Simon, Lions know Canadian content must improve

VANCOUVER — After making strides but coming up short in 2015, what’s the next step for the BC Lions?

For Neil McEvoy and Geroy Simon, it starts with Canadian content. In that case, the new season in Vancouver starts Tuesday with the CFL Draft, where the Lions hold eight picks, including the third overall.

“The Canadian Football League Draft is sort of the start of our season,” said McEvoy, the director of football operations and player personnel, now in his 21st season as a Lion.

“Professional football is not an easy world and the Canadian Football League Draft gives teams an opportunity to make young men come in and make their team and see where they fit in the professional football world.”

The Lions’ season ended in a thud with a road loss to Calgary last November, capping off an up and down 7-11 season that witnessed the emergence of a young Jonathon Jennings and a defence that improved drastically over the second half.

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Many signs point upwards in Vancouver as Jennings looks like the future under centre while the league’s all-time wins leader in Wally Buono returns to the sidelines. But one area the team knows it would like to improve is Canadian talent and young talent, something Simon, the Lions’ player personnel assistant and director of CIS scouting, acknowledged going into the weekend before the draft.

“Being a team that barely made the playoffs, we showed some good things last year,” said Simon, “but being OK isn’t good enough for us. We want to upgrade our Canadian talent, we want to upgrade our young talent.

“This year’s draft will give us that opportunity to upgrade at a number of different positions with some guys who can really play and make an impact for our team.”

For Simon and McEvoy and ultimately the head coach and GM in Buono, the third overall pick is a good starting point. After going with a defensive lineman in Ese Mrabure Ajufo, there’s a good chance BC will snag one of the top offensive linemen that will be available at third overall.

While it appears there’s no consensus first overall pick in this year’s draft, on the outside looking in there are four offensive linemen that stand out above the rest, including three from Laval University — a school with a successful track record for producing talented offensive linemen.

LIONS’ LAST FIVE FIRST ROUND PICKS

Only two of the Lions’ last five first round picks are offensive linemen and both remain with the team in Hunter Steward and Kirby Fabien, two of 12 O-linemen currently on the roster (eight of which are Canadian).

On the contrary, while there’s no such thing as too much O-line depth, that unit was an area of strength for the Lions last season after allowing 34 sacks, the third-fewest in the CFL and one off the league lead.

There’s also a matter of the Lions’ depth at guard. Steward, T-Dre Player and Kirby Fabien are among five national guards already on the Lions’ roster. Only Josiah St. John projects as a definite tackle at the next level and there’s a strong chance he won’t be available when the Lions pick. That means while CFL.ca’s Justin Dunk expects a run on O-linemen early, a skill position player could be in the Lions’ sightline.

Mississauga, Ont. native and receiver Juwan Brescacin and linebacker and California native Alex Singleton are two players charted for the bottom end of the first round, while defensive lineman Trent Corney could be an intriguing option as his stock is rising fast.

So far the Lions have made no indication they’ll be trading down and while the strategy is usually to go best player available, for McEvoy and Simon it’s not so simple.

“We pick third, so this year we have a top three and we’re quite comfortable with one of those three individuals,” said McEvoy. “We usually go by best player available. The problem is, the best player available might already be under contract in the National Football League or drafted in the National Football League last week.

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“You have to go by a little bit of need; is the player available; geographic pull always comes into it. But at the third pick we’re going to get a good football player that’s going to complement the guys we’ve already drafted.”

Offensive lineman or not, the third overall pick in this year’s draft is one the Lions can’t afford to miss on.

“You’re only as good as your worst Canadian player, and the CFL Draft gives you an opportunity to really develop these young kids to come in and make you a better football team across the board,” said McEvoy.

“The CFL Draft is a very important part of bringing in new players, bringing in the future of the franchise — the future of Canadian football. And it starts Tuesday night.”

– With files from BCLions.com