After a 25-18 loss at the hands of the Ottawa REDBLACKS in week 12, the Edmonton Elks now encounter a difficult task in a Labour Day Classic matchup vs their Provincial Rivals the Calgary Stampeders. There is no doubt that a lot of Edmonton fans felt that last week’s game vs Ottawa was winnable. Unfortunately, the Edmonton offense as a whole was nowhere to be found until the 2nd half when it became too little too late to overcome even a 20-3 Ottawa halftime lead.
EDMONTON ELKS RECENT TRANSACTIONS
On August 31st, the Edmonton Elks sent DL Thomas Costigan and DB Nafees Lyon to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for DL Avery Ellis and Montreal’s 3rd Round Pick in the 2023 CFL Draft.
ACQUIRED BY EDMONTON:
- Avery Ellis | AMER | DL | 6’2 | 250 LBS | 1994-10-03 | Newark, NJ | Temple
- 2023 3rd round pick
ACQUIRED BY MONTREAL:
- Thomas Costigan | AMER | DL | 6’3 | 245 LBS | 1997-08-26 | Stamford, CT | Bryant University
- Nafees Lyon | AMER | DB | 5’10 | 184 LBS | 1996-12-10 | Charlotte, NC | Charlotte
On September 1st, the Edmonton Elks have either released, signed to the practice roster, or signed to the active roster:
SIGNED TO ACTIVE ROSTER
- Kevin Brown | AMER | RB | 5’9 | 205 LBS | 1996-10-09 | Mount Pleasant, SC | Incarnate Word
- SIGNED TO PRACTICE ROSTER
- Dennis Bardwell | AMER | OL | 6’6 | 305 LBS | 1999-03-05 | Huffman, TX | Houston
- Nih-Jer Jackson | AMER | WR | 6’3 | 190 LBS | 1996-07-16 | Stockton, CA | Southeastern Louisiana
- Donovan Olumba | AMER | DB | 6’2 | 205 LBS | 1995-09-26 | Nashville, TN | Portland State
RELEASED
- Drew Powell | AMER | QB | 6’2 | 220 LBS | 1995-02-11 | Upper Marlboro, MD | Livingstone
- Malik Sonnier | AMER | DB | 6’2 | 205 LBS | 1997-12-26 | Houston, TX | Midwestern State
On September 2nd, the Edmonton Elks sent OL David Beard to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats along with a 2023 4th Round Draft Pick. In exchange, the Edmonton Elks receive OL Jesse Gibbon along with Hamilton’s 2023 2nd Round Draft Pick.
ACQUIRED BY EDMONTON:
- Jesse Gibbon | OL | NAT | 6’5 | 300 LBS | 1997-01-14 | Hamilton, ON | Waterloo
- 2023 2nd round pick
ACQUIRED BY HAMILTON:
- David Beard | OL | NAT | 6’5 | 320 LBS | 1993-02-23 | Sherwood Park, AB | Alberta
- 2023 4th round pick
On September 3rd, the Edmonton Elks signed DB Jeff Richards.
SIGNED
- Jeff Richards | AMER | DB | 6’2 | 200 LBS | 1991-01-03 | Del City, OK | Emporia State
It was a busy week for the Edmonton Elks going into the Labour Day Weekend. And there will be players such as mainly David Beard and Thomas Costigan that will be missed during the rebuild process as they did have value to the Edmonton Elks. But that is football for you. Player transactions are inevitable and will occur at more of a prevalent rate when you have a team that has shown a lot of struggles during the 2022 season.
EDMONTON ELKS DEPTH CHART
Unfortunately for the Edmonton offense, the key playmaker injuries could have accumulated at the wrong time. With LT Tony Washington and WR Manny Arceneaux still on the 6-game injured list, WR Kenny Lawler will be listed as out for the Labour Day Classic as he suffered an ankle injury in Week 13 vs the Ottawa REDBLACKS. He has also been placed on the 6-game injury list. For a player that has been the MOP for the Edmonton Elks this season, there is no doubt that the Edmonton offense is going to have to be creative as it can be to have any chance it putting up points on the board with one of the best defenses in the CFL.
With that said, QB Taylor Cornelius will have to be as accurate as he can be in now utilizing veteran SB Derel Walker, utility player Kai Locksley, rookie WR Dillion Mitchell, along with another rookie WR in Vincent Forbes-Mombleau. Furthermore, Taylor Cornelius will have to experience the daunting task of trying to isolate a defense that leads the CFL with a total of 15 interceptions with Toronto sitting at 2nd place with 14 interceptions.
To make matters worse, the Edmonton offensive line will have to buy as much time as possible in order for Taylor Cornelius to execute any passes against a stingy Calgary defense that also has a total of 23 quarterback sacks. They might sit a 6th in the CFL in the sack category, but Edmonton knows all too well how many times pressure was applied to any quarterback playing for the green and gold this season.
IT’S LABOUR DAY. GET PUMPED FOR IT.
As painful as the 2022 season has been for the fans of the green and gold, there is no game on the calendar year that has a playoff type of environment than the Labour Day Classic.
The only thing any Edmonton Elks fan would want more at this given time would be to upset their main foes in the Calgary Stampeders. The one thing about the Labour Day Classic historically is that no matter how good or bad the teams are at that given time, win on Labour Day, and you have all the bragging rights against your natural historical rivalry.
Lets go Elks! Antler Up! Give your fans something to be proud about.
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