May 8, 2018

Cauz: Getting to know the first round picks

Jason Halstead/CFL.ca

Far be it for me to be critical of the recent CFL Draft but let’s be honest, from a positional standpoint it was a real snoozer with seven of the nine players drafted being offensive lineman. As someone who loves consuming the draft as much as I do (I re-watched the first 90 minutes on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, a rarity here in Toronto), I could only take so much waxing poetic about teams improving their depth on the line or issues about ratios and Canadian content.

Again, I love the work that is done in terms of the broadcast of the event, and just having football back in my life for several hours was a welcome respite, but I needed a little more pizzazz.

Forget about me griping; the group that I felt bad about was the players. The moment the draft was done I had kinda forgotten who was who and who went where.

RELATED
» Marsh: Who came up big at the CFL Draft?
» Recap: Chapman steals draft night spotlight
» Dinos staking claim as pro football factory

Georgia State defensive lineman Julien Laurent went to the Lions at seventh overall (Georgia State University)

Wait, didn’t Peter Godber end up in Hamilton?

No, they took a receiver.

Then what about Darius Ciraco?

He’s in Toronto.

You sure?

If you are looking for draft grades or how your brand spanking new guard will help in the running game, you can find plenty of other writers on this site who will give you what you need. But if you want to learn a little bit about the first round class of 2018, you’ve come to the right place. I wanted to go over all the picks and at least try to humanize them a little bit.

Mark Chapman (Hamilton)

My favourite thing about the No. 1 overall pick actually has almost nothing to do with him. Chapman’s skills were so impressive that it led to Duane Ford breaking a more than two-year Twitter silence to tweet out that he fully expects Chapman to end up with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

To put that in perspective, just remember that Forde’s last tweet centred on the draft status of Alex Singleton after he was released by the Minnesota Vikings. By going first overall, this four-time academic all-conference honouree ensured that Central Michigan would join a select group of NCAA schools (six in total) to have a player selected first in both the CFL and the NFL Draft (Eric Fisher in 2013 by the Kansas City Chiefs).

Trey Rutherford (Montreal)

The man mountain from UConn is going to be easy to root for. From a Dec. 19, 2013 Toronto Star article, I learned that Rutherford struggled with anxiety issues as a child in his first year playing minor league football in Markham, Ont. In this piece, Rutherford was quoted as saying: “I didn’t think I was adequate, I didn’t think I was good enough and I didn’t think I had enough abilities. I pretty much overcame all of (the anxiety) and I love the game.”

Just fantastic to see Rutherford overcome such difficult odds at a young age to be taken second overall by Kavis Reed.

The Alouettes were able to get Trey Rutherford despite trading out of the top pick (University of Connecticut)

Peter Godber (BC)

Peter, like so many of these picks, is one smart dude who, during his playing days at Rice, was named to the Conference USA Honor Roll in 2014, 2015 and 2016. When he is done mauling linebackers, Godber, who used to intern at a Goodlife Fitness, would like to open his own gym one day. His major in Sport Management should help him with that dream.

Mark Korte (Ottawa)

All right, I’ll be honest, it was just about impossible to find anything unique about Mark that you couldn’t find with a Google search or a deep dive on either CFL.ca or 3 Down Nation. But if you want to have some fun, grab a current photo of Mark and compare it to this one I found from 2013 in the Sprucegrove Examiner!

Dakoda Shepley (Saskatchewan)

In interviews I discovered that Shepley is really into Sumo Wrestling, which both totally makes sense and I’m shocked I haven’t read that about more offensive lineman. His favourite moment on the field was during his playing days for UBC. It occurred during his first ever snap when he managed to pancake his man on a run play. Bob Probert, Eminem and Michael Jordan are the three people he would love to have dinner with and ‘Something from Nothing’ by the Foo Fighters is his favourite song to get fired up to before a game.

Those are some fun facts about Shepley but my favourite stories are the ones where he, his collegiate quarterback Mike O’Connor and some friends used to get up super early and give out 600 homemade sandwiches to the homeless in Vancouver. You got a good one Saskatchewan.

Darius Ciraco (Hamilton)

I want to be around when this former Calgary Dino tries to explain the plot of a Harry Potter movie to coach June Jones! From April 12, 2015 Darius tweeted out: “There is a World Cup of Quidditch currently being played #IWannaPlay”. Forget about Jones, I want a video of Ciraco explaining the character arc of Ron and Hermione to Jerry Glanville.

Versatility made Calgary’s Darius Ciraco an appealing option for the Ticats (David Moll/University of Calgary)

Julien Laurent (BC)

In an interview for NFLDraftDiamonds.com, Laurent revealed the toughest opponent he has ever faced is former Penn State running back and second overall pick in the NFL Draft Saquon Barkley. Going up against that sort of talent should mean that he’ll be as ready as any rookie defensive linemen can be when it comes to taking on such backs as Andrew Harris and Jerome Messam.

Laurent may have the best answer I’ve ever heard when it comes to academics. He listed “rhetoric criticism” as one of his favourite classes. Warning to the local media in Vancouver: this guy was a speech major so you better make sure you’re asking good questions.

Ryan Sceviour (Calgary)

First thing you need to know is that Ryan is a total nerd when it comes to offensive line play. When asked to name his favourite player to watch, Sceviour, whose parents had season tickets, said it was former Stampeder OL Dimitri Tsoumpas. Who goes to games as a child and watches the guards???? I loved this anecdote from a Tim Baines Ottawa Sun story: when asked by scouts what kind of donut he most relates to, Ryan answered ‘I’m the maple dip because I’m well rounded and I have no holes’. Fantastic!

Ryan Hunter (Toronto)

Did you know the drafting of Hunter was the first time in CFL history that the end of the first round was marked with the drafting of two players with the first name “Ryan”? I just made that up to see if you were still paying attention but I mean it could be true. This former Bowling Green lineman has all the makings of the next Jock Climie when he’s done football. Hunter already has a degree in criminal justice and has his sights set on attending law school on day.