Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
HAMILTON — They had 24 hours before the first overall pick, but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats just couldn’t wait to make something happen.
The 2018 CFL Draft arrives Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, with the Ticats — not the Montreal Alouettes — staring down the clock and the draft’s first selection.
The annual selection process kicks off Thursday night in Toronto at 8 p.m. ET, as CFL teams hone in on the country’s top draft-eligible amateur prospects. TSN will deliver complete live coverage, which will kick off with two hours of live television across TSN platforms, followed by a live stream of the later rounds beginning at 10 p.m. ET through TSN.ca and the TSN GO mobile app for TSN subscribers.
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By acquiring the first overall pick, the Ticats have already made headlines and shaken up draft boards, setting in motion what’s certain to be an eventful night across the country.
The Ticats shipped veteran offensive lineman Ryan Bomben to the Als to move up one spot from the second pick to the first. The Tabbies also surrendered a negotiation list player, while the teams also exchanged a selection of other draft picks.
Hamilton has four picks in the first two rounds of the draft. For Head Coach June Jones, the Ticats’ plan is coming to fruition.
“I’ve never been around a front office that puts the whole plan together with everybody involved, and that’s what’s happened the last 10 days,” Jones told TSN 1150 following the trade.
Jones wouldn’t divulge any specific plans, but it’s been speculated that Central Michigan receiver Mark Chapman and UConn offensive lineman Trey Rutherford are the two players in the running to go first overall. And the Ticats, after trading Bomben, could use an O-lineman.
“We don’t want to tip our hand, but I’ve voiced what I’d like to do,” said Jones. “I’m not calling the final shot but my input has a lot of influence on that.”
Chapman, who some describe as an American who happens to have a Canadian passport, tested well at the combine and showed an advanced skill-set in the one-on-ones in front of scouts in Winnipeg.
The last time a receiver went first overall was 2007 (Chris Bauman, Calgary), the only receiver taken in the top two selections dating back to 2003.
“I didn’t know it was that rare an event to happen in the draft,” said Chapman. “Just the opportunity and everything that’s been happening, I’m just really grateful because it just doesn’t happen often. It’s really exciting for me and I really can’t believe this. I’m just so excited about it.”
Ticats GM Eric Tillman pulled off a blockbuster trade the night before the draft (Pawel Dwulit/CFL.ca)
Chapman was the second-ranked prospect in last month’s Central Scouting Bureau rankings, the last before the draft, moving from 10th before that. Top-ranked player Ryan Hunter, an offensive lineman out of Bowling Green, could fall in the draft due to his potential to carve out a future south of the border.
Dakoda Shepley, David Knevel, Mark Korte and Peter Godber are other offensive linemen with some element of risk following last week’s NFL Draft and the subsequent signings.
There are plenty of other questions entering Thursday night’s affair as well. The Ticats and BC Lions each pick twice in the first round, with Hamilton owning the first and sixth picks in the draft. Lions GM Ed Hervey was also busy on Wednesday night, engineering a trade that would give him the seventh overall pick from Winnipeg. The Lions’ new general manager will have the third and seventh picks to work with.
While the Ticats jumped the queue, the waiting game continues for the other eight general managers. The same goes for the hundreds of draft-eligible prospects, of which 69 are currently slated to be picked.
On Thursday, all of those combines, pro days and hours behind closed doors watching tape will finally pay off.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this draft,” said Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones, who holds the fifth overall pick. Jones says his staff has done its due diligence on everyone possible, including plenty of players he says won’t ever play in the CFL.
Harsh, maybe, but Jones goes into the draft like he does anything else: with conviction.
“It’s not a very deep draft,” he said. “There are some very good players at the top end of it but I don’t see the depth that there’s been in the past couple of years. We just want to take the best players that are available.
“Certainly if we can upgrade a position it’d be great,” he added. “I don’t see that many Canadian starters right away — I see some guys that are going to take a year or two to develop. We’ll see.”
The Alouettes made a savvy move to pick up a qualified starting guard in Bomben, in the process losing only one spot in the draft. They may still get the player they set eyes on on the first place. General Manager Kavis Reed has talked about getting players that can make an impact right away. Bomben provides that, and so too could the second overall pick.
“We are extremely satisfied to allow Ryan to return home,” said Reed. “We have once more solidified our Canadian content all while keeping the opportunity to draft a player that can help us immediately with the second overall pick.”
The Lions sacrificed their first round pick in 2019 to pick twice in the first round this year. Hervey, in his first year on the job in BC, has a chance to get two impact players in the first seven picks. They could both come on the offensive line after the Lions allowed the most sacks in the CFL in 2017.
Alternatively, Hervey could look for a ratio-breaker in the secondary, much like he did when he took Arjen Colquhoun back with the Eskimos. Jackson Bennett and Godfrey Onyeka are two highly-touted defensive backs available going into Thursday.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS will choose fourth after being eliminated in the first round of the Grey Cup Playoffs last season. Many would argue that GM Marcel Desjardins has hit on every first round pick in his five drafts with Ottawa, with four of those five picks spent on offensive linemen.
Desjardins could buck the trend this year, or he could continue to build depth on an already-talented offensive line. The REDBLACKS have expressed the need for defensive line help, particularly in the middle, making the draft’s top-ranked D-lineman Julien Laurent a potential fit.
Georgia State’s Julien Laurent could remain on the first-round radar on Thursday (Georgia State)
Rounding out the draft are the two teams that played in the Grey Cup last year, Calgary and defending champion Toronto. The Stampeders could look for another offensive lineman following the retirement of Pierre Lavertu. While John Hufnagel has had some bad luck with his first round picks, he’s also made arguably the best draft pick of the last decade, getting 2017 Most Outstanding Defensive Player Alex Singleton with the sixth overall pick two years ago.
The Argos round out the first round after missing out last year. Their first round pick, the No. 1 overall selection in the draft, went to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as part of the Drew Willy trade in 2016.
Throughout history, offensive linemen have dominated the first round of the CFL Draft, making up 11 of 17 selections in 2015 and 2016. Last year, however, only two offensive linemen were taken in the first round, with Brampton, Ont. native and Iowa defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie going first overall.
In a strange twist, no offensive lineman was selected until eighth overall, something that hasn’t happened in the last 15 years. But on the other hand, the 17 offensive linemen picked in the draft tied the second-highest total for a class dating back to 2003.
Farhan Lalji will host TSN’s coverage, and is joined by CFL on TSN analyst and CFL Draft expert Duane Forde, who is set to cover the annual event for the 14th time in his career. The panel also features CFL insider Dave Naylor and former Montreal Alouettes first overall pick Davis Sanchez.
CFL.ca will provide up-to-the-minute coverage and analysis throughout the night.
