What’s shaping up to be one of the finest seasons of Mike Edem’s CFL career elicited the equivalent of a verbal shrug from the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ safety.
“It’s all right,” Edem said before repeating the same three words three times. Then he added: “If we win the Grey Cup, that (assessment) is going to change. But as of now, it’s all right.”
Edem’s “all right” season features a career-high 50 defensive tackles along with 10 special-teams tackles, two tackles for losses, two knockdowns, one interception and one fumble recovery. His 66 defensive plays are second only to linebacker Sam Eguavoen (93) among Roughriders players.
“I’m doing OK statistically, but if you ask (head coach-GM Chris) Jones, he’ll tell you I’ve got a ton of things to get better at,” Edem said. “That’s why I’m like, ‘Ahhh.’ ”
So, the Roughriders’ bench boss was asked, how has Edem done this season?
“Mike has played some good football,” replied Jones, whose team is to visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday (noon, CKRM, TSN). “We know he’s a versatile player. Consistency is his key.
“He’s a great communicator and a lot of the DBs really lean on him to communicate with them and tell them ‘Strong left’ and who’s got who and what we’re in. But he’s matched up on somebody and he’s got to match up on his guy, get the call and then communicate.
“But he has done some really nice things for us this year.”
This is Edem’s second season in Jones’ system, having been acquired from the B.C. Lions in May of 2017.
Edem began his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes, who selected the former Toronto resident in the first round (third overall) of the 2013 draft out of the University of Calgary.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder was an East Division all-star as a rookie in 2013 after recording 47 tackles, nine special-teams stops, five sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles.
His 2014 and 2015 seasons weren’t as productive and, late in 2015, he was traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He signed with the Lions as a free agent in February of 2016 and had a solid season with them (37 tackles, two interceptions), but B.C. still shipped him to Saskatchewan before training camp in 2017.
Shortly thereafter, the light bulb went on — and Jones was the man who flipped the switch.
“The thing about Jones is he’ll challenge you,” said Edem, 29. “When I first got here, I had never done as many one-on-ones in my life at training camp. The first day of one-on-ones, (Jones) has his safeties up pressing on the line, so you either accept the challenge or you back away from it.
“By accepting the challenge, a lot more doors open. You start understanding certain things about coverage and expanding your game to a point where you can play any position in the secondary.”
Jones wouldn’t disclose the way he challenged Edem other than to say: “You’ve got to expect a lot out of yourself and don’t be just satisfied with being a good player.”
It would appear Edem took that to heart.
After recording 20 tackles and one forced fumble last season, he has been all over the place in 2018. Instead of being only a centre-fielder, he has matched up one-on-one with receivers while others (such as Tobi Antigha and Matt Elam) dropped back to the safety position in Jones’ elaborate scheme.
It’s suiting Edem to a T.
“The safety position has always been a Canadian spot and it always seemed like the safety just sat in the middle of the field,” he said. “I remember (ex-DB-turned-analyst) Davis Sanchez said that you can hide a safety in a system. That ticked me off and I let him know this year that you can’t hide a safety in the secondary. You can try to with certain coverages, but at some point, a smart (offensive) co-ordinator will find a way to expose him.
“To avoid that, you’ve got to be able to play confident, let things go, go with the flow of the game, not think too much and let your instincts lead you.”
So far, Edem has done those things pretty well and yet his season still is only “all right” in his estimation. He obviously has high expectations — and those expectations go far beyond him.
Edem watched with interest in 2017 as Roughriders quarterback Brandon Bridge started a campaign in hopes of getting the CFL to change its ratio to benefit teams who want to use national quarterbacks.
The ratio doesn’t impact Edem like it would Bridge, but the safety still was inspired by the QB.
“Seeing him making that push for Canadians kind of got to me,” Edem said. “With me doing this — being a Canadian playing all these spots — I want to be the motivation for Canadian DBs to be able to say, ‘I’m not just a special-teams guy. I’m not just a corner. I’m not just a free safety. I’m an athlete who can be an asset to a team.’
“That’s where my motivation lies and how I see things.”
And that sentiment, as well as Edem’s play this season, resulted from Jones throwing down the gauntlet for Edem to pick up.
“You always have to have the confidence to accept any challenge anybody throws at you,” the safety said. “Even if you know you can’t do it, you accept it 100 per cent and you hope you learn enough and do enough to end up in the right spot.”
