May 1, 2019

Nye: Riders have options with sixth overall pick

Peter Power/CFL.ca

Patience is now a virtue for the CFL Draft thanks to the growing interest from the NFL in the top Canadian talent.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders under Chris Jones were more than willing to take the top player available despite the threat that a player may never arrive in Canada thanks to the NFL.

They did it in the third round with defensive back Elie Bouka in 2016 and did it again last year with offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley.

Both players weren’t drafted in the NFL, but were able to get undrafted free agent contracts.

And in the last two months both players have signed with Saskatchewan; Bouka for the second time after the team released him to pursue NFL opportunities after the 2017 season.

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And with these two players now in the fold, you can see the Riders’ draft priorities possibly shift coming up on Thursday.

They now have Bouka and last year’s utility man Mike Edem for national secondary players with a load of Canadian linebackers from Cam Judge, Sam Hurl and Micah Teitz to Brandyn Bartlett, Alex Gagne and Alex Chevrier.

Include that with Zack Evans along the defensive line and the Riders are set to start the season with good national talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensively, the addition of Dakoda Shepley is a huge bonus for the potential starting three up front. In fact, if the team feels any of their players can shift to tackle, the Riders could be back to where they were in 2013 when they started four Canadian offensive linemen. Brendon LaBatte, Dan Clark, Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek are already capable starters. You add Shepley to the mix and it adds up to a very competitive camp for starting spots.

That brings us to the Riders receiver depth.

Local product Mitchell Picton is hoping he can finally make a jump forward in the pros, while 35-year-old Cory Watson and 31-year-old Patrick Lavoie can contribute and have proven to be extremely reliable.

All this adds up to the Riders being able to look at the roster and not seeing a glaring hole that needs to be filled.


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Depth could be a concern at the defensive tackle and receiver spots if you’re going into draft needing to make sure you’re covered if starters and backups start going down.

Of course, the Riders being patient with prospects is a bit risky as they’ve also drafted players who had NFL interest they haven’t seen north of the border; tight end Antony Auclair and defensive tackle David Onyemata. Onyemata, of course, drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2016.

So when I see another load of top prospects for Thursday’s draft getting NFL free agent contracts, I wouldn’t be scared away if I’m Jeremy O’Day calling the shots on his first CFL draft.

Receiver Justin McInnis (Tennessee Titans), defensive lineman Mathieu Betts (Chicago Bears) , DL Robert Smith (NY Giants) and others could all be sixth overall targets for the Riders that they may have to wait for to see if they get through NFL mini-camps.

Thankfully, patience has paid off for a duo of players that may allow the Riders to stay patient and take the most talented player available when it’s their time on the clock.

Now that O’Day is at the helm, though, we’ll see if he’s as willing to maybe have to wait a season to see top picks finally put on the Roughriders uniform.