By Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON – Adam Braidwood knows who he’d take with the Edmonton Eskimos’ second overall selection in today’s CFL Canadian College Draft.
The team’s first-overall pick from a year ago doesn’t claim to be a draft expert, but Esks head coach Danny Maciocia did seek out his thoughts on a few players Monday.
One of those is Western Washington University running back Calvin McCarty, another B.C. product whose career Braidwood has followed since high school.
“I would take him as a No. 2 pick if it was me personally,” said Braidwood, a Washington State University grad. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Calvin there. He’s a good athlete, I’ve seen him train and he’s definitely an impact player.”
McCarty is a former B.C. high school player of the year and holds the record at St. Thomas More with 84 career touchdowns at the school. That’s when he first caught Braidwood’s attention.
McCarty has since bounced from Boise State University to Reedley College and finally Western Washington last year, where he was the team’s offensive player of the game three times. The five-foot-10, 215-pound running back declared himself eligible for this draft.
“He’s a multi-purpose guy,” said Braidwood, who got an even better look at McCarty by playing flag football with him recently. “He’s a running back by nature, but I think he could probably play anywhere.”
Despite Braidwood’s endorsement, McCarty’s considered a wild card for the draft and would have to prove a special teams demon to nail down a roster spot.
However, he did recently catch the eye of B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono in a free-agent workout. And a heaping of praise from arguably last year’s top Canadian rookie should only increase his stock.
McCarty didn’t register on a list of 41 top draft prospects compiled by The Score analyst Duane Forde for the CFL website. But here are a list of 10 names Forde is high on who should be on the Eskimos’ radar with their two picks in the Top 10:
– Jabari Arthur, WR, Akron, six-foot-four, 224 pounds
– Chris Bauman, WR, Regina, six-foot-four, 212 pounds
– Josh Bean, LB, Boise State, six-foot-two, 231 pounds
– J.P. Bekasiak, DT, Toledo, six-foot-six, 299 pounds
– Kevin Challenger, WR, Boston Coll., five-foot-eight, 178 pounds
– Tad Crawford, FS, Columbia, six-foot-one, 181 pounds
– Mike Gyetvai, OT, Michigan State, six-foot-seven, 307 pounds
– Corey Mace, DL, Wyoming, six-foot-two, 295 pounds
– Justin Phillips, LB, Wilfrid Laurier, six-foot-three, 236 pounds
– Andre Sadeghian, RB, McMaster, five-foot-11, 219 pounds
