Roughriders’ pivot Fajardo deserves MOP consideration
Unexpected starting quarterback has taken No. 1 job and excelled throughout season
Cody Fajardo, once a candidate for mop-up duty, is now MOP material.
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, and voting soon to commence for the CFL’S player awards, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ charismatic quarterback deserves strong consideration for most-outstanding-player laurels.
Such a notion would have been dismissed as preposterous when the Green and White began training camp, at which point Zach Collaros was the uncontested No. 1 quarterback.
Back then, it was debatable as to whether Fajardo could leapfrog David Watford for the second-string job.
Fajardo seemed to be tailor-made for the role of short-yardage quarterback, considering his proficiency as a third-down specialist with the Toronto Argonauts and B.C. Lions.
Everything changed when Collaros was concussed on the season’s third play from scrimmage.
Fajardo has started the Roughriders’ subsequent 14 games, celebrating 10 victories and looking very much like a foundational player.
Without him, Saskatchewan likely would have been vying for a crossover playoff berth, if that.
The personable pivot has simply saved the Roughriders’ season, during which he has engineered three fourth-quarter comeback victories.
Who else has done more for his club in 2019?
Roughriders defensive end Charleston Hughes is enjoying another superlative season, as evidenced by his league-leading total of 15 sacks. However, Fajardo occupies another tier as a result of his excellence at football’s most important position.
Fajardo’s total of touchdown passes (15) is far from staggering, but he could very well lead the league in passing yards — as a first-year starter.
He has thrown for 3,649 yards while completing 71.0 per cent of his passes, an accuracy rate that puts him in line to eclipse the Roughriders’ single-season standard of 67.9, set by Kevin Glenn in 2017.
Fajardo’s quarterback-efficiency rating is an impressive 102.3 — 10.3 points higher than that of the Calgary Stampeders’ Bo Levi Mitchell, the reigning MOP.
Consider, too, that Fajardo is the league’s seventh-leading ground-gainer (with 590 yards) and is fourth in rushing TDS
(10).
The intangibles? Off the charts.
Therefore, he has to be in the conversation when MOP candidates are discussed.
A torrid finish to the regular season — against opponents that are eminently beatable — could strengthen the case in favour of Fajardo, who is to return to action Friday in B.C.
Fajardo’s toughest competition in the West Division — aside from Hughes — should be the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Andrew Harris.
In 14 games, Harris has piled up 1,261 rushing yards while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He has added 61 receptions for 487 yards. Total yards from scrimmage: 1,748.
Ahh, but there is also the matter of a two-game, league-issued suspension Harris served in September after testing positive for a banned substance.
If those who vote for award nominees widely perceive the suspension to be a disqualifier, Fajardo easily could emerge as the West Division finalist for MOP.
In the East Division, there are two candidates of note — Hamilton Tiger-cats slotback Brandon Banks and Montreal Alouettes quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.
Like Fajardo, Adams has surprisingly emerged as a starter and helped his team secure a playoff berth.
Banks, meanwhile, has been the premier player on a team that boasts the league’s best record (12-3). Even so, is Banks enjoying the type of season that makes him a surefire MOP?
His receiving totals — 1,233 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games — are impressive, but not the knockout numbers that one would ordinarily associate with an Mop-winning pass-catcher.
The mind rewinds to 2006, when B.C.’S Geroy Simon was called to the podium for his 1,856 receiving yards and 15
TDS.
Winnipeg’s Milt Stegall had a similar yardage total (1,862) in 2002, when he caught a league-record 23 TD passes en route to being named the MOP.
Banks isn’t in that stratosphere — not at his current rate of production, anyway.
Although the versatile Banks has 12 touchdowns overall, he is only two ahead of Fajardo.
Banks has amassed 1,712 all-purpose yards, but Toronto slotback-returner Chad Owens had a league-record 3,863 when he was named the MOP in 2012.
So, all things considered, there should be more than a sprinkle of hope for Fajardo.