Johany Jutras/CFL
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — Another CFL Draft is in the books and the 2015 edition featured many surprises, risers and fallers.
Minutes before the selection process began, the Als traded up in the draft sending offensive guard Ryan Bomben to the Ticats for the eighth and 24th overall selections.
Once the clock began ticking, the Ottawa REDBLACKS had the first overall pick and used it to select hometown offensive lineman Alex Mateas. The UConn Husky has signed a three-year deal with the club.
“When we factored everything in; ability, level of competition, intelligence, all those factors and the fact it was a player that wanted to be here, wanted to be a REDBLACK, it was really a no-brainer for us,” said REDBLACKS General Manager Marcel Desjardins post-draft.
Mateas was equally as excited to be drafted, especially by his hometown team.
“It’s a great honour to be drafted number one in my home city. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
The trend of picking offensive linemen in the first round was record breaking. Not only were the top three picks all from that position but the six chosen in the first round also set a new mark.
Winnipeg chose lineman Sukh Chungh with the second-overall pick and the Argos followed up by selecting Sean McEwen. The two played as teammates at Calgary and will now square off in the CFL.
“Today was the perfect summary of all the hard work we’ve put in over the years,” said McEwen.
The Roughriders boosted their receiving corps by choosing Manitoba’s Nic Demski sixth overall.
Yale’s Tyler Varga was the first running back picked when the Calgary Stampeders drafted him in the third round. Varga, currently under contract with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, is considered a ‘future’ pick that could one day make a significant CFL impact.
Brandon Bridge, the first ever quarterback ever ranked in CFL Scouting Bureau, was chosen 41st overall by the Montreal Alouettes. He recently attended a tryout mini-camp with the Dallas Cowboys but was not offered a contract. He will now look to continue his football career with Montreal.
The highest ranked player in the CFL Scouting Bureau, defensive lineman Christian Covington, fell to the fifth round before being snapped up by the Lions. The Rice product was recently drafted in the sixth round by the Houston Texans. The Lions also drafted defensive lineman Ese Mrabure-Ajufo with the fifth-overall pick.
Athletic defensive back Chris Ackie, who had an impressive showing at the CFL Combine, was chosen by the Als with the fourth-overall pick. The Alouettes had what some consider to be a picture perfect draft day, getting high-ranked prospects Ackie and Richmond’s Jacob Ruby in the first round along with linebacker Nick Shortill in the second and sleeper candidate OL James Bodanis in the third.
Laval saw a pair of offensive lineman chosen in the first round with Danny Groulx landing in Edmonton seventh overall and Karl Lavoie going to Calgary at ninth.
