South African punter Aidan Laros was the first player taken Wednesday in the 2026 CFL global draft, which was once again dominated by kicking specialists.
The Ottawa Redblacks selected Laros, who attended Kentucky, first overall.
Of the 18 players selected over the two rounds, 10 were either punters or kickers. Ottawa and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats both used their two selections on specialists.
The Toronto Argonauts were the only team not to take a kicking specialist, selecting offensive linemen Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (an Australian out of California) and Fa’alili Fa’amoe (an American Samoan out of Wake Forest).
Six of the first nine selections were either punters or kickers.
The Edmonton Elks took Mexican kicker Jesus Gomez (Arizona State) with the third pick, while Finland's Edward Vesterinen (defensive lineman from West Virginia) went to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at No. 4.
Hamilton then took Australian punter Nick Haberer (Vanderbilt) before the Calgary Stampeders selected Irish kicker Jude McAtamney (Rutgers) and the B.C. Lions picked Australian punter Brett Thorson (Georgia).
Montreal and Saskatchewan completed the opening round taking positional players. The Alouettes selected German offensive lineman Mark Petry (Syracuse) before the Riders took English linebacker Mapolo Mwansa (Loughborough University).
