Should Elks Stay With Cody Fajardo at QB Over Tre Ford?

It's another season of the Edmonton Elks having a quarterback controversy with Tre Ford in the middle of it.

The Elks decided to go with the veteran Cody Fajardo to start at quarterback on Friday night against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Despite a furious comeback attempt by Edmonton after being down 21-4 in the fourth quarter, the Elks fell short in a 21-18 loss.

Fajardo performed well under the circumstances he was dealing with on the field. The offensive line for the Elks struggled mightily, with eight sacks allowed. Even with that, Fajardo still finished 26 of 33 for 346 yards and two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Has Fajardo claimed the Elks' starting quarterback job from Ford?

It's been a mixed-bag performance from Ford's first full season as the starting quarterback for Edmonton. He has completed 67.8% of his passes for 984 yards and five touchdowns to three interceptions. He's added 152 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Not everything should be pinned on Ford, though, as the team has struggled all season with one win on their ledger. The defense has struggled, with the unit allowing over 30 points in every game except for Friday's match with the Riders.

Fajardo's performance does bring an interesting situation for Elks head coach Mark Kilam. Even with the struggles of the offense through three quarters, Fajardo was accurate with the football and still managed to get the team within three points.

It's a tough situation as Fajardo is older, but been more accurate throwing while Ford is younger and more athletic. Not putting Ford back on the field runs the Elks the risk of upsetting a guy who they viewed as the franchise quarterback. The team needed a spark on offense, though, and some could argue it could have gone either way.

Fajardo didn't do anything on Friday to warrant losing his job for the time being, but something has to give with Edmonton. The franchise continues to struggle with putting a winning season together and it seems to be going in the wrong direction.

Ford feels like more of the guy that could be a spark plug, but the defense doesn't afford the offense the right opportunities to run as designed since the Elks are constantly playing from behind. For the time being, it could be Fajardo's job until the wheels fall off on offense again and the team goes back to Ford.