Jack Bedell,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Hammond, LA – It may have been a long off-season, but things are about to pick up considerably with this weekend’s CFL Canadian Draft (11 a.m. Saturday, May 2, live on TSN, TSN.ca and MontrealAlouettes.com). Once Saturday’s pick-off is in the books, it’ll only be a month until training camps open across the league and we’re back in business.
With the announcement that the first two rounds of the draft will be aired live on TSN, and with coverage already ramping up on TSN.ca, I can’t wait to see what Duane Forde and the rest of the draft gurus at TSN will have in store for us this weekend.
Considering the huge number of eligible players coming out of the CIS, NCAA, and NAIA and the relative silence coming from CFL teams regarding their potential directions, it’s almost impossible to get a bead on how the CFL draft is going to go. And that’s exactly what gets my juices flowing heading into draft.
Right after E-camp wrapped, I put together a mock draft for CFL.ca.
The column had barely posted when trades, free agent signings, early cuts, and NFL signings blew up my predictions. Watching my board fall apart so fast really made me appreciate how well GMs and scouting staffs around the CFL do their jobs.
No matter how hard it might be to guess the order of selection in the CFL draft, though, talent always rises to the top. And there’s some serious talent available to CFL clubs in this year’s draft.
Here’s a look at 10 players to keep an eye on this weekend in the order I think they’ll come off the board:
1) Simeon Rottier, OT (Alberta)
2) Matt Carter, WR (Acadia)
3) Etienne Legare, DL (Laval)
4) Matt Morencie, OL (Windsor)
5) Steve Myddelton, OL (St. FX)
6) Osie Ukwuoma, DE (Queen’s)
7) Deji Oduwole, DE (Calgary)
8) Dylan Steenbergen, OT (Calgary)
9) James Yurichuk, LB (Bishop’s)
10) Dee Sterling, DL (Queen’s)
You can officially put me on the clock with those picks, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the draft went an entirely different way on Saturday.
Check back next week to see how well I did on my draft board and to take a look at how the Als’ draft went. Until then, happy picking…
