Cody Fajardo believes Edmonton Elks have CFL’s best running back room

Photo: Edmonton Elks

The Edmonton Elks have suffered some key injuries at the running back position, but franchise quarterback Cody Fajardo doesn’t seem concerned.

Regardless of who is in the backfield alongside him, Fajardo believes the Elks have as much talent than any other team in the CFL.

“Our running back room is probably the best in the league, just how much depth (we have),” Fajardo told the media in Edmonton on Tuesday.

“We just are really talented in that running back room, and as a quarterback, that’s such a luxury to have — be able to hand the ball off, get into second and medium, and then you have kind of all your options as a passer.”

Justin Rankin has 13 touchdowns and 1,387 yards from scrimmage this season, though it was ShunDerrick Powell who broke out during the team’s recent home-and-home against the rival Calgary Stampeders.

The rookie running back rushed 14 times for 97 yards and caught one pass for 21 yards on Saturday, helping lead the Elks to a dominant 53-16 win.

“(Powell’s) lightning in a bottle, first and foremost,” said Fajardo. “It’s funny because in training camp watching him, everybody was like, ‘Can’t wait to watch him play, can’t wait to watch him play,’ and then Rankin’s having the season that he’s having, and it’s like, ‘Well, we just gotta find a way to get him on the field.’

“It’s just so hard with running back in this league. You can only carry usually two. Some teams carry three, but it depends on ratio. It’s just so hard to see those young American guys get on the field, so just happy for (Powell) and his opportunity. He’s grasped onto it, and it’s been really exciting to see what he’s done in the regular-season and carried it over from what I thought was a really good training camp.”

Rankin (head) and Powell (ribs) were both limited in practice on Tuesday, while Javon Leake (hamstring) remains on the six-game injured list. With the three Americans possibly out for this week, Isaiah Knight could make his first career CFL start.

The native of Ottawa, Ont. was a third-round pick in the 2025 CFL Draft out of the University of British Columbia, where he rushed for 3,603 yards and 21 touchdowns over four collegiate seasons. He was a three-time Canada West all-star and one-time second-team All-Canadian.

“(Knight’s) a physical running back, he’s big, he catches the ball great out of the backfield, runs hard,” said Fajardo. “With some of his limited touches last year, just watching him, extremely talented, and you could see why he’s on this roster.”

Edmonton attracted a crowd of 31,531 for their win over Calgary on Saturday, which was the second-largest crowd of the season at Commonwealth Stadium.

To date, the club has averaged crowds of 22,751 in 2026, a year-over-year increase of 19.4 percent.

“(The crowd was) unbelievable,” said head coach Mark Kilam. “It was the best I’ve seen it in there since I’ve been here. They were loud. I showed a clip to the players of (Tyrell) Ford’s interception of everyone rising up out of their seats, and that stuff gives me chills, so it was awesome.”

“I can’t thank our fans enough,” said Fajardo. “Having the fans behind us makes those games way more fun, and also way harder on the opposing team. You could see Calgary in their no huddle was in shambles a couple times, trying to communicate, trying to get lined up, and that’s such a big advantage.

“They took a delay of game, they took a procedure penalty, and that’s just credit to our fans, so gotta keep showing up. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, just keep showing up because we’re seeing it, and we’re very thankful for it.”

The Elks have already clinched their first playoff berth since 2019. With another few wins, they could clinch their first home playoff game since 2015.

The Edmonton Elks (10-3) will visit the Toronto Argonauts (7-6) at BMO Field on Saturday, September 19 with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EDT. Last week, the Elks dominated the Calgary Stampeders in the annual Labour Day Classic rematch, while the Argonauts beat Ottawa thanks to a walk-off field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu.

The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, RDS, and Crave in Canada, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 880 CHED in Edmonton or TSN 1050 in Toronto.