By Darrell Davis,
Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders started late and apparently finished early, but they weren’t done accumulating players when Wednesday’s CFL draft was completed.
“There are still two guys I like who weren’t drafted and we’re hoping to get lucky with them,” said assistant coach Alex Smith, who co-ordinates the Roughriders’ draft.
“When the draft was over, Kent (Austin, Saskatchewan’s head coach) and I listed some players in the order we wanted them. We’ll see if we get them through waivers. That’s how we got Neal Hughes (in 2004).”
The Roughriders drafted five players, starting with Guelph receiver David McKoy, who they chose with the opening pick of the second round, ninth overall. Roughriders head coach Kent Austin had been coveting McKoy since watching him at the CFL’s evaluation camp last month, but didn’t figure the CIS all-star would be available after the first round.
“This is close to the best-case scenario we could have gotten considering we didn’t have a first-round draft choice,” said Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman. “McKoy was the highest receiver we had on our board. We didn’t think there would be any chance he would be there at nine.”
Former general manager Roy Shivers traded Saskatchewan’s first-round pick to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats one year ago so the Roughriders could obtain quarterback Kerry Joseph in the Ottawa Renegades’ dispersal draft.
The Roughriders also drafted Wilfrid Laurier linebacker Yannick Carter 20th overall, Regina offensive lineman Ryan Ackerman 28th overall, Montana running back Reggie Bradshaw 34th overall and Manitoba offensive lineman Ryan Karhut 39th overall, ending their participation in the fifth round of the six-round lottery. Smith said the Roughriders were initially expecting to draft Carter with their third-round pick.
“There is always more than one scenario that plays out in the draft,” said Austin, who participated in his first draft as Saskatchewan’s head coach.
Bradshaw is expected to complete his final year of college eligibility this upcoming season before joining the Roughriders, but Tillman wanted the tailback’s CFL rights so badly he arranged a mid-draft trade with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“I was trying like a madman to get Bradshaw,” said Tillman. “I made five phone calls trying to get a trade made with Toronto, B.C., Montreal and Winnipeg. (Blue Bombers general manager Brendan Taman) was interested.”
Saskatchewan sent little-used offensive lineman Matt O’Meara to Winnipeg for the fifth-round choice. O’Meara was the third overall pick by Saskatchewan in the 2005 draft, but had never earned a starting role.
The Roughriders made another deal on draft day, trading their third-round pick in 2008 to the Edmonton Eskimos for the negotiation rights to quarterback Drew Tate, an undrafted Iowa product who recently signed a free-agent contract with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
“This is a risk worth taking because Tate is an outstanding prospect,” Tillman said. “He’s 5-foot-11, and if he were two inches taller he would have been a third- or fourth-round NFL draft choice.”
After the eight CFL teams selected 47 players, starting with University of Regina receiver Chris Bauman being chosen first by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the 853 draft-eligible players who weren’t drafted become free agents who can be claimed through a CFL waiver process.
Among the players who might interest the Roughriders are Ottawa linebackers Cheeler Lindor and Joe Barnes, Western Ontario linebacker Tyler Cook or McMaster defensive lineman Jeff Robertshaw.
