The Edmonton Elks enter week 5 of their 2023 CFL schedule on the road in Regina, Saskatchewan and will square off against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This will also be the second straight week where they will play back-to-back games on a short week.

For the Edmonton Elks (0-4), it will be another difficult task in trying to secure their first victory for the 2023 CFL season. The Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-1) have been the opposite of the Edmonton Elks this season in the fact that they have been more consistent in keeping games close. The only big margin loss the Saskatchewan Roughriders encountered this season was their 45-27 defeat via the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in week 2. Take that game away, and they had a comeback 29-26 victory in Calgary in week 3. As the offensive roadblocks continue with Edmonton, it will be another tall task to walk away from Mosaic Stadium with a victory.

Game Details

Date / Location: Thursday, July 6th, 2023 / Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field / Regina, Saskatchewan

Kickoff Time: 9:00 pm EST

Channel: TSN / TSN+ / CBS Sports Network

Weather Forecast:  26 Degrees Celsius. A mix of sun and clouds throughout the day with a risk of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. 

Wind Gust: 20 Kilometres per hour.

Percentage of Precipitation: 30%

Odds

Spread: Saskatchewan Roughriders -7.5 (-135), Edmonton Elks +7.5 (-135)

Moneyline: Saskatchewan Roughriders -286, Edmonton Elks +230

Over / Under: Over 42.5 (-120), Under 42.5 (-120)

Edmonton Elks Week 5 Depth Chart vs Saskatchewan Roughriders

RT Brett Boyko who recently signed with the Edmonton Elks on Monday, July 3rd, 2023 will start. For a team that has had numerous issues in short yardage, any addition to add a veteran is a no-brainer.

Tre Ford has finally been added to the active squad. He will be slotted in as QB3. Taylor Cornelius will be placed as QB1, and Jarret Doege will be slotted in as QB2.

For receivers and backs, this remains predominately the same from last week. If there was a great change done last week with the absence of Eugene Lewis who is currently in week two of a week six injury; it was that of Maurice Ffrench. He was the only bright spot in creating any offence. He will start again for the Edmonton Elks this week.

It appears that Coach Chris Jones has got to use all of his resources on who will be positioned behind the center. One of the three quarterbacks has got to create a paradigm shift for this offence. With the Elks’ being the worse in just about every statistical category thus far in 2023, something has got to give sooner rather than later.

Injury Report

Saskatchewan Roughriders.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced the following names as officially out for week 5 vs the Edmonton Elks:

Matt Dean, LB

Jerald Hawkins, OL

Jake Wieneke, WR

Rodney Clemons, DB

Peter Godber, OL

Edmonton Elks.  The Edmonton Elks announced the following names as officially out for week 5 vs the Saskatchewan Roughriders:

Woodly Appolon, LB

Andrew Garnett, OL

Enock Makonzo, LB

Josiah St. John, OL

The Edmonton offence. It’s that simple. For a team that has been well below sub-par in point production, it will be up to the offence to lead this team positively. Unfortunately, the Edmonton defence gets no rest in between any series in which they have to be back on the field within two minutes or less regularly. The inevitable then comes to fruition in which a tired defence is then exposed in every category when playing with a short field.

Players to Watch

Maurice Ffrench:  He looked very good in training camp for the Elks, and it paid off with his first start last week in a loss to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. He was the go-to target in the latter part of the game in which his playmaking abilities were effective. Maurice Ffrench will need to be big again to have any chance of success in Regina.

The Edmonton Offensive Line:  It’s been lacking the nastiness in winning the battles of the trenches, along with many others with all things considered. They have got to win the battles in short yardage. There have been too many drives in which obtaining a first down had been a mountain of an obstacle to gain one to two yards to continue a drive regularly. The holding penalties throughout the season have also been a constant problem for the Edmonton offence.

Jamal Morrow:  He has been one of the best running backs in the CFL, and he will expose the Edmonton defence. He is a back that can do it all. His running and catching abilities have been displayed on multiple occasions. If this game does come down to the 4th quarter, Jamal Morrow knows how to control the clock to close out a game.

Larry Dean:  He is a solid linebacker, and can do a lot for your defense. He will make it difficult for the Edmoton offensive line to contain him on multiple defensive schemes. The Edmoton offensive line will have to be on the ball in limiting Larry Dean is creating any negative issues.

Score Prediction:

Any realist Edmonton fan will tell you that unless there is a turnaround in the offence, then the results will unfortunately be a repeat story every week. When you are going into the game hoping to win, then it is already a defeat mentally. When you go into a game stating we will win this game, then you are a good or great team that does have a chance of winning week in and week out. Unfortunately for Edmonton, this is the case as we hope we can win this game.

Final Score:

Saskatchewan Roughriders: 29

Edmonton Elks: 17

Once again, the Edmonton defence will be overworked and will allow most of the points in the 4th quarter as they will be worn down to fatigue. The Edmonton offensive woes continue in which they will not be able to continue drives, and will transition to a lot of punting. 

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