OUT OF THE TUNNEL: THE EMERGENCE OF CODY FAJARDO

BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF

Thursday night already feels like a lifetime ago but the continuing story of Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo is bound to stay with fans for a long time to come.

It was a whirlwind two days for the Brea, California product. On Wednesday he saw the Riders trade opening game starter, Zach Collaros  to the Toronto Argonauts which all but guarantees Fajardo the starting spot for the rest of the season. And he wasted no time proving to Rider Nation why it was the right decision as Thursday ended with a come from behind 24-19 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

First to the trade. The Riders have pushed all of their cards in on Fajardo. This leaves them with an incredibly young backup in Isaac Harker and as we have already seen this season – here and across the CFL – every team needs a capable backup. If Fajardo gets hurt, it puts what could be a great season in incredible jeopardy.

Now let’s fast forward to the off-season. If Fajardo has a great season, he can darn near get whatever he wants from the Roughriders. There will be none of the big name free agent quarterbacks like this past free agent season and there will be plenty of suitors for Fajardo’s services which will up the price of an upcoming contract. Add in the fact that Saskatchewan is hosting the Grey Cup, and the pressure will be on to re-sign him.

Thursday’s game was the first that saw Fajardo lead the Riders on a come-from-behind game winning drive this season. It was a game that shouldn’t have come to this. The Ticats were missing their top offensive players and the Riders should have rolled to victory on a sweltering Thursday night.

However it was an important victory for the Green and White. It was their first over a team with a winning record this season and it also tightened up the standings in the West Division. The Riders now find themselves just a game out of first in a race that sees just two points separating Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan.

It sets up a great matchup in Montreal on Friday night. The Alouettes are the surprise of the CFL with their 3-3 record and in an early fight for a playoff spot.

This won’t be easy for the Roughriders. The Alouettes love to run the football. They have one of the top running games in the CFL and if the injuries to defensive tackles Zack Evans and Micah Johnson carry over this week, it will be a tough one for the Rider defence.

This will be an old school CFL battle because Saskatchewan has a great running game as well. Running back William Powell leads the CFL in carries and the Riders have zero problems grinding out long drives and sucking the time off of the clock.

It’s also a match-up of a pair of quarterbacks who took very “CFL routes” to leading their teams.

NFL teams usually draft a franchise quarterback in the first round and ride them as long as they can, seeing a pivot bounce around and finally grab a starting spot is rare. This is for many reasons, most of them pig-headed general managers who don’t want to admit their mistakes for investing a ton of money on a dud. There are exceptions but the ones who have great success are few.

The CFL is a whole different story. Cody Fajardo and the Alouettes Vernon Adams Jr. are the poster children for it.

Fajardo began his professional career by getting cut by the Oakland Raiders in September 2015 and a month later getting signed to the Toronto Argonauts. He played two seasons with the double-blue, mainly as the short yardage quarterback before being pushed aside for James Franklin.

The B.C. Lions was Fajardo’s next stop but it was more of the same; mostly short-yardage packages while attempting only 20 passes all season.

He got his opportunity with the Riders as the outright backup and he is now leading the way for Saskatchewan.

Vernon Adams Jr. is similar.  He began with a couple of mini-camp tryouts in the NFL before signing with the Alouettes in 2016. He won all three games at the end of the 2016 season but was traded to the Roughriders in August the following season where he served primarily (much like Fajardo during most of his CFL career) as the short yardage quarterback.

Adams was traded to Hamilton in the off-season in a deal that brought Charleston Hughes to the Riders. Hamilton released Adams after training camp and a few days later signed back with Montreal.

Fast forward a year later and Adams began the 2019 season as the backup to Antonio Pipkin. Pipkin was injured and it’s now Adams’ team.

This will be one of the stories that the TSN broadcast will pounce on this week but that’s okay. They are a pair of great stories of perseverance and what happens when good football players get a chance to finally prove themselves over an extended period of time.

The Riders will have a bye-week after the Alouette game before they host the Ottawa Redblacks on August 24. These are two must-win games for Saskatchewan because after that it will be a grind.

We will finally hit the part of the schedule where we see western rivals. The second half of the season will see the Riders play seven of their last nine games against their western foes.

For Montreal, a win is key to keep pace in the East and to thwart a West Division crossover.

It’s been a while since a Saskatchewan/Montreal game has meant something and it feels good.

(Photo: Hannah Souster)