The Hamilton Spectator takes a look at the very successful day the Tiger-Cats had on Wednesday during the 2008 CFL Canadian Draft.
The Black and Gold drafted DB Dylan Barker and WR Samuel Giguere in the first round before adding FB Mike Giffin and WR Laurent Lavigne-Masse in the later rounds.
“I’m thrilled to be a Ticat,” said Barker. “I hope I can bring something to this team and add another body that will make more plays out there.”
The Cats also swung two trades, including a deal with B.C. that brought potential starting strong-side linebacker Markeith Knowlton to TigerTown.
How does the Ticats front office feel about the day’s events?
“I have a smile on my face because I’m ecstatic,” said Hamilton president Scott Mitchell. “I think it was an absolutely wonderful 24 hours for the organization. We got the two top players in the draft and if you had asked us a week ago if we felt we could get Giguere and Barker together, people would have said we were crazy.”
General manager Bob O’Billovich agrees.
“When you look at the draft, the two guys we got with our first two picks, they were the two guys we had ranked as the best two players in the entire draft. To get both of those guys, and then you look at the fact we got a starter with our No. 2 pick from B.C., I would say we did quite well in the draft,” O’Billovich said. “I think we did a real good job and I’m happy with the results.”
