The Edmonton Elks used their bye week in week 8 as a week to look at the team’s progress thus far.  The time used was also a time in which the top brass of the green and gold began to analyze and dissected who can be with the club both short-term and long-term.  In the end, changes had to be made to the current roster as some players fell victim to inconsistent play. Which in the end, resulted in a lot of player movement going into the Week 8 bye week.

Trade with Ottawa

On Monday, July 25th, 2022, the Edmonton Elks obtained WR Llevi Noel from the Ottawa RedBlacks.   

ACQUIRED BY EDMONTON:

• Llevi Noel | NAT | WR | 6’2 | 198 LBS | 1991-07-15 | Toronto, ON | Windsor AKO
• 2023 8th round-pick

ACQUIRED BY OTTAWA:

• 2023 7th round pick

The Edmonton Elks obtained a receiver that had some good numbers with the Toronto Argonauts most notably during the 2018 season with the double blue in which he had a career-high with 47 receptions, and 512 yards. Edmonton will be looking to see if Llevi Noel can regain some of that form, and bring it to the much needed scoring for the Edmonton Elks offense that has not been good this year in the red zone.

Trade with Hamilton

On Tuesday, July 26th, 2022, the Edmonton Elks acquired Punter Jon Ryan from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

ACQUIRED BY EDMONTON:

• Jon Ryan | NAT | P | 6’0 | 217 LBS | 1981-11-26 | Regina, SK | Regina

ACQUIRED BY HAMILTON:

• 2023 8th round pick

Jon Ryan has a fan base on both sides of the 49th parallel. The former University of Regina Rams has an extensive resume in both the CFL and NFL which includes stints with Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2004-2005), Green Bay Packers (2006-2007), Seattle Seahawks (2008-2017), Buffalo Bills (2018), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2019-2021), and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2022). A CFL All-Star in 2005, along with a CFL West All-Star in both 2005 and 2019. He will be mostly remembered as a member of the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl winning team during the 2013 season.

The Motherload

On Friday, July 29th, 2022, the Edmonton Elks announced a slew of transactions.

RELEASED FROM ACTIVE ROSTER

• Caleb Holley | AMER | WR | 6’4 | 200 LBS | 1990-12-26 | Anchorage, AK | East Central University
• Ben Holmes | AMER | QB | 6’0 | 200 LBS | 1994-10-15 | Orchard Park, NY | Tarleton State
• Mike Jones | NAT | WR | 6’0 | 181 LBS | 1992-11-02 | Toronto, ON | Southern
• Jamel Lyles | NAT | RB |6’0 | 210 LBS | 1996-08-12 | Surrey, BC | Manitoba
• Matt Mengel | AMER | K | 6’2 | 225 LBS | 1993-09-20 | Harbor City, CA | UCLA
• Jeawon Taylor | AMER | DB | 6’2 | 190 LBS | 1998-02-05 | Montgomery, Al | Florida

RELEASED FROM PRACTICE ROSTER

• Sherman Badie | AMER | RB | 6’0 | 194 LBS | 1995-01-03 | Metairie, LA |Tulane
• Ente Eguavoen | NAT | WR | 6’0 | 185 LBS | 1997-08-02 | Mississauga, ON | Wilfrid Laurier
• Nate Hamlin | NAT | DB | 6’0 | 195 LBS | 1995-06-24 | Ottawa, ON | Carleton
• Pharoah McKever | AMER | DL | 6’6 | 260 LBS | 1994-02-04 | Tabor City, NC | Florida International

RELEASED FROM SUSPENDED LIST

• Reggie Walker | AMER | LB | 6’2 | 250 LBS | | 1996-04-22 (26) | Ponchatoula, LA | Kansas State

Some surprises here. Caleb Holley had been acquired, added to the practice squad, placed on the active roster, and repeated on 3 occasions this season. Although he showed some good flashes, he fell victim to inconsistent play with a few dropped passes during key drives to extend plays that had to result in Edmonton punting on a few occasions.

QB Ben Holmes who was recently acquired on July 12th, 2022 has been released. Although he did not have any playing time via the current depth chart, it does seem odd only to be released too soon.

WR Mike Jones had hardly been used at all in the Edmonton offense this year. His numbers were pretty good during the 2021 season in which he recorded 394 receiving yards on 29 receptions. This was followed up with 2 touch downs with only 11 games played.

With James Wilder Jr is still out on the current 6-game injury list, it was a bit of a surprise with the release of RB Sherman Badie. He was able to grind out some hard-earned yards to extend plays in short-yardage situations. He did some pretty good things for the offense which has not faired well in the running game this season.

Along with the transactions on Friday, 29th, 2022, the Edmonton Elks also announced the following the same day:

ADDED TO ACTIVE ROSTER

• Jamie Harry | NAT | DB | 6’2 | 217 LBS | 1994-07-13 | Lachine, QC | Ottawa

ADDED TO PRACTICE ROSTER

• Dillon Mitchell | AMER | WR | 6’2 | 190 LBS | 1997-05-16 | Memphis, TN | Oregon
• Devin Wynn | AMER | RB | 6’0 | 211 LBS | 1998-11-17 | Greensboro, GA | Furman
• Toriano Roundtree Jr. | AMER | OL | 6’6 | 330 | Gainesville, FL | Colorado State
• Greg Hutchins | NAT | K | 6’4 | 210 LBS | 1997-02-04 | Bedford, NS | UBC

With a busy week involving a total of 18 players, it appears that Edmonton is trying to salvage a season in 2022 to do what they can in trying to make it a respectable season. Fans of the green and gold knew that this season would be a struggle in a rebuild year after a 3-11 record from the shortened 2021 season. The patience will be there from the Edmonton faithful providing they see a team this year that will at least compete in every game they play in the 2022 season. And so far at a 2-5 record, the Edmonton Elks were in a much needed overhaul due to the recent product on the field of play. Can Edmonton be the surprise team in the 2nd half of the season and turn things around? Only time will tell. And if it does, what a surprise this will be.

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