With rookie camps completed and training camps already underway, CFL football is officially back.
As teams start their preparation for the 2026 season beginning June 4 on TSN, every franchise has one big question heading into the new campaign that needs to be answered.
For the Edmonton Elks, it’s the big boys up front, as a largely revamped unit will look to continue the momentum that the new-look organization built late last season.
Edmonton had a different feel to them in 2025 than in years past. After going 18-50 over the past four seasons, the organization gutted its staff from top to bottom last off-season, making changes in the front office and on the coaching staff.
President and CEO Chris Morris and vice-president and general manager Ed Hervey were brought in to run the operations, while head coach Mark Kilam, offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic, and defensive coordinator J.C. Sherritt swapped in on the coaching front.
Overall, the changes helped turn out about .500 ball (6-7) over the final 13 games of the season, which, believe it or not, is one of the team’s best stretches of play post-pandemic.
Now the leadership group enters year two, and GM Hervey made it a mission to address the offensive line. Starting pivot Cody Fajardo took the most sacks by any quarterback (also partly because of Fajardo) while the Elks allowed the second most sacks as a team overall (52).
Hervey picked heavily from his former Hamilton Tiger-Cats team in free agency, especially in the trenches. Edmonton signed former Ticats Coulter Woodmansey, Brendan Bordner, and Jordan Murray, while also adding edge Malik Carney, quarterback Taylor Powell, and wideout Brendan O’Leary-Orange (Hervey also signed three other former Tiger-Cats last free agency period).
Edmonton got beaten down in pass protection at tackle on both sides in 2025. Between starters Martez Ivey and Brett Boyko, as well as Mark Evans II and Greg Eliand, who also got snaps on the outside, all four of them found themselves in the bottom 10 in pressure rate allowed among tackles.
Enter Bordner and Murray on the outside, who both finished in the top 10 in pressure rate allowed last season. Bordner, in particular, has been a sneaky standout over the past two seasons in Hamilton, only allowing 45 total pressures across 1,182 pass blocking snaps over the past two seasons (3.8 per cent pressure rate), per Pro Football Focus.
It was much better along the interior in 2025, especially after mid-season acquisition Carter O’Donnell entered the fray. After five years in the NFL after coming out of Morris’ Alberta Golden Bear program, O’Donnell was one of the best guards in the league in his 240-plus snaps to end the year. Nationals in guard Mark Korte and centre David Beard have been some of the most consistent guys from their respective positions over the past three years as well.
That didn’t stop Edmonton from going out and getting the top Canadian linemen available in free agency in Woodmansey. While regarded as a better run blocker, the 28-year-old veteran has also only allowed 68 pressures in over 2,000 pass blocking snaps across the past three seasons as well (3.2 per cent pressure rate), per PFF.
Overall, the Elks have at least seven linemen that could easily start in the CFL, making for one of the deepest units in the league. It all starts up front, and Edmonton has made a significant investment into it. Between Woodmansey, Korte, Beard, O’Donnell, Bordner, Murray, and Boyko, it would be shocking if Edmonton didn’t find more success up front even if they did end up cutting one or two guys.
The Elks are looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and an improved offensive line will be the key in doing so.
