Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — If you ask CFL.ca’s draft analyst Marshall Ferguson, Regina receiver Mitchell Picton’s name is probably worth adding to the list of elite receiver prospects in the upcoming CFL Draft.
Nate Behar and Danny Vandervoort have been the topic of discussion the last little while, especially after their strong showings at the combine. But while they might be 1-A and 1-B, as Ferguson described it, Picton’s name shouldn’t be forgotten.
“Picton just feels like a well put together, 10-year type professional,” Ferguson wrote in his analysis of pass-catchers following the CFL Combine presented by adidas in Regina last month. “Following in the footsteps of fellow Rams receivers, including Chris Getzlaf and many more, he has a coolness about his age and route running that suggests he has a potential not yet understood by many, maybe even himself.”
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Getzlaf, currently a free agent, has played 10 CFL seasons after being drafted out of the University of Regina in the fifth round in 2007. He flew under the radar to eventually become one of the league’s premier national receivers, eclipsing 500 receiving yards in six consecutive seasons as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders — including twice over the 1,000-yard mark.
Another apt comparison, Ferguson points out, might be Ottawa REDBLACKS pass-catcher Brad Sinopoli. While Sinopoli worked out as a quarterback at the time, the former University of Ottawa Gee-Gee put up similar test results at the CFL Combine.
Sinopoli started out his CFL career as a quarterback for the Stampeders but made the transition to receiver, eventually becoming a 1,000-yard receiver in back to back seasons.
Ferguson says the two have similar traits and frame.
“When Brad Sinopoli came out of the Ottawa Gee-Gees program he was a quarterback hopeful with a special set of athletic skills,” said Ferguson. “Brad was long and quick, elusive and slick. Despite never playing quarterback for the Regina Rams, Mitchell Picton has many of the same traits in a likewise frame to Sinopoli’s.”
Picton, much like Sinopoli and Getzlaf, isn’t going to dominate anyone physically with his 6-foot-2, 197-pound frame to go with a nine-rep bench press. But with a solid 4.67 40-time at the combine, Picton has the speed and the polished skills to make it for a long time in this league.
“Picton and Sinopoli both scream ‘10-year stud’ with their professionalism and obvious drive, not to mention rare skills and pure hands.”
Picton will find out his pro football destination on May 7 at the 2017 CFL Draft.
MORE PROSPECT COMPARISONS
» Tunde Adeleke
» Johnny Augustine
» Nate Behar
» Kwaku Boateng
» Kay Okafor
