2015 CFL Draft Day Thread

[Rammer]

Tell me I am wrong, but this draft hinges on Boyko becoming a Lion. Past that I see a lot of ST players for a supposedly deep draft year.

[DanoT]

Yes, I was surprised by our first round selection, but maybe they see him as a replacement for Bazzie coming off the end, with the ratio benefit to allow for another international in the secondary ??

With his speed I think the Lions have drafted what they hope to be an impact player on special teams and back up with occasional reps on the D line.

[TheLionKing]

Despite his late selection, Forde ranked “better than anyone in the draft”, according to McEvoy’s analytics, according to today's Beamish article.

I take those comments with a grain of salt. All teams say something equivalent when they talk about their later picks.

[David]

I will admit I knew nothing about the 6th Round pick, Josh Brinkworth from Pacific (Oregon - Northwest Conference of Division III). But after watching the safety's highlight film, it's clear that he has excellent football instincts and is a punishing tackler/hitter. Whether he can one day make a leap to the pros, who knows? But he looks to be a solid late round pick.

[video][/video]


DH

[ballhawk]

Lemar Durant on draft, "One of the most shocking things I have ever been through"

The most telling point in the evening was when his University coach, Jacque Chapdelaine, passed him up in the draft. Then to add to the wound, two teams desperately needing Canadian receivers, Ottawa and Winnipeg, selected Hardy and Richards ahead of him. Isn't there an old saying, if you hype yourself up too much, maybe you should be prepared to take a big fall.

[Rammer]

Lemar Durant on draft, "One of the most shocking things I have ever been through"

The most telling point in the evening was when his University coach, Jacque Chapdelaine, passed him up in the draft. Then to add to the wound, two teams desperately needing Canadian receivers, Ottawa and Winnipeg, selected Hardy and Richards ahead of him. Isn't there an old saying, if you hype yourself up too much, maybe you should be prepared to take a big fall.

Too much pressure for JC to select him at this juncture of his career unless he thinks that Durant is a blue chipper. If Durant fails JC wouldn't look very good in the eyes of the Rider management. Durant will have to prove himself now, and that may be the best thing for him.

[TheLionKing]

UBC and SFU each had only one player drafted.

[WestCoastJoe]

Ese Mrabure Ajufo

Different sizes listed. 6' 2" 253, 6' 4" 260.

Looks very athletic.

Combine voice over comment: "freak athlete"



Combine voice over comment before he ran: "might possibly be the fastest here" ... Nothing special in the 40 on testing day. 4.838 ... Looked slow off the line.



As stated, he is athletic. Not sure he merits a 1st round selection. It seems Wally really liked what he saw on video.

Does he really have great pass rush skills? It would be terrific if he does. Otherwise, more of an ST player, it seems to me.

As stated many times by many bloggers, in a deep draft, loaded with talent, it is a bit of a concern that we went so far down the board with our 1st pick. And we may never see our 2nd round pick. I would have to say we gambled, in a draft when perhaps we should have played it safe. We will certainly see the outcome over time, for better or worse. Win big. Lose big.

[David]

Tell me I am wrong, but this draft hinges on Boyko becoming a Lion. Past that I see a lot of ST players for a supposedly deep draft year

I find it odd that a club that prides itself on annually drafting 'the best athlete,' ends up drafting based on need, at least in Round 1. And then basically admitting he's a depth player behind Jabar Westerman at the 5 technique (defensive end).

Not to beat this one to death, but I think they squandered a first round pick in this draft. Here's my reasoning. They could have taken a local kid (Durant, whom I think is going to be a stud receiver) or Jacob Ruby (Hunter Steward is our only National tackle) - even Danny Groulx would have been a safe, smart choice in Round 1. Since no one else really needed a D-lineman and Ese was ranked #17, it's a safe bet he would have been around in Round 2, 14th overall. Moreover, Boyko would likely have still been around in Round 3 (assuming they wanted to go with another O-lineman) as teams were scared off by him signing with the Eagles.

So it could have been Durant (keeping him out of our rival's hands), Ruby, or Groulx, then Mrabure-Ajufo in the Round 2, then Boyko in Round 3. I am pleased they took Shaquille Murray-Lawrence as it would have been a calculated risk that he still would have been on the board in Round 4. He can back up Harris, and possibly push him a bit.


DH

[B.C.FAN]

Tell me I am wrong, but this draft hinges on Boyko becoming a Lion. Past that I see a lot of ST players for a supposedly deep draft year

I find it odd that a club that prides itself on annually drafting 'the best athlete,' ends up drafting based on need, at least in Round 1. And then basically admitting he's a depth player behind Jabar Westerman at the 5 technique (defensive end).

Not to beat this one to death, but I think they squandered a first round pick in this draft. Here's my reasoning. They could have taken a local kid (Durant, whom I think is going to be a stud receiver) or Jacob Ruby (Hunter Steward is our only National tackle) - even Danny Groulx would have been a safe, smart choice in Round 1. Since no one else really needed a D-lineman and Ese was ranked #17, it's a safe bet he would have been around in Round 2, 14th overall. Moreover, Boyko would likely have still been around in Round 3 (assuming they wanted to go with another O-lineman) as teams were scared off by him signing with the Eagles.

So it could have been Durant (keeping him out of our rival's hands), Ruby, or Groulx, then Mrabure-Ajufo in the Round 2, then Boyko in Round 3. I am pleased they took Shaquille Murray-Lawrence as it would have been a calculated risk that he still would have been on the board in Round 4. He can back up Harris, and possibly push him a bit.


DH

I understand Jeff Tedford had a big say in the Lions' selections. This is not the club's traditional, conservative approach to draft day. I agree with Wally that the draft is a crapshoot and all picks have some risks, but I would rather have seen Ruby or Durant in the first round and then possibly still gotten the Lions' two top picks in the second and third rounds. Of course, if Ese Mrabure-Ajufo turns out to be the next Brent Johnson or Ricky Foley, we'll have to revise our assessments.

[pennw]

So it could have been Durant (keeping him out of our rival's hands), Ruby, or Groulx, then Mrabure-Ajufo in the Round 2, then Boyko in Round 3. I am pleased they took Shaquille Murray-Lawrence as it would have been a calculated risk that he still would have been on the board in Round 4. He can back up Harris, and possibly push him a bit.


DH

I don't think Lawrence would have been around in the 4th round , he was considered a steal in the 3rd . So really in your scenario it would have come down to a choice Boyko or one of those other top picks, although Boyko may have still been available in the 4th due to his contract with the Eagles , but that would have been a gamble on Boyko, he could have been taken at any time .
While I found it a head scratcher taking Ese first , he could become , as BCfan states , the next Brent Johnson for all we know . But he was Tedford's man ,who had a close up look at these guys. I recall Hunter Steward being a real head scratcher on this board too when he was selected first 2 season's ago .

The thing with Boyko is that he was an undrafted free agent signing for the Eagles as opposed to a draft pick like Covington . Undrafted free agents are much more a long shot to make the NFL than draft picks .

[DanoT]

So it could have been Durant (keeping him out of our rival's hands), Ruby, or Groulx, then Mrabure-Ajufo in the Round 2, then Boyko in Round 3. I am pleased they took Shaquille Murray-Lawrence as it would have been a calculated risk that he still would have been on the board in Round 4. He can back up Harris, and possibly push him a bit.


DH

I don't think Lawrence would have been around in the 4th round , he was considered a steal in the 3rd . So really in your scenario it would have come down to a choice Boyko or one of those other top picks, although Boyko may have still been available in the 4th due to his contract with the Eagles , but that would have been a gamble on Boyko, he could have been taken at any time .
While I found it a head scratcher taking Ese first , he could become , as BCfan states , the next Brent Johnson for all we know . But he was Tedford's man ,who had a close up look at these guys. I recall Hunter Steward being a real head scratcher on this board too when he was selected first 2 season's ago .

The thing with Boyko is that he was an undrafted free agent signing for the Eagles as opposed to a draft pick like Covington . Undrafted free agents are much more a long shot to make the NFL than draft picks .

I don't know about others but at the time I thought Hunter Stewart was a brilliant pick and possibly Draft Coordinator Kelly Bates' best move. Here is why:

2013 was the last year for the CFL allowing junior players to be drafted. Ottawa was yet to field a team but was allowed to pick in the draft, but could only pick junior players who would be going back to school and then available in 2014. So B.C. picked the best junior player, Steward, just ahead of Ottawa.

Then in December 2013 at the Expansion Draft, Ottawa could only pick NATs that were on a team's roster. Hunter Steward was still in school so he was not on the BC roster and thus not eligible to be picked. So Steward ended up being an extra protected NAT. Ironically one of the players that Ottawa ended up picking was a later round 2013 pick (I forget his name) who rarely saw the field in 2013 for BC and didn't play much for Ottawa in 2014.

[FrankLandy]

1st post in a long time - hope I did it right.

I'm happy with our picks, Wally says BC had Mrabure-Ajufo ranked 5th on their list and I believe him.
I disagree that Mrabure-Ajufo would have been available for us in the 2nd round as the word was Popp/Montreal were very keen on him according to Mrabure-Ajufo himself they were the team that talked to him the most before draft - Montreal had 2 picks before BC picked in the 2nd round including the pick immediately before BC in the 2nd.
IMO Mrabure-Ajufo would have been gone to Montreal.

Its a risky business to assume a player you like and have rated high will be available in later rounds - I say if you have him rated 5th you pick him.

I like our chances of getting Boyko and that would be great value for a 2nd rounder, the flyer on Covington I guess we'll see - our other picks reflect a deep draft and IMO a job well done.

[pennw]

I don't know about others but at the time I thought Hunter Stewart was a brilliant pick and possibly Draft Coordinator Kelly Bates' best move. Here is why:

2013 was the last year for the CFL allowing junior players to be drafted. Ottawa was yet to field a team but was allowed to pick in the draft, but could only pick junior players who would be going back to school and then available in 2014. So B.C. picked the best junior player, Steward, just ahead of Ottawa.

Then in December 2013 at the Expansion Draft, Ottawa could only pick NATs that were on a team's roster. Hunter Steward was still in school so he was not on the BC roster and thus not eligible to be picked. So Steward ended up being an extra protected NAT. Ironically one of the players that Ottawa ended up picking was a later round 2013 pick (I forget his name) who rarely saw the field in 2013 for BC and didn't play much for Ottawa in 2014.

Certainly in hindsight it was a brilliant pick . Some may have seen it immediately , but I do recall reading the draft threads and seeing similar reservation about Steward as we see about Ese this time around.

[pennw]

1st post in a long time - hope I did it right.

I'm happy with our picks, Wally says BC had Mrabure-Ajufo ranked 5th on their list and I believe him.
I disagree that Mrabure-Ajufo would have been available for us in the 2nd round as the word was Popp/Montreal were very keen on him according to Mrabure-Ajufo himself they were the team that talked to him the most before draft - Montreal had 2 picks before BC picked in the 2nd round including the pick immediately before BC in the 2nd.
IMO Mrabure-Ajufo would have been gone to Montreal.

Its a risky business to assume a player you like and have rated high will be available in later rounds - I say if you have him rated 5th you pick him.

I like our chances of getting Boyko and that would be great value for a 2nd rounder, the flyer on Covington I guess we'll see - our other picks reflect a deep draft and IMO a job well done.

Good post Frank , while I admit to being as surprised as any one at our top pick , I agree with your logic . You pick the guy's YOU believe are the best picks for YOUR own Team . The whole 'best guy available' logic does not always make sense when you have a backlog at that position and only will have to cut one extra guy there . If you need D linemen ,thenthat is what you should pick , not receivers etc.
We all wanted to have a new Coach who called his own shots and had all the credentials and that is what we are getting here . If we do get Boyko , then BC probably has the best draft of all and if we end up with Covington a few years down the road , even better. There were guys on the Rider's message board , in their draft thread ,that were calling for their Team to pick Boyko , Covington, Lawrence, Maxx Forde and were disappointed each time BC picked one of those guys.
I for one am glad we did not pick any of the receivers because we already got too many we don't use , no need to add more to the back log there. Covington was a freebee anyways , we basically got him for Haidara, a guy we never used and probably would have been cut this year .