Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.ca
Imagine a teacher putting you on the spot in the classroom with an impromptu pop quiz. The question: who led the Montreal Alouettes in receiving yards this year?
The casual fan may not think of Cole Spieker as the answer, but for Cody Fajardo and the Alouettes, the 28-year-old, third-year player has been just that through a breakout 2024 campaign.
Spieker’s 823 yards and seven touchdowns are career bests and lead the Als’ receiving group this year. His eight catches of 30-plus-yards tie him with Charleston Rambo for the team lead in that category. Injuries hit the Als’ receiving corps hard in 2024, with Tyson Philpot (lost for the season with a foot injury), Kaion Julien-Grant, Austin Mack and Reggie White Jr. all missing games. Spieker has stayed healthy and stepped up in the absence of his injured teammates. His strong play earned him a contract extension on Oct. 1.
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“I think it’s just building chemistry with with Cody and all the other quarterbacks,” Spieker said of what’s led to his strong year, “and having the coaches really trust me to make plays when we need them and call my number in situations that we need to get something.
“I think just continuing to come to work every day and grind and get better and do everything I can to help the team win.”
As the Als put together a league-best 12-5-1 record this season, Spieker has been a big part of that. Here are three ways that he can impact Saturday’s Eastern Semi-Final against the Toronto Argonauts.
CHEMISTRY WITH FAJARDO
Teammates for the last two years, Spieker has built good chemistry with Fajardo — and all of the team’s quarterbacks, he said. The trust was there on the league’s biggest stage last season, as Fajardo looked to Spieker on a crucial third-down completion in the dying moments of the 110th Grey Cup. The Brainerd, MN native made sure he delivered.
3rd and 5 with the #GreyCup on the line:
COLE SPIEKER.#GreyCup pic.twitter.com/RolfYRpbZP
— CFL (@CFL) November 20, 2023
That’s carried through to this season, where Spieker has emerged as a reliable pair of hands capable of making a number of big plays. Chemistry doesn’t come overnight. Spieker has worked hard on his craft and on building that on and off-the-field relationship with Fajardo.
“Repetition is a huge one and just talking over different looks we’ll get. So film study as well, in addition to the practice field,” Spieker said of what’s allowed things to blossom for them. “I think just grinding on those two as much as we can really builds confidence in each other.
“The more time you spend with someone, you just get closer and build that relationship. That goes (for) everything; off the field, on the field. It’s all positive stuff.”
A HISTORY OF ROCKING THE BOAT(MEN)
While the Argos took the season series 2-1, Spieker was a constant in all three contests. In the Als’ Week 4 win, Spieker caught all eight of his targets for a game-high 131 yards and a touchdown. Two weeks later, Spieker caught six passes for a game-high 70 yards in the Als’ loss to the Argos at Molson Stadium. Finally, in the teams’ Week 17 battle, he had three catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, as the Argos’ defended BMO Field in a 37-31 win. Whatever the game plan looks like on Saturday for head coach Jason Maas, it’s safe to expect Spieker to feature prominently in it.
AIRED IT OUT TO COOOOLE SPIEKER 🛩️#CFLGameday on TSN & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/GopFXqktog— CFL (@CFL) September 29, 2024
“I think (with) some of the looks we get from their defence…they run a lot of zone stuff, where it allows me to be open underneath and take advantage of finding some of those holes,” Spieker said of those games.
“Just doing as much as I can with the ball afterwards, (adding) up the YAC yards and moving the sticks down. I think that’s something that’s been able to help. The coaches trust me and are dialling up some good plays. I think we’ve got a good game plan this week, as we have all year against them.”
TED LASSO VIBES
The Als turned their 2023 hot streak, which saw them win their final eight games, including their three-game playoff run, into a 13-game undefeated run, thanks to their 5-0 start to the 2024 season. Even as injuries to the likes of Philpot, Fajardo, Reggie Stubblefield and David Côté piled up, the Als continued to win, building up a league-leading 10-1 record and locking up the East Division in the process.
From there, the record wasn’t the same for the Als, as they won just two of their final seven games, going 2-5-1 to close out the regular season. To be fair, pretty well every other team in the league faced heavier adversity this season; not managing to continue to pile up wins after you’ve achieved everything you can in the regular season is a problem every other team in the league would love to have.
Still, Spieker said he’s confident the Als are in a good headspace as they put their season on the line on Saturday against the Argos. Having pulled the rug out from under them a year ago, he knows there’s no room in the playoff equation for complacency.
“I think especially on offence we had a couple of down weeks, but I think we were able to bounce back and I think we played good against Winnipeg (in Week 21),” he said.
“We just stuck together. That’s really the biggest thing when it comes to adversity, is just sticking together and believing each other. If it’s going bad, we know we’re going to bounce back when it matters and just keep working.”
There’s a Ted Lasso-like feel to the way Spieker talks about the team’s belief in each other. We saw that in their run to the 110th Grey Cup last year. Can we see it again for two more games this season?
“I think now we’re in a good spot,” he said. “We’re feeling confident. We’re ready to go on Saturday.”
