Jack B. Bedell
CFL.ca

Since everyone and his cousin seems to have one, I thought I would go down on record with my mock-up of the first round of this year’s CFL Canadian Draft.

The 2009 draft’s interesting to me for a couple of reasons — there’s no real imposing pressure for teams to pull trades heading into the May 2 event and there’s a noticeable lack of “futures” picks in the top-10 rated players according to pundits.

Those two factors combine to make a need-based draft.  And guessing the needs/wants of the five teams picking in the first round is where the fun comes in.

On the Clock:

1) Hamilton — As tempting as it would be to put Jamall Lee in here as a replacement for Jesse Lumsden, I think the Ticats go O-line: Simeon Rottier

2) Toronto — The Argos need a factor back, and all indications are Jamall Lee can be that type of player

3) Hamilton (via Winnipeg)—The Ticats jettisoned two Canadian defensive ends this off-season.  I think they pick one up here: Osie Ukwuoma (or Queens teammate Dee Sterling who showed well at e-camp)

4) Toronto — It’s all about weapons this year for the Argos.  The best receiver in this year’s crop is slotback Matt Carter

5) BC — The Lions shuffled their offensive line a bit in the off-season.  Steve Myddelton would add some depth back to the mix

6) BC (via Saskatchewan) — This would be a great spot for Winnipeg to climb back into the first round to grab Windsor’s Matt Morencie, but I think the Lions keep the pick and take him for depth at tackle and centre

7) Montreal — There are no gaping needs on the Alouettes roster coming off a solid season with plenty of young talent across the board.  With good on-import talent on the O-line and in the defensive secondary, the Als might go with Étienne Légaré to see if he has a little Ed Philion in him

8) Calgary — The champs are pretty well-stocked, too.  Given no pressing neeed, I say they use the pick for local talent: Dylan Steenbergen

Odds are, I’m wrong across the board here, but it’s going to be a good time watching how the picks unfold in May.  If I nail three out of ten, I’ll consider my mock draft a rousing success.

Consider me on the clock at this point!

UP NEXT

Now that we have a little down time between the end of the free agent frenzy and the draft, I thought I’d take a look at how the teams stack up position-by-position, starting with QBs, of course.  Nothing like some controversial off-season rankings to keep things rolling!

Until then, take care.  And dust off your tailgating gear, June will be here before you know it.

Jack B. Bedell is a Professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana and has followed the CFL for nearly three decades.