Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
EDMONTON — With the Canadian Football League Draft just days away, Canada West released its annual rankings Tuesday, after the top five names were unveiled Monday, with University of British Columbia offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley topping the list.
A product of Windsor, Ont., Shepley helped UBC to a Hardy Cup and Vanier Cup in 2015, and was a CW all-star last season. Recently signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets of the National Football League, Shepley received four first-place votes from coaches around the conference.
Securing the other two first-place votes in the rankings was Alberta offensive lineman Mark Korte, who was the Canada West Outstanding Lineman last season after helping the Golden Bears to a dominant rushing season. Korte, along with fellow linemen Justin Lawrence – who finished fifth in the rankings – anchored an Alberta line that allowed running back Ed Ilnicki to rush for a CW record 1,468 yards.
Also appearing in the top five were Calgary Dinos Darius Ciraco at No. 3 and Ryan Sceviour at No. 4. The offensive linemen helped Calgary to the Hardy Cup last season.
Voted on by coaches from the conference’s six football programs, the CW CFL Prospect Rankings provide a glimpse into how conference coaches view the top draft-eligible players ahead of the CFL Draft, which is slated for Thursday, May 3.
All six conference head coaches submitted a list of their potential draft picks, and then ranked the rest of the conference’s CFL hopefuls.
The CFL Draft is set for Thursday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET with two-hours of coverage on TSN, with the later rounds available on TSN.ca and TSN GO.
Complete Canada West CFL Prospect Rankings
| # | POS | NAME | SCHOOL | POINTS (first-place votes) |
| 1. | OL | Dakoda Shepley | UBC | 123 (4) |
| 2. | OL | Mark Korte | ALBERTA | 122 (2) |
| 3. | OL | Darius Ciraco | CALGARY | 114 |
| 4. | OL | Ryan Sceviour | CALGARY | 107* |
| 5. | OL | Justin Lawrence | ALBERTA | 107 |
| 6. | LB | Micah Teitz | CALGARY | 102 |
| 7. | RB | Atlee Simon | REGINA | 95 |
| 8. | DB | Dagogo (William) Maxwell | UBC | 88* |
| 9. | DL | Brett Wade | CALGARY | 88 |
| 10. | S/HB | Jayden McKoy | MANITOBA | 82 |
| 11. | REC | Marcus Davis | UBC | 78 |
| 12. | LB | Boston Rowe | CALGARY | 74 |
| 13. | REC | Will Watson | UBC | 73 |
| 14. | OL | Levi Hua | UBC | 68 |
| 15. | LB | Danny Nesbitt | REGINA | 67 |
| 16. | DL | Joel Van Pelt | CALGARY | 58 |
| 17. | REC | Mitch Thompson | REGINA | 54 |
| 18. | DL | Tristian Koronkiewicz | SASK. | 53 |
| 19. | QB | Noah Picton | REGINA | 52 |
| 20. | DL | Eric Wicijowski | REGINA | 46 |
First-place vote worth 25 points, second-place 24 etc.NOTES:
* – Higher ranking based on greater number of higher placed votes
In terms of team representation, the Calgary Dinos were the top squad, landing a total of six players on the list. The conference power had four players listed inside the top 10, as offensive linemen Darius Ciraco (No. 4), and Ryan Sceviour (No. 5) were joined by linebacker Micah Teitz (No. 6), and defensive linemen Brett Wade (No. 9).
Both UBC and Regina came in just behind the Dinos when it came to players on the list, as five Thunderbirds and Rams made the cut, including No. 1 prospect Dakoda Shepley (OL) of UBC.
Among the Regina products to crack the rankings was running back Atlee Simon, who at No. 7 represented the highest rated offensive skill position player in the rankings. Simon is coming off a terrific season in the Queen City, as he averaged 114 rushing yards per game, and finished second in the conference rushing race with 914 yards.
SCOUTING BUREAU COMPARISON
The CW CFL Prospect Rankings have some similarities with the CFL Scouting Bureau’s final rankings, which were released in the middle of April.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL CFL SCOUTING BUREAU RANKINGS
A total of five CW players were ranked by the CFL Scouting Bureau, which is comprised of CFL scouts, player personnel directors and general managers from the league’s nine teams. UBC’s Dakoda Shepley was the top CW player in the Scouting Bureau rankings at No. 3, followed by Alberta’s Mark Korte at No. 6.
There were a few differences, however, as the CW rankings reversed the order between Calgary’s Ciraco and Sceviour, as the Scouting Bureau rankings had Sceviour (No. 13) just ahead of Ciraco (No. 14).
Another difference was where the Scouting Bureau pegged Teitz and Alberta linemen Justin Lawrence. Teitz was ranked 19th in the Scouting Bureau rankings (No. 6 in the CW rankings), while Lawrence wasn’t ranked on the CFL list (No. 5 in the CW rankings).
NEXT CROP OF CFL STARS
Last season a total of 19 Canada West players were selected in the CFL Draft. That total was the most for the conference ever in an eight-round draft, and second most al-time behind the 1985 draft, which saw 25 Canada West athletes selected in the nine-round affair.
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF 2017 CW DRAFTEES
Among the players selected in last year’s draft was Alberta’s Ed Ilnicki, who went 62nd overall to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. The Spruce Grove, Alta. native returned to Alberta last season for his fifth and final season with the Golden Bears. The running back made the most of another Canada West campaign, setting a conference single-season rushing record (1,468) en route to the Hec Crighton Trophy as the nation’s top university player.
