RIDERS WILLING TO MOVE #1 PICK
The Canadian Football League’s National Combine presented by Adidas wrapped up on Sunday in Toronto but one of the hottest topics was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ plans for the #1 pick in the league’s Canadian College Draft on May 10.
With a 3-15 record in 2015, the Roughriders earned the right to pick first in the 2016 Draft however Riders GM and head coach Chris Jones says they’re not married to the pick. He’s willing to listen to offers for the prime selection, which would likely yield a roster player, or players, picks, or a combination of both.
“We still got a lot of time,” Jones told the Winnipeg Sun’s Kirk Penton on Sunday. “A lot of water’s going to be under the bridge before we decide exactly what we’re going to do with that pick. But there are a lot of good options out there also.”
Penton reports the Riders have heard from four other CFL teams who have interest in the pick however the talks have yet to get serious. As yet, there’s no clear consensus as to who will go #1 overall.
“It’s one of those deals where there’s a lot of good players,” Jones told Penton. “A lot of those offensive linemen today were very impressive. You didn’t see that six-foot-eight guy like a couple years ago, that type of thing, but you saw a lot of really solid six-foot-five guys that can play inside or outside.
“It’s a solid group of linemen. There’s a solid group of receivers. I don’t think there’s as many DBs. I don’t think there’s as many linebackers as normal. But I think it’s a very solid group of draftees this year.”
On the final day of the National CFL Combine on Sunday more than 50 prospects from Canada took to the football field to test their speed, agility as well as competing in one-on-one drills.
Wide receiver, Doug Corby from Queen’s topped the list with the fastest 40-yard dash time with a time of 4.505 seconds. Following Corby’s time on the day were: Calgary’s Brett Blaszko (4.547 seconds), London’s (CJFL) Shaquille Johnson (4.56 sec.), Laval’s Felix Faubert-Lussier (4.580 seconds) and UBC’s Nicholas Termansen (4.602 seconds).
In the other events on Sunday, Faubert-Lussier ran the fastest three-cone time among all the prospects in Sunday’s testing with a time of 6.73 seconds.
Johnson led all prospects on Sunday with a 10’ 10.25” broad jump tally, and Brian Jones from Acadia recorded the fastest shuttle time on Sunday with a time of 4.13 seconds.
(With files from the Winnipeg Sun and CFL.ca)
Enjoyed the Riders and other teams coaches and management interviews with players at the combine on TSN. Always interesting and I wish each prospect well in the draft and beyond.
Don't Do It ….
In the CFL, teams should always be willing to trade the number one guy, primarily for one main reason: the 'number one guy' is not the number one guy. Annually, the best Canadian in the draft, in fact the top two or three players, the best of the best, are always a hit and miss whether or not they should be drafted primarily due that likely those players will want to catch on south of the border in the NFL. Unless you are doubting they will make it in the NFL, then really that top player, or top three players,… Read more »
The first couple rounds of the CFL draft is good and has been pretty deep for the last several years. It'd be nice if we didn't trade away our 2nd round pick (moves up a place because Winnipeg lost a pick) for Watson to not play here, but we have to deal with that mess. If we can turn #1 overall in to multiple picks or an established Canadian or something along those lines then we should seriously consider it.
Could be a good idea to trade the first pick.
OL seems to again have several ready to play now in the CFL guys.
Receivers seem to be getting some hype as well again but such a big jump from CIS cover DBs to CFL that its hard to predict. Most rec nedd about 3 years to develop.
There are exceptions & the riders have one in Demski. They also have vet Bagg. As well as Chambers & Haidara. Thats a pretty good group of four.
Trade Demski to Winnipeg for Matt Nicols plus a throw in.