By Arash Madani
For CFL.ca
9:55 a.m.*: With a bowl of cereal, an apple and a bottle of water, the laptop is fired up for the 2008 CFL Canadian College Draft. I truly have not looked forward to a draft the way I have for this one. So much intrigue with trades for the top pick; a very deep group of young men with a handful of offensive linemen who are futures and the NFL free agent signings will affect when and where players go. That TSN is putting all of these resources, and their CFL panel here, is terrific.
*Arash is blogging from Calgary.
10:04 a.m.: Depth of draft being discussed by three football men who know their stuff. Duane Forde is the most knowledgeable man in the business
10:05 a.m.: Mark Cohon makes his appearance on the TSN set and you can sense his excitement.
10:06 a.m.: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are on the clock under the first draft of the Bob O’Billovich era. Just as we are underway, they remind us that the Alouettes were stripped of their pick and the Tabbies get an additional first rounder.
10:10 a.m.: How’s this for an endorsement? “There are absolutely no red flags with Dylan Barker,” says his head coach from the University of Saskatchewan, Brian Towriss.
10:15 a.m.: Rod Black throws it to the commissioner and Cohon passes along the news we’ve been anticipating. Barker, a 21-year-old who left school as a junior, is taken with the top pick in the draft. Edmonton is now on the clock.
10:17 a.m.: Interesting take from former Ti-Cats head coach Greg Marshall on the panel, pointing out Barker could play linebacker and Towriss talking about the cerebral qualities of the No. 1 overall selection.
10:19 a.m.: Barker is on the phone and the kid clearly gets it – wanting to crack the roster as a special teamer first to establish himself in the pros before “working my way up from there.” Can’t miss kid, can’t miss player for Hamilton. Safe, smart move by the Tiger-Cats. Been a while since we’ve said that, hasn’t it?
10:24 a.m.: Wow – a trade by Edmonton. Like the panel had said it had appeared to be an automatic pick-up by the Eskimos to take Dimitri Tsoumpas. The price to move up one slot ridiculously steep. Not as much with John Comiskey, who has had a number of knee injuries and could be damaged goods long-term, but two draft picks and your 2007 selection in Kevin Challenger you just signed? Golly.
10:28 a.m.: Okay, this one is hard to figure out, but you’ve got to figure the Stampeders will take Tsoumpas. He’s a ready-made pro who can step in immediately on a Calgary offensive line that is depleted.
10:30 a.m.: Coach Marshall agrees with me. That rarely happens.
10:32 a.m.: The Stamps take Tsoumpas and have their original third selection coming up. Digesting the trade that was just made – it would be even if Challenger weren’t in that mix, but the Boston College kid had tremendous upside. But Calgary loves its higher draft picks and presumably the philosophy goes like this: the draft – based on our board, needs and immediate impact guys – is not deep after the second round. So let’s pull the trigger now to collect No. 2 and No. 10. It’s a reach, but this may be it. Also, I’m convinced the Stamps believe Tsoumpas will be a monster on their line in two or three years and Comiskey will not.
10:42 a.m.: So the run on offensive linemen continues. Consecutive guys taken up front. Jesse Newman is the only true left tackle in this draft and he is really athletic. Should be interesting to see if John Hufnagel is now on the phone with his old pal Wally Buono about the Louisiana-Lafayette kid that the B.C. Lions had tops on their draft board. So to get this all together: the Stampeders make a pretty big trade with Edmonton to get a four-year NCAA starter on the offensive line, then use their own pick to do the same.
10:46 a.m.: Jim Barker is telling the TSN guys that “we needed guys who could step in and play right away and it was necessary.” The Stampeders have too many Canadian receivers as it is in their corps, and evidently went experience (Ryan Thelwell) over youth (Challenger). Doesn’t sound like Newman is on the trading block with B.C. But through the opening hour of the draft, and this being the CFL, never say never…
10:51 a.m. The Saskatchewan Roughriders take Keith Shologan with the Montreal Alouettes pick. Essentially the University of Central Florida defensive lineman dropped three slots after signing with the San Diego Chargers as a free agent. Good value for the Riders, who clearly went with the mindset of taking the best player available on the board.
11 a.m.: As always, the B.C. Lions are ready and prepared and it’s a future pick – Justin Sorensen. The third offensive lineman to go in the top five and this selection is vintage Wally Buono. A huge player (6’7, 320) who they’ll wait for since he will be returning to South Carolina. Winnipeg is now on the clock and B.C. may have taken the guy the Blue Bombers wanted.
11:05 a.m.: So while Buono is talking to the panel, it hits you that Winnipeg hasn’t traded its first round pick. And it is moments before they’re about to make a selection. The first time in eight years that the Bombers will have a pick in the opening round.
11:10 a.m.: It’s funny because as soon as Brendon Labatte’s name was announced by Cohon, I began to type about how the Regina product has improved his stock immensely over the last year, what with his 2007 season, his performance at the East-West Shrine Bowl and then the evaluation camp. And then my one-time colleague, Mr. Forde, made the exact same point. Well, Duane, we were on the same wavelength once again. Except Bishop’s is still a more elite program than Western.
11:19 a.m.: The Alouettes, outside of 2007, have been the best drafting team over the last decade in the CFL. Intriguing who Montreal goes with, especially with the pick stripped.
11:20 a.m.: Great value for the Als. An incredible athlete, that Shea Emry, and he can flat play. A one-time quarterback, track star and an all-conference selection on special teams when he played in the NCAA before coming home. I had Emry going to the Alouettes and it is a real good fit there. Spoke with Popp a few weeks ago, after the combine, and the Montreal GM was impressed with the UBC product’s film and work ethic, despite not dominating at the combine.
11:22 a.m.: Okay, Samuel Giguère still hasn’t gone. Wouldn’t it make sense to go now to Hamilton? Here’s a receiver many believed could go No. 1, and this is a free pick for the Tiger-Cats.
11:30 a.m.: An hour and 25 minutes after starting the draft, the commissioner announces it will be Giguère. So Chris Baumann a year ago with the first overall pick and now Giguère 12 months later to finish the opening round. And O’Billovich isn’t posturing here when he says his team had Barker and Giguère ranked first and second on their team’s board – two outstanding athletes, who with time have the potential to develop into real solid CFL players.
11:34 a.m.: A quick analysis of the first round – Giguère, value-wise, was a steal for Hamilton. The trade early on between Calgary and Edmonton clearly shuffled the deck of the draft even more than the NFL signings. That deal will be analysed for years to come when we see what players pan out in the coming seasons. Clearly, offensive linemen were the big-ticket item, as expected. Enjoy the second round. I certainly will.
