Buono acknowledges talking to Ticats about star
By Mike Beamish,
Vancouver Sun
The CFL college draft may not be especially talented or deep this year, but one prospect at the top of the board is loaded with intrigue.
Windsor, Ontario’s J.P. Bekasiak, a man-mountain defensive tackle, is being measured by teams eager to trade up for the University of Toledo product or perhaps Port Moody’s Corey Mace. Both were projected No. 1 picks before Mace, a defensive tackle from Wyoming, signed a free-agent contract with the Buffalo Bills following Sunday’s NFL draft.
Though Hamilton has the first pick on the board, general manager Marcel Desjardins says he’s willing to trade for the right offer. The Tiger-Cats are on the clock today, starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Live webcast coverage is available on www.CFL.ca.
According to the Canadian Press, the B.C. Lions have offered sophomore linebackers Jason Pottinger, who played collegiately at McMaster, and York University grad Ricky Foley for both the No. 1 pick and Hamilton’s veteran Canadian linebacker Augustin Barrenchea.
Draft day taps into every fan or media fantasy, and Lions GM Wally Buono defines this latest piece of speculation as curious in the extreme.
Pottinger was the second overall pick in the 2006 draft; Foley went No. 4. Though Buono admits he’s inquired about a deal with Desjardins, Pottinger and Foley aren’t chips in the bargaining process. Far from it.
“We’ve had discussions with Hamilton, but the names being talked about just don’t make sense to me,” Buono acknowledged Tuesday. “Why would we offer up guys who helped us win a Grey Cup? These guys [Foley and Pottinger] were part of the equation. By doing that, we’d be going backwards. They’re not on the trading block. Maybe in five years — if they don’t live up to what we project they’ll be — but not now.”
Calgary, with three picks in the first round — Nos. 3, 5 and 6 — and Edmonton, with the No. 2 overall pick, reportedly have keen interest in Bekasiak, a workout freak who did 33 reps in the 225-pound bench press at the CFL combine in March. Last year’s No. 1 pick, DE Adam Braidwood from Washington State, held the previous record of 30.
Buono knows Bekaskiak will be long gone by the time the Lions’ turn comes, at the No. 8 spot at the end of the first round. But wherever he goes today, this much is certain: Bekasiak is a specimen.
After the combine, Buono described him as “more of an athlete than a football player.”
At 6-6, 300 pounds, and exceptionally fast for a man of his size, Bekasiak’s wide-body presence could make more of an impact on the offensive line, Buono suggests.
“You’d have to give serious consideration to converting him because of his size,” he says. “Name me another defender in our league who’s 6-6, 300 and runs a 5.1 [40-yard sprint]? You look at his physical attributes, and you could project a long career as an offensive lineman.”
The Lions’ hopes for Tulsa O-lineman Jon Hameister-Ries took a hit Sunday, when the club’s second-round pick in ’06 signed a priority free-agent contract with the Phoenix Cardinals.
Negotiations between the Lions and the player’s agent, Mark Maren, were put on hold until after the NFL draft.
“B.C. was terrific through the whole process,” Maren says. “I give them a lot of credit for allowing a Canadian kid to pursue his dream in the NFL.”
