understanding the position. He hasn’t taken many reps, and he’d be best served signing with a team with a quarterback coach or offensive coordinator with a history of helping develop young QBs. He’s very young still and as we’ve seen in the NFL and CFL, it often takes quarterbacks many years, and a few teams, before they find their stride.
