Elks QB Cornelius excited to play in new-look offence

Edmonton Elks quarterback Taylor Cornelius spoke about his excitement about the team’s revamped receiving corps, his off-season training program and more on TSN Edmonton 1260 on Thursday. 

Cornelius, 27, started the final 12 games of the season for the Elks in 2022 after Nick Arbuckle and Tre Ford struggled to open the year, splitting three starts apiece as the Elks went 2-4. 

While the team held a 2-10 record in the 12 games started by Cornelius, he stabilized the quarterback position, throwing for 11 touchdowns, nine interceptions and 2,768 yards. His QB rating of 82 was far stronger than that of Arbuckle (64.8) and Ford (57.7).

"The biggest thing I took away is that I can play up here, and definitely towards the end of the season I felt this team took that next step of coming together," said Cornelius. "[I think] we had some momentum going into the off-season."

Dillon Mitchell was the bright spot for the Elks' receiving group last season. A former Minnesota Vikings draft pick, he joined the team midway through the year and averaged 70.8 receiving yards per game in the final nine games. 

Head coach and general manager Chris Jones brought in three new receiving targets for Cornelius during the off-season, adding Geno Lewis, Kyran Moore, and Steven Dunbar Jr.

Lewis caught 91 passes for 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns with the Montreal Alouettes last season, and Dunbar, in his second season in the CFL last year, grabbed 72 passes for 1,000 yards and six touchdowns with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. 

"We talked in the off-season, me and Coach Jones, about who we thought [we could sign], and he was asking my opinion," said Cornelius about the hunt for new players. "Obviously I gave the green light to go after those guys. I had no complaints about that."

Cornelius said he was excited to get on the field and see the new players in action.

"Once we got to camp we got to build that on-field chemistry, throwing the ball around, and it's been great,” he said. “They've all picked up the offence pretty fast and it's been fun to watch them in practice for sure."

The receiving corps isn't the only significant change to the Elks’ passing attack this season, according to Cornelius. He detailed some of the work he did in the off-season, including spending time with quarterback specialist Rob Williams in Vancouver. 

"He's the guy that worked with [former BC Lions QB] Nathan Rourke," said Cornelius. "We spent a lot of time together, revamping the throwing motion, things like that ... what he did with Rourke definitely worked, so we thought it would be dumb to not use that resource." 

The work will continue into the regular season as Cornelius tries to take his play to the next level and help the Elks earn the team’s first trip to the post-season since 2019. 

"It takes a little bit of work; obviously you can pick up some things here and there that can be changed easily to help yourself, but it'll take time to get it perfect every single time and become second nature," said Cornelius. "We're just working slowly at it right now."

The Elks will begin their preseason schedule on Monday, May 22 against the Calgary Stampeders. The regular season kicks off at home against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 11.