CFL Draft Thread for May 6, 2013 ... Picks & Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

There's been plenty of pint-sized tweener type OLBs in the CFL over the past decade or more - and some smaller that that listing for Atogwe (like TJ Hill - still around) - Atogwe IMO could probably be a star CFL safety if he chose to show up here ( unless he has has lost a lot more than the proverbial "step") - guy can run / hit / tackle if he was a starting NFL safety for many seasons, and he showed a nose for the ball with good INT totals often. I wonder if Wally has had any contact with Atogwe ? - should be begging him to show-up ; I guess Atogwe would have already decided though - if he wanted to continue playing - more for the love of the game and a chance to play in the pro league in his own country (plus be making I'd say decent coin - at say 100 K $ for half a year's work), and a chance to win a GC. Not interested in the above maybe?


And again - re safety possibilities - there are a number of top CIS D-backfielders up in this draft (Logan was an all-star D-half in CIS ball; i believe C. Muamba was not a safety in CIS ball either; Donovan Alexander is a converted corner starting at S for the Esks). The Bombers signed as a FA - just this off-season - 2 time CIS all-star safety Teague Sherman; and the Als have signed Dylan Hollohan (has been a CIS all-star as both a S and corner; put up a basically superb set of testing numbeers at the CFL E-Camp last year - and then goes undrafted ??? = yet more CFL draft bizzarreness IMO). I wonder why Wally would not be looking far & wide for more safety competition? - did he not think he could lose Muamba? , or is he good with just LaRose?; or maybe he could try to go import at safety?

Despite his many accomplishments, there are areas where Wally has not over-achieved (or his staff has not over-achieved). Personnel work with NI Linebackers. Personnel work with NI safeties. Personnel work with NI O Linemen. Personnel work with NI D Linemen. For personnel work, read: drafting and development.

These are key areas in which CFL teams traditionally play some Non Imports.

...........
D Line

Ricky Foley. Jabar Westerman. Not much else in NI D Linemen drafted and developed over Wally's 10 years. Nautyn McKay-Loescher for a couple of years. This has been an area of neglect in drafting IMO.

It is very possible to start an NI D Lineman, with a capable NI backup IMO.

...............

Linebackers

Javy Glatt. James Yurichuk. Not much else In NI Linebackers drafted and developed over the 10 years. Javy was quite effective for a number of years until offences isolated and exposed his weaknesses IMO. It helped when he had Carl Kidd and Otis Floyd on his wings. Yurichuk almost made starter, but I expect we have been better served by Bighill than could ever have been provided by Yurichuk. Bighill has all the attributes that would make him very effective in any league (he lacks prototype height for the NFL cookie cutters).

NI starter? Yes, but lately we have gone with imports at LB.

...............

Safeties

Cauchy Muamba. Tad Crawford. That's it for safeties, not counting Atogwe, who played in the NFL. Barron Miles' efforts with Crawford couldn't overcome Tad's lack of CFL speed. He got lost on long throws, pretty much a fatality for safeties. This area seems like almost an afterthought for our D. Oh yeah, and now who can play safety for us? Not much attention in the draft.

NI starter at safety? Yes, a CFL staple. But not with great success here.
................

O Line

JonHR (greatly hampered by injuries). Dean Valli (???). Adam Baboulas (??). That is the cream of the crop of NI guards drafted and "developed" over 10 years. Matt Norman part time last year looks very promising for this year.

At least we have tried to draft and develop NI O Linemen. It just hasn't really happened the way one would hope. Drafting decisions? Coaching? We all have our opinions.

NI starters in the O Line? Yes, the heartbeat of CFL strength for teams over the years. Montreal has taken this to the max, starting 5 NIs, with a stable of backups behind them. Drafting and developing.
............

Receivers

Some great success here. Paris Jackson. Shawn Gore. Akeem Foster. Marco Iannuzzi.

For quite a few years, it seemed an area of neglect, but suddenly we seemed to pay attention to it, focused on it in the draft, and now see the results. Some duds in the draft also (Nicholson, Carter).

[WestCoastJoe]

- 5 10 Ben D'Aguilar Defensive end McMaster
- 6 - Andy Mulumba Defensive Lineman Eastern Michigan
- 8 7 Jesse Joseph Defensive end Connecticut
- 9 - Brent Urban Defensive Lineman Virginia
- 15 8 Kalonji Kashama Defensive end Eastern Michigan
- - 12 Elie Ngoyi Defensive lineman Bishop's

With the Lions drafting 6th and 12th, these are some D Linemen that might be available when we draft.

Gaydosh and Charles would likely be gone by our selection time.

It seems to me that D Line might be a higher priority than O Line in the draft.

We have many, many NI O Line guys with varying degrees of ability and possible availability.
................

For the D Line, we have only Westerman and an outside chance that Doege can contribute.
............

Some videos and website features on Mulumba ...

http://www.emueagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3355

[SammyGreene]

Linebackers

Javy Glatt. James Yurichuk. Not much else In NI Linebackers drafted and developed over the 10 years. Javy was quite effective for a number of years until offences isolated and exposed his weaknesses IMO. It helped when he had Carl Kidd and Otis Floyd on his wings. Yurichuk almost made starter, but I expect we have been better served by Bighill than could ever have been provided by Yurichuk. Bighill has all the attributes that would make him very effective in any league (he lacks prototype height for the NFL cookie cutters).

NI starter? Yes, but lately we have gone with imports at LB.

Nice positional breakdown WC Joe

Have to say I feel somewhat sorry for Yurichuk as Lions seem to have a different standard when it comes to opportunities or developing Canadian linebackers. He was pencilled in as the starter going into 2012 but of course was beaten out by Bighill who went on to have a monster season.
I'm sure Muamba, LaRose or Tad Crawford would have been in tough at training camp as well if the Lions had opened the position to an import the past three seasons.

Lions decided at some point there would be no "growing pains" for a young Canadian at LB over an 18 game season, unlike the opportunity Glatt was given a few years earlier when Barron Miles was at safety. Was Yurichuk actually a better prospect as a starter compared to Muamba and the others? I guess the Argos will find out now, IF he is given the chance.

[WestCoastJoe]

Linebackers

Javy Glatt. James Yurichuk. Not much else In NI Linebackers drafted and developed over the 10 years. Javy was quite effective for a number of years until offences isolated and exposed his weaknesses IMO. It helped when he had Carl Kidd and Otis Floyd on his wings. Yurichuk almost made starter, but I expect we have been better served by Bighill than could ever have been provided by Yurichuk. Bighill has all the attributes that would make him very effective in any league (he lacks prototype height for the NFL cookie cutters).

NI starter? Yes, but lately we have gone with imports at LB.

Nice positional breakdown WC Joe

Have to say I feel somewhat sorry for Yurichuk as Lions seem to have a different standard when it comes to opportunities or developing Canadian linebackers. He was pencilled in as the starter going into 2012 but of course was beaten out by Bighill who went on to have a monster season.
I'm sure Muamba, LaRose or Tad Crawford would have been in tough at training camp as well if the Lions had opened the position to an import the past three seasons.

Lions decided at some point there would be no "growing pains" for a young Canadian at LB over an 18 game season, unlike the opportunity Glatt was given a few years earlier when Barron Miles was at safety. Was Yurichuk actually a better prospect as a starter compared to Muamba and the others? I guess the Argos will find out now, IF he is given the chance.

Thanks, Sammy.

[David]

Have to say I feel somewhat sorry for Yurichuk as Lions seem to have a different standard when it comes to opportunities or developing Canadian linebackers. He was pencilled in as the starter going into 2012 but of course was beaten out by Bighill who went on to have a monster season.
I'm sure Muamba, LaRose or Tad Crawford would have been in tough at training camp as well if the Lions had opened the position to an import the past three seasons.

Lions decided at some point there would be no "growing pains" for a young Canadian at LB over an 18 game season, unlike the opportunity Glatt was given a few years earlier when Barron Miles was at safety. Was Yurichuk actually a better prospect as a starter compared to Muamba and the others? I guess the Argos will find out now, IF he is given the chance.

There's no doubt that Yuri was the collateral damage in having such a strong group of linebackers for the past few years. I'm sure the club wanted to keep him, all things being equal. But I think he saw the writing on the wall that he wasn't going to get much playing time again, certainly not as a MLB, and decided to pursue his hometown team.

We won't know if it was the "player" or the "situation" until probably mid-season (did the player not develop because he wasn't given the opportunity, or was he not given the opportunity because he didn't develop?), but you can't say that Yurichuk never got a chance to play. I kept waiting for him to take his game to the next level and it just never seemed to happen. He played more like a 3rd or 4th round pick than a 1st rounder. Good but not great. While an effective special teamer, I thought he lacked the foot speed and awareness to be a top flight linebacker.

Is it unfair to call him Jason Pottinger Version 2.0? I don't know.


DH

[WestCoastJoe]

There's no doubt that Yuri was the collateral damage in having such a strong group of linebackers for the past few years. I'm sure the club wanted to keep him, all things being equal. But I think he saw the writing on the wall that he wasn't going to get much playing time again, certainly not as a MLB, and decided to pursue his hometown team.

We won't know if it was the "player" or the "situation" until probably mid-season (did the player not develop because he wasn't given the opportunity, or was he not given the opportunity because he didn't develop?), but you can't say that Yurichuk never got a chance to play. I kept waiting for him to take his game to the next level and it just never seemed to happen. He played more like a 3rd or 4th round pick than a 1st rounder. Good but not great. While an effective special teamer, I thought he lacked the foot speed and awareness to be a top flight linebacker.

Is it unfair to call him Jason Pottinger Version 2.0? I don't know.


DH

Pottinger could stick his nose in there, and could hit. But he also greatly lacked foot speed. I recall a missed FG return from the end zone where the guy simply ran around Pottinger, who seemed rooted to the ground.

Guys like Bighill and Solo (in his great years) took the MLB position to new levels. Yurichuk could not compete with that. IMO ...

[SammyGreene]

Is it unfair to call him Jason Pottinger Version 2.0? I don't know.
DH

I think that's pretty accurate David. I recall either the 2008 or 2009 season opener in Calgary when Pottinger was getting a lot of reps at linebacker as part of rotation and just looked too slow sideline-to-sideline. Same could be said to Yurichuk. Just hurts a little more when you're talking about 2nd and 4th overall picks respectively.

Thank goodness for the receiver windfall from the 2010-11 drafts (Gore, Foster Ianuzzi) and of course the junior player rule (Harris).

[Rammer]

Is it unfair to call him Jason Pottinger Version 2.0? I don't know.
DH

I think that's pretty accurate David. I recall either the 2008 or 2009 season opener in Calgary when Pottinger was getting a lot of reps at linebacker as part of rotation and just looked too slow sideline-to-sideline. Same could be said to Yurichuk. Just hurts a little more when you're talking about 2nd and 4th overall picks respectively.

Thank goodness for the receiver windfall from the 2010-11 drafts (Gore, Foster Ianuzzi) and of course the junior player rule (Harris).

It is that windfall that allowed the Lion's to release Geroy, otherwise he remains a Lion IMO. What those drafts did allow was the Lions to allocate Geroy's salary over a couple of promising NI draft selections, which ultimately is the greater of the two choices.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/cfl-expands-s ... 2013-draft

CFL expands scouting combines in advance of 2013 Draft

Posted: March 07, 2013 12:00 PM

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO – The CFL will be expanding its annual scouting combine to include two regional combines in Edmonton and Quebec City, in addition to the Toronto combine held every year in advance of the CFL Draft.

“With the game of football and depth of talent growing each year in Canada, we feel there is an opportunity and desire to expand our scouting efforts for homegrown talent across the league,” said Kevin McDonald, the CFL’s vice president of football operations. “Providing these additional opportunities for our teams will allow them to increase the depth of their scouting and ultimately improve our game.”

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Regional Combine Participants: Edmonton | Quebec City

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The regional combines will take place at the Commonwealth Stadium Fieldhouse in Edmonton, Alberta on March 18 and at Stade TELUS-Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec on March 20. The one-day invitational combines are for players eligible for the 2013 CFL Draft and non-import free agents. The top players eligible for the 2013 CFL Draft from each combine could receive an invite to attend the CFL Combine in Toronto from March 22 to March 24. Each regional combine will invite approximately 30 to 40 football players. Click here for the list of participants.

The CFL Combine presented by Reebok in Toronto will once again take place at the Park Hyatt Hotel and Varsity Stadium. More than 50 of the top Canadian football prospects eligible for the 2013 CFL Draft will be invited. These players will undergo medical examinations, performance, strength and speed tests, on-field football drills and team interviews over the three day combine. The full list of participants will be distributed during the week of March 11.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/video/index/id/83421/autostart/true

Gaydosh may go #1.

Or Charles might be #1.

These two outstanding D Line prospects will be out of reach of the Lions, it seems to me. Both huge, powerful and agile.

D'Aguilar might be available with our first round pick. More of a Ricky Foley type.

Elie Ngoyi might be available. He might be the one I would like to get drafted by us. Bigger than D'Aguilar. Strong. 6'2" 280. In one ranking he is only at 15. I expect he might shoot up a bit. Hopefully not too much.



Nice to see so much talent coming up.

[WestCoastJoe]

Lions' NI needs?

D Line ... backup for Jabar who has been terrific

Safety ... Help ... counting on LaRose to stay healthy is a dicey concept

LB ... missing Yurichuk

O Line ... depth, talent, health, as it has been for a very long time despite all the draft picks

RB ... backup to the irreplaceable Andrew Harris

IMO We have many soft spots in our NI roster. Not holes, but soft spots.

[B.C.FAN]

My thoughts are similar to WestCoastJoe's. I'd say the Lions' priorities, in no particular order are:

DL: Backup Westerman and replace an import backup in the six-man rotation.

OL: Depth and health are questionable on the interior of the O-line. I'd love to have a non-import tackle who can back up the two imports and play tight-end in short-yardage situations.

DB: A backup non-import safety is needed unless the Lions can make another move to change the ratio. That likely means a veteran such as ex-Lion and Bomber Brady Browne. A draft choice can be developed but the position is too technical for a rookie to step on to the active roster. Right now, safety is the only non-import starting spot on defence, so a proven backup is needed to keep it that way.

I don't think linebacker or running back are positions of need. Linebacker, unfortunately, has been taken over across the league almost exclusively by imports in recent years. The Lions already have a surplus of quality import linebackers. As for running back, the Lions aren't going to find another non-import who can fill Andrew Harris's shoes ahead of Tim Brown or the latest import RB/KR phenom, so why bother unless that player is a powerful fullback who can block and carry the ball in short-yardage situations?

[WestCoastJoe]

Fair and accurate comments, BCFAN, as always.

Some further discussion.

Re Linebacker. It seems to me that we need an NI of Yurichuk's level to step in at times for the imports.

Re RB. Andrew cannot be replaced by an NI of equal value. But we have seen very effective NI running backs of late. Cornish. The troubled Messam. So it seems to me we have to keep on looking. If Andrew gets nicked, we have problems. Ratio problems. Talent problems.

IMO ...

[Toppy Vann]

The one thing that came out sounding like amateur hour were the player responses to the the team interviews with Toronto the most perplexing.

What interviewers including so called HR professionals miss is that these dumb off the wall questions to learn more of a person's character are about as valuable as putting names or resumes in a hat and picking one.

Invariably these personal questions play into the natural phenomena that happens in interviews and that is immediate liking or disliking. Non position related questions (or those about team or football knowledge) simply help you confirm if this is your type of person. Wrong way to determined character etc.

Some NHL teams (not sure which ones) were using a good Canadian company to help them with this - the Self Management Group - where they use appropriate tests and interview questions.

[OV - 54:40]

My thoughts are similar to WestCoastJoe's. I'd say the Lions' priorities, in no particular order are:

DL: Backup Westerman and replace an import backup in the six-man rotation.

OL: Depth and health are questionable on the interior of the O-line. I'd love to have a non-import tackle who can back up the two imports and play tight-end in short-yardage situations.

DB: A backup non-import safety is needed unless the Lions can make another move to change the ratio. That likely means a veteran such as ex-Lion and Bomber Brady Browne. A draft choice can be developed but the position is too technical for a rookie to step on to the active roster. Right now, safety is the only non-import starting spot on defence, so a proven backup is needed to keep it that way.

I don't think linebacker or running back are positions of need. Linebacker, unfortunately, has been taken over across the league almost exclusively by imports in recent years. The Lions already have a surplus of quality import linebackers. As for running back, the Lions aren't going to find another non-import who can fill Andrew Harris's shoes ahead of Tim Brown or the latest import RB/KR phenom, so why bother unless that player is a powerful fullback who can block and carry the ball in short-yardage situations?

IF - the Lions could get either of Gaydosh or Charles (doubtful probably) - i don't think you are necessarily talking just a "back-up" to Westerman - as either could be as good or better; another DT prospect this draft is H. Shahin - a BC lad and a productive starter at Rice in Div. I ball, but still a year left there; Ottawa gets to draft NCAA Juniors in the first 4 rounds there this year, but other CFL teams can beat them to the punch; Shahin has arguably the better NCAA ball resume compared to Westerman, and again, could be as good/better - a future type pick but he may draw NFL interest next year?

As far as draft pick Canadian safeties being a write -off to start as rookies? - ever heard of Paul Bennett or Laurent Deslauriers? - league best type / all-stars as CFL rookies back in the day when more Canadian talent got real shots to play; maybe not that type of prospect at safety this draft - but you won't know unless you address the position and try: Chenard (Sherbrooke) or Wade (Acadia), for example, might just be guys who could step-up at safety sooner than later if given a real look.

Don't see need for NI linebacker depth even with Yurichuck gone; Josh Gesse might be quite a bit better anyways.

Wally might be able to address O-Line with his top 2 picks: one of Watman or Jones may still be available and could be very sold picks for the interior O-Line; possible successors to Reid at C or else starters at guard soon if Norman is eventually going to slide to C.

Pretty good overall dratt crop this year i believe; some CFL teams will come up with some impact players i bet.