2016 CFL Draft: What Happened?
The CFL Draft is an important night for so many as players finally achieve a goal and teams get a new set of talented players for their latest run at the Grey Cup.
For the players, it is an accomplishment that has been years in the making after going through junior football to high school to college.
They have worked to become some of the best football players throughout Canada.
They are finally ready to take that next step and play for a CFL team where they can pursue a Grey Cup and hopefully win one before their time is up.
For teams, the draft is a massive step in building a championship team as great Canadians have been a part of plenty of Grey Cup winning teams.
After all the CFL is a league that highlights Canadian talent and ensure their teams find a place for these Canadians to play.
The CFL’s ratio rules have created a major need for many teams that they can all solve through the draft.
Every roster must include a minimum of 21 Canadians and a maximum of 20 Americans.
The league also requires that a minimum of seven Canadians start a game while the quarterbacks do not count against the ratio.
The league tries to ensure that the sport continues throughout Canada and that Canadian talent continues to develop.
Without the ratio, there is little motivation for a team to have Canadians on their roster or to start Canadians.
Overall there is little motivation to scout Canadians if there are Americans who often get better and more training for football throughout their minor careers.
Keeping Canadians in the sport is essential for this version of football and certainly gives fans some heroes to cheer for.
Every year a new crop of those Canadians gets the chance to show what they have and be one of those important starters.
Players like Antoine Pruneau, Jon Cornish, Shamawd Chambers, and so many more have all made an impact on this league and helped their teams to a Grey Cup.
The next generation of players got their assignments this year as teams looked for that essential Canadian depth.
Once again the draft was dominated by lineman where the majority of Canadian starters reside.
Canadian linemen have always ben a popular pick in the draft as they are an easy way to deal with the ratios.
There are endless amounts of big men with great training to play line although it has been tougher to find a left tackle in the draft.
This year the lineman were once again the most popular pick as teams looked to add some insurance to Canadian lines in case something goes wrong during the season.
That seemed to be the strategy for more than one team but there wasn’t a shortage of interesting players to look forward too.
There were the skill players that were a bit of a risk to take early but could pay off in busting the ratio if they can have an impact.
There were also the riskiest picks in the draft, those players who are currently in the USA trying to find a place with an NFL team.
These players are Canadian and are the biggest talents in the draft but they may never actually play in the CFL if they find a home in the NFL.
As always, it was a mix of solid prospects and risk with every team trying to find those all-important ratio players.
The teams that can do it right will find plenty of success while the teams that couldn’t get the right players won’t be playing in November anytime soon.
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Saskatchewan Roughriders |
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| 1. Josiah St. John, OL (OU) | 24. Elie Bouka, DB (UofC) | |
| 26. Quinn Van Glyswyk, K (UBC) | 35. David Onyemata, DE (UofM) | |
| 36. Alex Ogbongbemiga, LB (UofC) | 52. Alex McKay, OL (UofM) | |
| 62. Joshua Stanford, WR (KU) | ||
| There were plenty of holes for the Riders and they were hoping to have more picks but went ahead with their first overall selection taking the all-important Canadian lineman and adding to needs like the defensive line and receiver in a good draft that will help but might not help enough with the needs of the team. | ||
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Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
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| 9. Trent Corney, DL (UVA) | 10. Michael Couture, OL (SFU) | |
| 19. Taylor Loffler, DB (UBC) | 28. Shane Gauthier, LB (UL) | |
| 37. Zachary Intzandt, OL (MAC) | 46. Rupert Butcher, DL (UWO) | |
| 55. Alex Vitt, SB (UofM) | 63. Frank Renaud, LB (UofW) | |
| With a concentration on finding Canadian talent in the off-season the Bombers were able to find talent rather than going for need and they went at it with their first picks going with two good lineman on offence and defence while grabbing plenty of defence for a team that has struggled to find stability on that side of the ball. | ||
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Montreal Alouettes |
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| 2. Philippe Gagnon, OL (UL) | 11. Wayne Moore, RB (MAC) | |
| 20. Sean Jamieson, OL (UWO) | 29. George Johnson, WR (UWO) | |
| 47. A-Dre Fraser, WR (UofG) | 50. Emmitt Tims, WR (UofS) | |
| 56. Maiko Zepedo, DB (UdeM) | 64. Matthew Toppan, OL (UofG) | |
| The Alouettes are a team that always starts five Canadian offensive linemen and with losses they needed some linemen to help with the depth in that position which is why they grabbed Gagnon with the top pick and two more linemen throughout the draft while added some skill players including Johnson, Fraser, and Moore who they hope can bust the ratio. | ||
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BC Lions |
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| 5. Charles Vaillancourt, OL (UL) | 12. Anthony Thompson, DB (SIU) | |
| 23. Brett Blaszko, WR (UofC) | 30. Dillon Guy, OL (UB) | |
| 32. Shaquille Johnson, WR (UWO) | 48. B. Van Nistelrooy, DB (UofA) | |
| 57. Nathan O’Halloran, FB (UofW) | 65. Boyd Richardson, DL (UBC) | |
| After trading out of their first pick in the draft the Lions went after a need in getting one of the top linemen in the draft in Vaillancourt and filling their biggest need while Guy will also help them and the addition of a few skilled players on top of the lineman fill in depth at receiver that is a concern for the Lions. | ||
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Toronto Argonauts |
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| 4. Brian Jones, WR (AU) | 13. DJ Sackey, DL (UofT) | |
| 22. Jamal Campbell, OL (YU) | 27. Declan Cross, RB (MAC) | |
| 31. Noel Llevi, WR (CJFL) | 40. Curtis Newton, LB (UofG) | |
| 49. C. Kolankowski, OL (YU) | 58. J. Ngeleka Muamba, DB (MAC) | |
| 66. R. Nieuwesteeg, RB (UofG) | ||
| With big upgrades in their Canadian talent pool the Argos could go for talent and depth and they did just that in drafting the top CIS receiver in the draft while adding depth on the defensive and offensive line in what was a good use of their picks with a reloaded set of Canadian talent. | ||
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Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
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| 3. Brandon Revenberg, OL (GVSU) | 14. Mercer Timmis, RB (UofC) | |
| 18. Mike Jones, WR (SU) | 39. F. Faubert-Lussier, WR (UL) | |
| 41. Elroy Douglas, DB (MWSU) | 59. Mitchell Barnett, LB (UBC) | |
| 67. Matt Uren, WR (UWO) | ||
| After trading up to pick third the Ti-Cats surprised everyone with their first pick as there were better-rated lineman available for them but the rest of the draft was fruitful when they grabbed the top running back in the draft and a few receivers that might help with their depth at that position as they saved themselves from a questionable first pick. | ||
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Calgary Stampeders |
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| 6. Alex Singleton, LB (MTSU) | 15. Juwan Brescacin, WR (NIU) | |
| 33. Roman Grozman, OL (CU) | 38. JP Bolduc, DB (UL) | |
| 42. Pierre-Luc Caron, LB (UL) | 51. Michael Kashak, DL (MAC) | |
| 68. Quinn Horton, DL (SFU) | ||
| The stamps were expected to grab the running back from UofC but instead went for a risky pick with Singleton who recently signed with the New England Patriots while they went about adding some depth at key spots and concentrating on defence even in the first year of Dave Dickenson’s first year as head coach. | ||
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Ottawa REDBLACKS |
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| 7. J. Lauzon-Seguin, OL (UL) | 16. Mikael Charland, DB (CU) | |
| 25. Mehdi Abdesmad, DL (BC) | 34. Kevin Jackson, LB (SHSU) | |
| 43. Randy Beardy, OL (UofW) | 45. Kyle Fraser-Audit, OL (UofG) | |
| 54. Arto Khatchikian, LB (CU) | 60. Jamal Kett, WR (UWO) | |
| 69. G. Tremblay-Lebel, LB (UL) | ||
| The REDBLACKS are a perfect example of what Canadian talent can do but they lack depth making it a challenge if someone gets hurt next year so they reloaded in key positions where their best Canadians are playing as many of these picks won’t be seen anytime soon but will serve a very important role just in case something happens. | ||
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Edmonton Eskimos |
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| 8. Tevaun Smith, WR (UofI) | 17. Arjan Colquhoun, DB (MSU) | |
| 44. Josh Woodman, DB (UWO) | 53. Doug Corby, WR (QU) | |
| 61. Doug Parrish, LB (UWO) | 61. DJ Lalama, LB (UofM) | |
| Tevaun Smith was the riskiest pick of the draft as he has been signed by Indianapolis after the NFL draft and might never see a CFL field as they could have got him later but if he does enter the CFL they got the best talent in the draft and followed it up with a great defensive back that could come in and play immediately but this draft all depends on Smith. | ||
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