Don’t let Ajou Ajou fool you.
Underneath the rookie receiver’s radiant personality and the boundless energy that fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders are getting to experience firsthand from him this season, rests a mountain of motivation and a long list of receipts.
The motivation was no doubt there before this year’s CFL Draft on April 30, but Ajou’s seventh-round selection — the Riders took him 58th overall out of a possible 74 picks — has it peaking. He’s very clear that he feels an immense sense of gratitude to GM Jeremy O’Day and head coach Corey Mace for his opportunity with the Riders; he’s also determined to show anyone who will pay attention that there were 57 opportunities in front of him for a team to improve with his addition.
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“I think about that every day. Every day,” Ajou said this week from Regina, as the Riders head to Montreal this week to face the Alouettes.
“(The other teams) passed up on a great opportunity. I mean, it’s a blessing. I appreciate coach Mace and his staff for trusting me, you know, because clearly, the other teams did not have trust in me. I’m going to give (the Riders) everything I’ve got, for sure.”
Just five games into his pro career, Ajou is taking advantage of any opportunities that come his way. Filling in for an injured Kian Schaffer-Baker last week, Ajou had four catches for 110 yards — all in the second half of play — in the Riders’ win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Through his five games, Ajou has 10 catches for 191 yards with a touchdown.
With Schaffer-Baker moved to the six-game injured list, there will be opportunity for the rookie and for the Riders’ receiving corps to replace the production of the team’s second-leading receiver.
“There’s nothing that I’m going to change,” Ajou said of the coming weeks. “I’m not going to eat a different breakfast burrito or drink a different strain of coffee. I’m going to do the same thing I do and I’m going to keep performing until Big Bro gets back. The recipe’s very simple. I’m going to just go out there and play for my brother.”
There’s an obvious sense of community within this Riders’ team right now. That, combined with Ajou’s personal motivation, seems to have him in the perfect place. Just 22, he’s landed in the CFL after a very promising college career that started at Clemson came to a close after stops at UCF and Garden City Community College in Kansas. He came to the CFL Combine in Winnipeg and posted an underwhelming 4.85-second 40-yard dash. Teams had questions about his multiple stops in college. They questioned his commitment to the game. His draft stock took a hit. TSN’s Dave Naylor noted this week that three teams told Ajou’s camp they would not take him in the draft.
Three @CFL teams indicated to his representative that he was off their board, they would not consider selecting him … https://t.co/ErOr0NGkjM
— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) July 24, 2024
“Starting from the beginning, knowing the stories from the draft process, you kind of didn’t know what kind of guy you were going to get. I think that’s the only reason why he fell as far as he did,” Riders receivers coach Marquay McDaniel said of Ajou. “Someone who goes to Clemson on a full ride and getting playing time your freshman year, you know the ability is there…but I’ve been impressed from Day 1.”
McDaniel, a 10-year CFL vet as a player, a CFL All-Star and a Grey Cup champion, has watched Ajou work his way through an offence that he’s played in and was impressed with the rookie’s knowledge of each receiver spot. Ajou moved inside to Schaffer-Baker’s slotback spot for the first time last week and had no issues.
“Without any new practice reps he goes into the game and it looks like he’s been playing in that one spot all year. He puts in the work and you can see why he’s having the success that he’s having,” McDaniel said.
This week, the spotlight has found Ajou. You’ll hear his name more on TSN’s broadcast of tonight’s game. He made the league’s honour roll as one of its top players in Week 7. If he continues to look like anything other than a 22-year-old that’s new to the pros, you’ll continue to hear the word steal attached to his name and you’ll see increased bewilderment over his seventh-round selection.
You’ll be a little late to the party in that regard, but Ajou will welcome you in just the same.
“I threw a little draft party. You only get drafted once,” Ajou said of that night. The Brooks, Alta. native had a collection of friends and family together, some people that he hadn’t seen in years. He wanted a big group with him to mark the moment. He watched as the opening rounds completed and the broadcast shifted from TV to online. His guests asked what was going on, was he going to get drafted?
“I wanted to make it a night to remember, for sure,” he said. “It was super disappointing. But it’s super eye opening. It pushes me every day, for sure, to know that there’s people out there that think I couldn’t get the job done.
“They’re eating their words now, and I mean that respectfully, for sure. I’m going to bring it every day, man. Bring it every day. I’m going to keep showing these coaches why you should have took me. I’m going to show coach Mace and the whole Rider nation that, yeah, you got a good one. You got a steal. The steal of the century. The steal of a lifetime, man. Stop playing.”
“We got a whole room full of selfless people—and when that happens, special things happen.”#BuildIt pic.twitter.com/XoIOTD35vf
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) July 20, 2024
Ajou could be right, that any of the other eight teams would be benefitting from his presence right now, but he may have found a perfect fit in Saskatchewan. When Ajou left Harry Ainlay High School in Edmonton for his senior year to play at Clearwater Academy in Florida, he was roommates with Mace’s younger brother, Jevaun Jacobsen. That paved the way for some familiarity on the head coach’s part when the team was selecting him in the draft.
If you’ve watched the Riders at all this year in their 5-1 start, you can see that Mace has created a unique and positive environment. Winning helps prop that up, of course, but it makes for a perfect incubator for a rookie; especially one that didn’t have a lot of consistency around him through his college experience.
“You hear the guys talking about hanging out, playing cards, after they leave the facility. Little stuff like that means a lot. Every team I’ve been a part of have been tight off the field too,” McDaniel said of what he’s seen so far from this Riders’ team. When you see players from different position groups all spending time together, that’s a good sign.
“Everybody’s intertwined with different positions, I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “I think that that does wonders and they’re just playing for each other. The energy here, this is a good team to be around.”