Lions put heavy emphasis on Candian draft next month.
By Lyndon Little,
The Vancouver Sun
B.C. Lions assistant coach Mike Benevides has long been convinced of the importance of the Canadian draft to the success of his CFL team. So recently, he sat down to see if the numbers backed up his views.
“I looked at last year’s championship roster and approximately 20 per cent of the players were our own Canadian draft picks,” Benevides said Monday. “That’s on a roster with about 50 per cent imports.”
Besides tutoring the linebackers and special teams, Benevides also co-ordinates the Canadian draft. That draft has been particularly good to the club lately, and Benevides is counting on it continuing when the eight clubs sit down May 2 to divvy up this year’s graduating class.
“We’ve attained at least one regular from every draft since 2000,” he says. “There’s Brent Johnson from 2000, Lyle Green from 2001, Jason Clermont from 2002, Paris Jackson and Javy Glatt from 2003, Nautyn McKay-Loescher from 2004, Alexis Bwenge from 2005 and Jason Pottinger, Ricky Foley and Dean Valli from last season.”
Trades helped set up the acquisition of Pottinger, Foley and Valli by dealing the rights to quarterbacks Jason Gesser to Calgary and Spergon Wynn to Winnipeg. While the club won’t have three first-round picks again this year, the Lions are hoping the deal that sent linebacker Jojuan Armour to Hamilton for a second-rounder will help turn this into another productive year.
“Hamilton and Calgary control this year’s draft,” Benevides admits. “Between them they have seven of the first 14 picks. But we have three of the first 17 [Nos. 8, 16 and 17].”
While it’s an off-year for UBC and SFU prospects, Benevides will be keeping a close eye on several local players who have been attending U.S. schools and are draft eligible. That group includes Corey Mace of Wyoming, Montana’s Reggie Bradshaw, Jack Bal and Kelvin McCarty of Western Washington and Nick Edson of Idaho State.
In previous years, the Lions have rolled the dice on several high picks — linemen Robert Meier, Greg Lotsz and Brett Romberg, as well as defensive back O.J. Atogwe — whom the club ended up losing to the NFL.
The team’s record of signing its picks has improved considerably over the past few years. Nevertheless, Benevides insists the philosophy of taking the best players available remains.
“We’ll still go after the best guys,” he says. “But what happens now is that other factors, such as a player’s character and the chances of having to wait on him, are all factored into the equation.”
You can add centre Angus Reid to the growing list of veterans who have agreed to contract extensions since the end of the 2006 regular season. Reid has signed on for two more years plus an option.
“The club came to me and asked if I wanted to get something done,” said the durable Reid, who has not missed a game in the past six seasons. “It was really quite easy. I’m where I want to be. As Wally [Buono] said, it’s just peace of mind for both sides.”
GRID BIT: In terms of new import signings, it’s been a quiet off-season. The team says that is about to change with several acquisitions to be announced soon.
