The Roster: Stay or Go

[EsksTMac]

Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve done this!

To start, I think there were significant steps taken. I didn’t follow this team after the name change but came back when Chris Morris and Ed Hervey were hired.

I largely agree that wholesale changes don’t need to be made but rather some tinkering. Here are the 2026 free agents according to the World Wide Web.

Free Agents:

QB: Cody Fajardo - it’s one of the biggest decisions that this team has to face is with the QB’s. I would love for the QB room to stay as is with Ford on a renegotiated deal at a lesser number. However, I doubt that happens and it’s likely best for Ford that he ends up somewhere else. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to burn us in the future because looking around the league - not a lot of QB options available as far as the future is concerned.

With Fajardo - he is what he is. A veteran who’s a capable starter. I question the ceiling of a Fajardo-led team. You would have to have a 2015 level of D and special teams to win a Grey Cup. With that said, there are no better options and I’m sure Morris and Hervey want to make the playoffs so Fajardo stays. However, it should be priority 1 to find a long-term QB option. STAY.


FB: Tanner Green - will be 33 next year. Unless he’s a significant part of the leadership core behind the scenes, he should be a goner. As far as cap resources, he’s likely not making the league minimum as a veteran player and I’m sure that money can be allocated in other places. I took some heat for this comment earlier in the year - but there’s a lot of guys who look like me on the special teams unit. White and deceptively fast (slow). I really think this special teams unit needs a huge boost of athleticism and physicality. Less plucky white dudes who know their role and do it well - more athletes who need to be coached but have higher upside. GO.

WR: Steven Dunbar Jr - Seems like a huge part of the leadership core. We missed him a great deal. The receiving core absolutely needs a number 1 - but Dunbar is the best number 2 who can block, move the chains and leads. STAY.

WR - KGJ and KJG: I feel very similar about both of these guys. Both are Canadian, both similar in age. Both similar in games. You generally don’t want to take away from your Canadian talent, but there’s only 5 starting receiver positions. If one spot is Dunbar, another spot is _____ who’s a number 1 receiver, and another spot is Victor or Hiliare (both showed really good progress) - that means KGJ and KJG round out the receiving core. I’d do it as long as the contracts are reasonable. STAY.

WR - Tyson Middlemost and Arkell Smith: No idea who Middlemost is and poor Arkell Smith deserves a contract extension just from the amount of hospital balls Fajardo and Ford threw him where he got blown up. However, I think Smith’s value comes mostly as a kick returner.

Here are the other STAY‘s for me:

DL: Noah Taylor - I think this is an absolute priority. You could tell from the start of the season that Taylor was a budding star. Lock him up by any means necessary.

DL: Noah Curtis - 6 sacks in 2024, national. Didn’t play at all this year due to injury.

DL: Jonathan Kongbo - 4 sacks, national. Keep provided price is right.

DB: Devodric Bynum - We missed him. He’s a playmaker from what I’ve seen and heard, there’s gotta be a spot for that.

DB: Kobe Williams - massively improved as the year went on. I thought he was a bum after the first few weeks but he improved drastically. He played 18 games and contributed on special teams.

DL: Jake Ceresna - I highlighted Ceresna because he’s in his own category for me. I have no idea what to make of his season. He started off slow and wasn’t getting any push. He was completely invisible and looked washed when I went back and rewatched games. He wasn’t pushing the pocket, he wasn’t finishing tackles, and outside of a flukey interception, he wasn’t making plays. Then, he battled injuries every week and I started to wonder if maybe he was just hurt all year. You can also count for certain he’s one of the highest paid players on the team. So if he takes a team friendly deal, I would bring him back for leadership purposes and to see if 2025 was just a bad year for him due to the injuries. He’ll be 32 next year, there’s no reason he can’t be an Almondo Sewell type and play into his mid 30’s with reasonable production. But 1 sack ain’t gonna cut it.

Here are the other GO‘s as far as the free agents:

LB: Michael Brodrique and Josiah Schakel: don’t have a good sense of even who these are. I’ll leave it to smarter people than me to decide. Schakel had 8 special teams tackles and is from Alberta - he should likely be kept on those factors alone.

DL: Brandon Barlow, Francis Bemiy, Jordan Williams

OL: Brett Boyko and Gregor MacKellar: I thought these two were the weak links of the OL all year. MacKellar got replaced, thankfully. Boyko stayed in there all year. Big salary guy. Goodbye.

Onto the non free agents:

STAY:

- LB Nick Anderson (core piece, despite injuries)
- DL Jared Brinkman
- WR Victor
- JJ Ross (core piece)
- RB Justin Rankin (core piece)
- OL Carter O’Donnell (core piece)
- LB Brock Mogensen (core piece, stunned with his development)
- LB Kenneth Logan Jr (core piece)
- OL Mark Korte (core piece)
- OL Martez Ivey
- OL David Beard (needs to be better)
- P Jake Julien
- DL Tyreek Johnson (looked really good)
- DB Kordell Jackson (core piece)
- WR Hiliare
- DB Garnes
- DB Tyrell Ford (was kind of surprised at the extension)
- LB Joel Dublanko (saw some improvement. Not sure if he’s a starter, but can play ST at worst)
- WR Calhoun
- K Vincent Blanchard

GO:

- QB Tre Ford (would love him at a lesser deal, doubt it happens)
- RB/KR Javon Leake (looked like he took a step back this year as far as athleticism. Hopefully we can find someone more explosive)
- DL Robbie Smith
- QB Cole Snyder
- LB Nyles Morgan (thought he was terrible outside of just before he got hurt. We have others to fill his spot)
- WR Zach Mathis
- DB Royche Metchie (Achilles tear, wasn’t good before it)


There’s a lot of other guys on the roster I didn’t mention, mostly special teams guys or guys that never saw much playing time. Here are my off-season priorities:

- Figure out the long term QB, with Fajardo as the bridge
- Get more athletic on D and special teams
- Find a number 1 receiver
- Improve the trenches with OL and DL. Both units improved as the season went on but we’ll need more.
- Re-sign Noah Taylor

Everyone else’s thoughts? What areas of the team need the most attention in your eyes?

[dealerd]

Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve done this!

To start, I think there were significant steps taken. I didn’t follow this team after the name change but came back when Chris Morris and Ed Hervey were hired.

I largely agree that wholesale changes don’t need to be made but rather some tinkering. Here are the 2026 free agents according to the World Wide Web.

Free Agents:

QB: Cody Fajardo - it’s one of the biggest decisions that this team has to face is with the QB’s. I would love for the QB room to stay as is with Ford on a renegotiated deal at a lesser number. However, I doubt that happens and it’s likely best for Ford that he ends up somewhere else. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to burn us in the future because looking around the league - not a lot of QB options available as far as the future is concerned.

With Fajardo - he is what he is. A veteran who’s a capable starter. I question the ceiling of a Fajardo-led team. You would have to have a 2015 level of D and special teams to win a Grey Cup. With that said, there are no better options and I’m sure Morris and Hervey want to make the playoffs so Fajardo stays. However, it should be priority 1 to find a long-term QB option. STAY.


FB: Tanner Green - will be 33 next year. Unless he’s a significant part of the leadership core behind the scenes, he should be a goner. As far as cap resources, he’s likely not making the league minimum as a veteran player and I’m sure that money can be allocated in other places. I took some heat for this comment earlier in the year - but there’s a lot of guys who look like me on the special teams unit. White and deceptively fast (slow). I really think this special teams unit needs a huge boost of athleticism and physicality. Less plucky white dudes who know their role and do it well - more athletes who need to be coached but have higher upside. GO.

WR: Steven Dunbar Jr - Seems like a huge part of the leadership core. We missed him a great deal. The receiving core absolutely needs a number 1 - but Dunbar is the best number 2 who can block, move the chains and leads. STAY.

WR - KGJ and KJG: I feel very similar about both of these guys. Both are Canadian, both similar in age. Both similar in games. You generally don’t want to take away from your Canadian talent, but there’s only 5 starting receiver positions. If one spot is Dunbar, another spot is _____ who’s a number 1 receiver, and another spot is Victor or Hiliare (both showed really good progress) - that means KGJ and KJG round out the receiving core. I’d do it as long as the contracts are reasonable. STAY.

WR - Tyson Middlemost and Arkell Smith: No idea who Middlemost is and poor Arkell Smith deserves a contract extension just from the amount of hospital balls Fajardo and Ford threw him where he got blown up. However, I think Smith’s value comes mostly as a kick returner.

Here are the other STAY‘s for me:

DL: Noah Taylor - I think this is an absolute priority. You could tell from the start of the season that Taylor was a budding star. Lock him up by any means necessary.

DL: Noah Curtis - 6 sacks in 2024, national. Didn’t play at all this year due to injury.

DL: Jonathan Kongbo - 4 sacks, national. Keep provided price is right.

DB: Devodric Bynum - We missed him. He’s a playmaker from what I’ve seen and heard, there’s gotta be a spot for that.

DB: Kobe Williams - massively improved as the year went on. I thought he was a bum after the first few weeks but he improved drastically. He played 18 games and contributed on special teams.

DL: Jake Ceresna - I highlighted Ceresna because he’s in his own category for me. I have no idea what to make of his season. He started off slow and wasn’t getting any push. He was completely invisible and looked washed when I went back and rewatched games. He wasn’t pushing the pocket, he wasn’t finishing tackles, and outside of a flukey interception, he wasn’t making plays. Then, he battled injuries every week and I started to wonder if maybe he was just hurt all year. You can also count for certain he’s one of the highest paid players on the team. So if he takes a team friendly deal, I would bring him back for leadership purposes and to see if 2025 was just a bad year for him due to the injuries. He’ll be 32 next year, there’s no reason he can’t be an Almondo Sewell type and play into his mid 30’s with reasonable production. But 1 sack ain’t gonna cut it.

Here are the other GO‘s as far as the free agents:

LB: Michael Brodrique and Josiah Schakel: don’t have a good sense of even who these are. I’ll leave it to smarter people than me to decide. Schakel had 8 special teams tackles and is from Alberta - he should likely be kept on those factors alone.

DL: Brandon Barlow, Francis Bemiy, Jordan Williams

OL: Brett Boyko and Gregor MacKellar: I thought these two were the weak links of the OL all year. MacKellar got replaced, thankfully. Boyko stayed in there all year. Big salary guy. Goodbye.

Onto the non free agents:

STAY:

- LB Nick Anderson (core piece, despite injuries)
- DL Jared Brinkman
- WR Victor
- JJ Ross (core piece)
- RB Justin Rankin (core piece)
- OL Carter O’Donnell (core piece)
- LB Brock Mogensen (core piece, stunned with his development)
- LB Kenneth Logan Jr (core piece)
- OL Mark Korte (core piece)
- OL Martez Ivey
- OL David Beard (needs to be better)
- P Jake Julien
- DL Tyreek Johnson (looked really good)
- DB Kordell Jackson (core piece)
- WR Hiliare
- DB Garnes
- DB Tyrell Ford (was kind of surprised at the extension)
- LB Joel Dublanko (saw some improvement. Not sure if he’s a starter, but can play ST at worst)
- WR Calhoun
- K Vincent Blanchard

GO:

- QB Tre Ford (would love him at a lesser deal, doubt it happens)
- RB/KR Javon Leake (looked like he took a step back this year as far as athleticism. Hopefully we can find someone more explosive)
- DL Robbie Smith
- QB Cole Snyder
- LB Nyles Morgan (thought he was terrible outside of just before he got hurt. We have others to fill his spot)
- WR Zach Mathis
- DB Royche Metchie (Achilles tear, wasn’t good before it)


There’s a lot of other guys on the roster I didn’t mention, mostly special teams guys or guys that never saw much playing time. Here are my off-season priorities:

- Figure out the long term QB, with Fajardo as the bridge
- Get more athletic on D and special teams
- Find a number 1 receiver
- Improve the trenches with OL and DL. Both units improved as the season went on but we’ll need more.
- Re-sign Noah Taylor

Everyone else’s thoughts? What areas of the team need the most attention in your eyes?
Very good article , Tanner Green makes 103k base salary and 119k max salary
Zach Mathis ,Jones gave up a first round pick in the draft to get his rights , not sure if that matters , Leake I’d keep unless someone beats him out in camp , he comes with a higher price tag as well , seems to love Edmonton , but yes he wasn’t as explosive as past years , Brodrique and Schakel are solid special teams guys , as well as Canadians , everything else looks good in your article

[siggy]

Javon Leake had two punt return touchdowns this year, the first one of which was our first one in almost 10 years I think? I'm not sure I'd say he lost a step. I will say though, I would have liked to see him utilized in the offense more, mixing him in with Rankin to keep defenses on their heels. Maybe they were trying to keep him fresh for returns? Not sure.

I mostly agree with the rest, depending on if we can replace them with better options of course.

[cmbuk]

Javon Leake had two punt return touchdowns this year, the first one of which was our first one in almost 10 years I think? I'm not sure I'd say he lost a step. I will say though, I would have liked to see him utilized in the offense more, mixing him in with Rankin to keep defenses on their heels. Maybe they were trying to keep him fresh for returns? Not sure.

I mostly agree with the rest, depending on if we can replace them with better options of course.

We should have moved leake to wr

[ben_the_eskimo]

Javon Leake had two punt return touchdowns this year, the first one of which was our first one in almost 10 years I think? I'm not sure I'd say he lost a step. I will say though, I would have liked to see him utilized in the offense more, mixing him in with Rankin to keep defenses on their heels. Maybe they were trying to keep him fresh for returns? Not sure.

I mostly agree with the rest, depending on if we can replace them with better options of course.

It’s funny to me that we had the best return game we’ve seen here in a decade and people are complaining about the returner lol.

[cmbuk]

It’s funny to me that we had the best return game we’ve seen here in a decade and people are complaining about the returner lol.

KR- 1076 yards 22.1 avg
PR - 879 yards 12.7 avg ( 2 tds )

I think leake was more than ok..

his O touches were down… but I’d have put him on postion to catch wr screens etc.. generate touches for a guy who is a prob with ball in hand..

but that’s just me

[Esks4ever]

KR- 1076 yards 22.1 avg
PR - 879 yards 12.7 avg ( 2 tds )

I think leake was more than ok..

his O touches were down… but I’d have put him on postion to catch wr screens etc.. generate touches for a guy who is a prob with ball in hand..

but that’s just me

you'd think a OC would utilize the weapons available to him

[cmbuk]

you'd think a OC would utilize the weapons available to him

I know I would

[Esks4ever]

I know I would

Did we even seem them ( Rankin and Leake) in the backfield together more than 3 times ?

i even thought they where misusing Jullian Grant

[dealerd]

Did we even seem them ( Rankin and Leake) in the backfield together more than 3 times ?

i even thought they where misusing Jullian Grant

It seems like JM is allergic to use the running game in his OC play calling, I’m sure when he was OC in BC same thing , he never used the running game enough , if I recall correctly

[Looner]

great post, most of which I agree with. The only ones I would hang onto that you wouldn't would be Leake (good friends with Rank and put up a couple of TDs), Cole Snyder (lets see what a year of development in our offence looks like) and possibly Shakel as hes a good teamer and I doubt he's overly expensive.

[ben_the_eskimo]

great post, most of which I agree with. The only ones I would hang onto that you wouldn't would be Leake (good friends with Rank and put up a couple of TDs), Cole Snyder (lets see what a year of development in our offence looks like) and possibly Shakel as hes a good teamer and I doubt he's overly expensive.

Yeah I like Shakel on teams as well. I disagree with the assertion that we don’t have enough athleticism on special teams. I think it’s quite the opposite actually and without having the stats in front of me I have a gut feeling that the numbers would bear that out.

I actually thought our ST’s as a whole (save for a few missed FG’s from our rookie kicker, who was a beast on kickoffs and had long streak in the middle part of the season on FG’s) was the most consistently good facet of our team this year.

[Looner]

Yeah I like Shakel on teams as well. I disagree with the assertion that we don’t have enough athleticism on special teams. I think it’s quite the opposite actually and without having the stats in front of me I have a gut feeling that the numbers would bear that out.

I actually thought our ST’s as a whole (save for a few missed FG’s from our rookie kicker, who was a beast on kickoffs and had long streak in the middle part of the season on FG’s) was the most consistently good facet of our team this year.

best its been in a long time for sure

[BeaverSports]

Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve done this!

To start, I think there were significant steps taken. I didn’t follow this team after the name change but came back when Chris Morris and Ed Hervey were hired.

I largely agree that wholesale changes don’t need to be made but rather some tinkering. Here are the 2026 free agents according to the World Wide Web.

Free Agents:

QB: Cody Fajardo - it’s one of the biggest decisions that this team has to face is with the QB’s. I would love for the QB room to stay as is with Ford on a renegotiated deal at a lesser number. However, I doubt that happens and it’s likely best for Ford that he ends up somewhere else. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to burn us in the future because looking around the league - not a lot of QB options available as far as the future is concerned.

With Fajardo - he is what he is. A veteran who’s a capable starter. I question the ceiling of a Fajardo-led team. You would have to have a 2015 level of D and special teams to win a Grey Cup. With that said, there are no better options and I’m sure Morris and Hervey want to make the playoffs so Fajardo stays. However, it should be priority 1 to find a long-term QB option. STAY.


FB: Tanner Green - will be 33 next year. Unless he’s a significant part of the leadership core behind the scenes, he should be a goner. As far as cap resources, he’s likely not making the league minimum as a veteran player and I’m sure that money can be allocated in other places. I took some heat for this comment earlier in the year - but there’s a lot of guys who look like me on the special teams unit. White and deceptively fast (slow). I really think this special teams unit needs a huge boost of athleticism and physicality. Less plucky white dudes who know their role and do it well - more athletes who need to be coached but have higher upside. GO.

WR: Steven Dunbar Jr - Seems like a huge part of the leadership core. We missed him a great deal. The receiving core absolutely needs a number 1 - but Dunbar is the best number 2 who can block, move the chains and leads. STAY.

WR - KGJ and KJG: I feel very similar about both of these guys. Both are Canadian, both similar in age. Both similar in games. You generally don’t want to take away from your Canadian talent, but there’s only 5 starting receiver positions. If one spot is Dunbar, another spot is _____ who’s a number 1 receiver, and another spot is Victor or Hiliare (both showed really good progress) - that means KGJ and KJG round out the receiving core. I’d do it as long as the contracts are reasonable. STAY.

WR - Tyson Middlemost and Arkell Smith: No idea who Middlemost is and poor Arkell Smith deserves a contract extension just from the amount of hospital balls Fajardo and Ford threw him where he got blown up. However, I think Smith’s value comes mostly as a kick returner.

Here are the other STAY‘s for me:

DL: Noah Taylor - I think this is an absolute priority. You could tell from the start of the season that Taylor was a budding star. Lock him up by any means necessary.

DL: Noah Curtis - 6 sacks in 2024, national. Didn’t play at all this year due to injury.

DL: Jonathan Kongbo - 4 sacks, national. Keep provided price is right.

DB: Devodric Bynum - We missed him. He’s a playmaker from what I’ve seen and heard, there’s gotta be a spot for that.

DB: Kobe Williams - massively improved as the year went on. I thought he was a bum after the first few weeks but he improved drastically. He played 18 games and contributed on special teams.

DL: Jake Ceresna - I highlighted Ceresna because he’s in his own category for me. I have no idea what to make of his season. He started off slow and wasn’t getting any push. He was completely invisible and looked washed when I went back and rewatched games. He wasn’t pushing the pocket, he wasn’t finishing tackles, and outside of a flukey interception, he wasn’t making plays. Then, he battled injuries every week and I started to wonder if maybe he was just hurt all year. You can also count for certain he’s one of the highest paid players on the team. So if he takes a team friendly deal, I would bring him back for leadership purposes and to see if 2025 was just a bad year for him due to the injuries. He’ll be 32 next year, there’s no reason he can’t be an Almondo Sewell type and play into his mid 30’s with reasonable production. But 1 sack ain’t gonna cut it.

Here are the other GO‘s as far as the free agents:

LB: Michael Brodrique and Josiah Schakel: don’t have a good sense of even who these are. I’ll leave it to smarter people than me to decide. Schakel had 8 special teams tackles and is from Alberta - he should likely be kept on those factors alone.

DL: Brandon Barlow, Francis Bemiy, Jordan Williams

OL: Brett Boyko and Gregor MacKellar: I thought these two were the weak links of the OL all year. MacKellar got replaced, thankfully. Boyko stayed in there all year. Big salary guy. Goodbye.

Onto the non free agents:

STAY:

- LB Nick Anderson (core piece, despite injuries)
- DL Jared Brinkman
- WR Victor
- JJ Ross (core piece)
- RB Justin Rankin (core piece)
- OL Carter O’Donnell (core piece)
- LB Brock Mogensen (core piece, stunned with his development)
- LB Kenneth Logan Jr (core piece)
- OL Mark Korte (core piece)
- OL Martez Ivey
- OL David Beard (needs to be better)
- P Jake Julien
- DL Tyreek Johnson (looked really good)
- DB Kordell Jackson (core piece)
- WR Hiliare
- DB Garnes
- DB Tyrell Ford (was kind of surprised at the extension)
- LB Joel Dublanko (saw some improvement. Not sure if he’s a starter, but can play ST at worst)
- WR Calhoun
- K Vincent Blanchard

GO:

- QB Tre Ford (would love him at a lesser deal, doubt it happens)
- RB/KR Javon Leake (looked like he took a step back this year as far as athleticism. Hopefully we can find someone more explosive)
- DL Robbie Smith
- QB Cole Snyder
- LB Nyles Morgan (thought he was terrible outside of just before he got hurt. We have others to fill his spot)
- WR Zach Mathis
- DB Royche Metchie (Achilles tear, wasn’t good before it)


There’s a lot of other guys on the roster I didn’t mention, mostly special teams guys or guys that never saw much playing time. Here are my off-season priorities:

- Figure out the long term QB, with Fajardo as the bridge
- Get more athletic on D and special teams
- Find a number 1 receiver
- Improve the trenches with OL and DL. Both units improved as the season went on but we’ll need more.
- Re-sign Noah Taylor

Everyone else’s thoughts? What areas of the team need the most attention in your eyes?

I think we see things very similarly. I’d like to keep Schakel as a special teams piece, and would probably like to keep Leake at this point, but otherwise I’m with you.

I wouldn’t be entirely disappointed if Barlow was back as I thought he was one of the early bright spots on D.

I’m also still incredibly intrigued by Mathis. I don’t think you can walk from a receiver with his size and athleticism. If he stayed healthy, I think he could have been a go-to guy in that corps. Not sure Jones and Geroy were completely off spending a high pick to sign him.

[BeaverSports]

Is there a stay-or-go coaching wise? Something in Kilam’s year-end remarks made me wonder if JM would be back. It sounded to me like they weren’t always on the same page throughout the year.

Any others? Do they move on from Sorrells at OL?