January 27, 2020

Steinberg’s MMQB: Building around a heart and soul

Matt Smith/CFL.ca

Cody Fajardo was one of 2019’s best stories. He had a breakout season as Saskatchewan’s starting quarterback, was the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player, and earned his first significant CFL contract as result. With his follow up season around the corner, it’s impossible to forecast how Fajardo will perform on the field.

One thing we do know, though, is how invested, committed, and bought-in he is to being a member of the Roughriders. Even if the statistics and/or win-loss record isn’t as impressive as what we saw in 2019, fans in Regina can be confident Fajardo is the right guy for the job. He wants to be there, he wants to win there, and what we saw last year has me convinced he’ll do everything and anything humanly possible to make that happen.

“He cares about Rider Nation, he cares about his teammates, he cares about the organization,” head coach Craig Dickenson told me earlier this month. “You can see that passion and that commitment to the team when he plays. He was hurt that last game and he was hurt probably a little worse than all of us knew. He was in a lot of pain and there’s no way he wasn’t going to play that last game.

“He feels a real sense of duty, not only to his teammates but to Rider Nation in general. I think that rubs off on the guys that he plays with. I think the guys see he’s willing to sacrifice and put it all out there for the team and that he really cares about the logo and the brand and the S. I think guys rally around that and I think that’s why you see Rider Nation embrace him so wholeheartedly. They know how much he cares and really appreciates being here.”

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Of course, the game Dickenson is referring to is Saskatchewan’s Western Final loss to Winnipeg in November. Playing with a painful oblique injury, Fajardo gutted his way through and almost brought the Riders all the way back before his final pass of the season clanked off the crossbar and out of reach.

It was an inspiring performance. But it was Fajardo’s reaction following the loss that struck me more than anything. Playing through all he was dealing with, Fajardo took the loss on his shoulders and apologized for letting Riders fans down. In reality, the loss was no one person’s to “own”, but that’s what leaders do.

You know that loss, and how it ended, is something that’ll stick with Fajardo all winter long and will be something driving him through off-season work and into camp. The next big step for Fajardo is to harness that motivation and use it the right way.

“I believe he’s going to try to do even more (this season),” Dickenson said. “My challenge and my goal this next year as a head coach is to make sure he understands he’s still one of 45 on game day. He doesn’t need to do any more or any less than he did in the previous year. He just needs to be himself and we’ll be just fine. That’s one of the things you love about Cody, but one of the things that I’m going to have to keep a close eye on, as well: making sure he doesn’t try to do too much. That he just plays his game and kind of lets the game come to him.”

One thing you don’t have to worry about is complacency. 2019 was a long time coming for Fajardo and a real test of patience. Following a stellar run at the University of Nevada, Fajardo had two stops in Toronto and a year with the Lions before landing with the Riders. Even then, it took a Week 1 injury to Zach Collaros to truly open the door.

“I’ve just been waiting for that opportunity,” Fajardo told Nevada Sports Net in December. “I’ve been a short yardage guy, they’ve kind of deemed me as that. (I’ve) been in situations where it was the one and two back and forth and I’m over there as the third, like: hey I can play football! At least I think I can still play.”

To this point, Fajardo has made the most of this chance and then some. He’ll be driven and hungry when the Riders get camp underway this spring, and Dickenson is excited to see what steps are still to come now that Fajardo’s window is wide open.

“The reality was he’s a pretty good football player and has been for a while. We didn’t all of a sudden turn him into one, we just happened to be the beneficiaries of his talents because we gave him that opportunity. We talked to some people…one guy that really highly recommended him was Travis Lulay, a guy that said: hey, if he gets a shot he’s going to be pretty good because he’s got some talent and he’s also he’s got some moxie.

“I thought our offensive staff…did a good job with him. I think we can continue to develop him and I think he can be even better.”

Knowing what we learned about Fajardo last season, it’s hard to bet against him.

The easiest of decisions

“It was a no-brainer to come back and stay in Winnipeg.”

The Bombers couldn’t be happier those words came out of Stanley Bryant’s mouth. The future Hall of Fame offensive lineman signed back with Winnipeg early last week, checking off one of the team’s biggest off-season priorities. I can’t imagine general manager Kyle Walters had to think all that hard about it, either.

Stanley Bryant signed an extension earlier this month to stay a member of the Blue Bombers (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)

With no disrespect to any of the central figures in Winnipeg’s return to championship form, I’m not sure anyone has been more significant than Bryant. While it didn’t steal headlines early in 2015, signing Bryant was one of the first big free agent splashes under Walters. To say it has paid off huge for the Blue Bombers would be an understatement.

Since arriving in Winnipeg, Bryant has been a CFL All-Star on three occasions (2017, 2018, 2019), a finalist for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman those same three years, and a winner of the award in 2017 and 2018. Bryant punctuated his tenure with the Bombers in November as a driving force of the team’s 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw triumph.

There’s no question this guy is destined for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. There’s no question he’s the best at his position, the all-important left tackle, over the last decade. And you can make an extremely compelling case for Bryant being one of the best offensive linemen in CFL history.

The crazy thing is, there were questions when Bryant signed with Winnipeg prior to the 2015 season. Fresh off a Grey Cup victory with Calgary, many wondered if spending big on Bryant was the way to go. There were “worries” Bryant was a product of the Stampeders’ offensive system, which I guess I can squint to understand. Of course, those doubts evaporated in no time at all.

Despite a pair of All-Star nods during his time in Calgary, it’s with the Blue Bombers where Bryant has truly cemented his legacy. After helping bring Winnipeg a Grey Cup for the first time in almost three decades, his decision to return sounds like it was anything but difficult.

“I wasn’t tempted to see what would be out there at all,” Bryant told Ed Tait at bluebombers.com. “Actually, a couple weeks after the Grey Cup I had my mind made up that I wanted to return.”

I’m not sure there has been, or will be, an easier mutual decision this off-season.