The reality is the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had no choice in this year’s Canadian Football League Draft.
They had to take a player who could be ready now rather than take a flyer on the future.
This is not to say there is anything wrong with the Cats’ selection of robust defensive tackle Linden Gaydosh, a product of the Calgary Dinos.
The Ticats, who finished last overall in 2012 amid great expectations, did not have the luxury of taking the best player available, only the one who could immediately join the team without worrying about the National Football League.
Barring an issue with his contract demands – and we’re assuming Ticats’ first-year general manager/head coach Kent Austin had already done his homework and didn’t consider it an issue – Gaydosh will be in training camp in a few weeks.
How Gaydosh fares will influence the fortunes of the Cats, who have not had much success picking first overall in recent years. Between 2004-2009, the Cats had the first selection four times and none of those picks – Wayne Smith, Chris Bauman, Dylan Barker and Simeon Rottier – are still with the team.
It’s been a variety of reasons why the foursome are no longer Ticats, but that’s why Hamilton has to make this work, both in the short term and in the long term. Whether he starts, which is a possibility but not a probability, or is groomed slowly, Gaydosh can’t be a player who is gone in a few years.
Gaydosh became the best player left from a pool that had already been picked apart like a carcass. Several players who headed the polls in the months leading up to the draft signed with NFL teams or could be headed in that direction.
Stefan Charles, a defensive end with the Regina Rams, was arguably the best overall pick of the ones produced in Canada. He was eligible for the recent NFL Draft, and even though he wasn’t selected it didn’t take him long to receive an offer. The Tennessee Titans signed him and it was significant enough that he will at least get a respectable look by the team. That doesn’t mean he is assured of making the roster and that he won’t be waived in the final cuts leading up to the start of the season in September.
But the Ticats certainly couldn’t wait that long. It would have been too great of a risk. Edmonton took him with the 10th overall pick. If he comes back by September and doesn’t choose to wait for another NFL team to sign him, it’s a steal of a pick for the Eskimos.
The most-talented player in the draft who may never even wear a CFL uniform – for at least a year and likely a lot longer – is linebacker Bo Lokombo of Oregon. Lokombo is considered such a good prospect that barring an injury or drop-off in performance he is projected as a potential third-round NFL pick next year.
Lokombo was picked in the third round, 21st overall by the B.C. Lions, who routinely pick players who still have U.S. college/university eligibility remaining and are considered future NFL picks. Lokombo, listed at 6-foot-3, 233 pounds, has recorded 68 unassisted tackles in 40 games and a total of 108 overall. He also has four sacks. He is considered a stud.
Winnipeg, which usually does some funky things in the draft with general manager Joe Mack, took defensive tackle Andy Mulumba second overall, even though he just signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers. The Eastern Michigan grad will attend a rookie camp this weekend. Mack is gambling Mulumba may be back fairly quickly. The contract only guarantees him a tryout, and if Mulumba is cut loose by the Packers fairly quickly, Mack looks good. If Mulumba is held up in the NFL, it’s a pick that could come back to hurt the Bombers, certainly in the short term.
“This is a very good day for the Blue Bomber organization as we were able to add six quality players to our roster through the draft,” Mack said in a media release. “We’re looking forward to getting them signed so they can compete for spots on our team.”
The Edmonton Eskimos chose receiver Shamawd Chambers sixth overall out of Wilfrid Laurier last year knowing he had already signed a free-agent tryout contract with Philadelphia, which cut him loose after a three-day rookie camp.
The Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts selected McMaster offensive lineman Matt Sewell with the eighth overall pick. He has just signed a contract with Tennessee. Again, this could be a player the Argos could be waiting on indefinitely.
The Ottawa expansion franchise – when will the owners finally reveal their Red Blacks team name because it’s embarrassing the way it’s been fumbled around from a public relations standpoint? – were allowed to pick National Collegiate Athletic Association redshirt juniors with the final picks in the first four rounds. It was obvious that the existing eight teams weren’t going to do the Ottawa team any favours, grabbing some of the higher-rated redshirt juniors, of which there was maybe only a handful of any significant quality.
Some of the better ones were gone by the time first-year Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins selected Iowa offensive lineman Nolan MacMillan with its historical first pick. Two picks earlier, Calgary took Texas El Paso offensive lineman Brander Craighead, an Ottawa native. For many reasons, that really must have stung Bellefeuille.
Incidentally, the CFL will likely pass a rule prohibiting the draft of redshirt juniors after this year. It’s been in the discussion stage, according to a couple sources, and frankly it’s a good thing. It is a risk taking a player who has a year left and could be snapped up by the NFL, either by the draft or free agency in his graduating year. Removing the redshirt rule takes the guessing game away — in theory anyway. The draft is neither absolute nor guaranteed, but the good teams are the ones that develop their picks and keep them and also have some luck along the way.