Esks go top-heavy with Groulx and Beard

CFL.ca Staff

EDMONTON — You might say the Edmonton Eskimos went top-heavy in the 2015 CFL Draft, not that they had more picks than anyone else in the top half of the draft.

The statement should be taken quite literally, as the Esks’ first two picks collectively weigh about 600 pounds. Laval’s Danny Groulx and Alberta’s David Beard were the first two players drafted by Edmonton, and both are expected to pack a pretty mean punch on Edmonton’s O-line for the foreseeable future.

“We came in with a plan, offensive line being the top priority,” Hervey, who recently earned an off-season extension along with a promotion, told Esks.com, “followed by special teams and youth in certain areas.”

The Esks seemingly nailed down the O-line part, winding up with two picks that were intriguing in their own manner.

At seventh overall, Edmonton may have gotten the steal of the draft with the selection of Danny Groulx, rumoured for the longest time to be going first overall to Ottawa. Groulx is an aggressive, hard-nosed blocker that should be a perfect match for fiery head coach Chris Jones.

“It feels pretty good, honestly,” said Groulx, who will now compete in the Battle of Alberta against former Laval teammates Pierre Lavertu and this year’s ninth overall pick Karl Lavoie. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long and it finally happened with Edmonton, so I’m really, really happy.”

If Groulx was an option to go first overall to Ottawa, the Eskimos have to think they got pretty good value with the seventh overall pick. Their second round pick on the other hand may be considered a reach.

Beard converted only recently from being a defensive lineman, but in 2013 was the Golden Bears lineman of the year. Last CIS season, meanwhile, he earned CIS second team All-Canadian honours.

While Groulx brings strength, nastiness and overall size, Beard brings a slightly different skill-set to the fold.

“Beard is very athletic,” said Hervey. “Good size. We’ve had the chance to watch him move around a lot. We brought him in a couple weeks back to work him out. We are very comfortable with that pick.”

Coming off a hand injury and unable to compete in the combine, the 16th overall pick was a lesser-talked about prospect entering Tuesday’s draft. But the Eskimos see a future role for him on the team’s offensive line, a unit that continues to grow in depth of Canadian talent.

Starting immediately may not be in the cards for a player still facing a learning curve and also recovering from injury, but the Eskimos plan to patiently watch him grow as a player and, if everything goes according to plan, into an eventual starter.

“He will come in compete. Beard is a competitor,” said Hervey. “He comes highly recommended. His film shows he’s probably one of the more athletic offensive linemen in this draft. We know he’s a converted d-lineman. He brings things that we are looking for.”

“We are looking to develop offensive linemen.”

Let development be the key word here. Outside of the top few linemen picked up in this year’s draft, most CFL linemen out of CIS schools face a steep learning curve and need time and patience in order to properly develop.

With the depth that Hervey’s been able to build over the past couple of seasons, Edmonton is in a position to draft based on overall upside rather than need. Whereas Beard might not be the best player that was available at the time he was drafted for right now, in a couple more years he very well could be.

“Offensive linemen need to be developed in this league and we feel that we’re equipped to do that,” said Hervey. “We are looking for guys that we can have long-term.”

Getting a local guy in the process was merely an added bonus, not a pre-condition.

“It just happens that he’s from the Edmonton area,” added Hervey. “He gives us what we need as far as adding depth. We want to improve our offensive line content and he gives us that.”

“Everyone that we spoke to says great things about not only his character but his ability and his upside. The film shows it and we were fortunate to have him there, it wasn’t a reach for us in our opinion.”