FAJARDO THE MAGNIFICENT
QB becomes fan favourite
Thanks to Cody Fajardo, the Saskatchewan Roughriders reached the midway point of the 2019 season after completing just 39 per cent of their schedule.
Following a 24-19 CFL victory over the Hamilton Tiger-cats on Aug. 1 at Mosaic Stadium, Fajardo — who had scored the game-winning touchdown with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter — waded into a mass of humanity at the Queen City Ex and memorably ingested a celebratory corn dog.
Good stick.
As a first-year starter, the 27-year-old Fajardo went on to quarterback Saskatchewan to first place in the West Division while becoming a sensation in Rider Nation.
Four of the Roughriders’ 13 victories — the team’s highest total in nearly 50 years — were courtesy of fourth-quarter, game-winning drives directed by Fajardo.
Along the way, the personable pivot signed thousands of autographs and one CFL contract
— an extension that enabled Saskatchewan to secure his services through the 2021 season.
The wisdom of the deal was confirmed when Fajardo was named a CFL all-star and the West Division’s most outstanding player. All that was missing from the improbable tale was a storybook ending.
Needing a home-field victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to earn a berth in the 107th Grey Cup game, the Roughriders lost 20-13 to the eventual league champion in the West final.
Fajardo’s final pass, intended for Kyran Moore in the end zone, hit the crossbar. Such was the stunning conclusion to a game in which Saskatchewan atypically failed to score a touchdown.
Even then, there was every reason to applaud and admire Fajardo, who threw for 366 yards despite being hampered by two torn oblique muscles and a playbook that should have been fed into the nearest shredder.
When everything is taken into consideration, 2019 truly was the Year of Fajardo.
And nobody saw it coming. A year ago at this time, the Roughriders’ quarterbacking situation was shrouded in uncertainty. Zach Collaros was coming off a two-concussion season and poised to hit free agency. His backup, Brandon Bridge, was not part of the Roughriders’ blueprint for 2019.
Plan A, as it turned out, was to woo Bo Levi Mitchell with an offer of $700,000 per annum in the hope of enticing him to leave the Calgary Stampeders.
When that proved to be futile, the Roughriders re-signed Collaros and, in a move that was generally regarded as an afterthought, reached agreement with Fajardo on a one-year deal.
Although it has been said many times, many ways, it bears repeating that Collaros was concussed on just the third play of the regular season.
At that point, the Roughriders were left to turn to someone who had been typecast as a short-yardage specialist since making his CFL debut in 2016.
After assuming the starter’s reins, all Fajardo did was rescue a Roughriders season that was seemingly destined for the dumpster. (See again: Saskatchewan offensive game plan, Nov. 17, 2019.) And you get the feeling that Fajardo, for all he accomplished in 2019, is just getting started.
What is he capable of accomplishing now that, for the first time as a professional athlete, he is a team’s unquestioned No. 1 quarterback?
Although Fajardo threw for a league-high 4,302 yards in 2019, he should be capable of exceeding the 5,000 mark while collaborating with pass-happy offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas, who has succeeded Stephen Mcadoo.
Fajardo’s total of 18 touchdown passes was uncommonly low for an all-star quarterback. Consider the fact that Joe (747) Adams connected for 19 majors with the Roughriders of 1982. In 2015, Brett Smith threw 15 TD passes for Saskatchewan while accepting only 40 per cent of the snaps.
It should be noted that Fajardo’s performance cannot be appraised solely by referencing passing statistics. He also rushed for 611 yards — the seventh-best total in the league — and 10 scores. That said, the Roughriders could be more proficient through the air while situated in the red zone. With a few tweaks, Fajardo could easily flirt with 30 TD passes, and do so for a succession of seasons.
The imagination runs wild when projections are made for Fajardo, whose on-field and interpersonal skills may very well enable him to become a generational player.
If that comes to pass, 2019 will long be remembered as the year in which Fajardo, and a new era in franchise history, arrived.
All Fajardo did was rescue a Roughriders season that was seemingly destined for the dumpster.