CFL teams look to future at draft
Defensive lineman playing Arena ball taken as 6th overall pick in CFL draft
John Hufnagel was up to his usual tricks on Sunday, pulling off a trade that saw the Calgary Stampeders move up in the CFL draft and selecting a 26-year-old who was nowhere near the top of most mock drafts.
After dealing the No. 8 and No. 34 overall picks to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in exchange for the No. 6 pick only minutes earlier, the Stamps GM selected Randy Colling, a 26-year-old defensive lineman who only recently obtained Canadian citizenship.
“(Colling) got into the draft a little later than everyone else did, but he graduated a few years ago and had a very productive college career and then went and played Arena football and was an all-star in that league,” Hufnagel said. “He’s a big man, a powerful man. He can push the pocket and get penetration and provide us some depth.”
While Colling grew up in western New York, his father was Canadian and the family made regular trips north of the border to visit Colling’s grandfather in London, Ont.
It wasn’t until recently, though, that Colling considered getting dual citizenship and testing the CFL waters.
Since finishing his collegiate career with Gannon University in 2011, Colling spent four years with the AFL’s Cleveland Gladiators and also signed with the Buffalo Bills for a brief period in 2014.
At six-foot-five and a self-described 313 pounds, Colling had the size to compete in the NFL but said he’s currently trying to cut weight in order to adjust to the big CFL field.
“Football is pretty much football," he said. "It’s my team against the other team, so that’s the same but I’m dropping my weight because the bigger field is a lot more running.
“That’s my biggest adjustment, losing a few pounds and getting in the best cardio shape I can.”
The pick is somewhat similar to the Stamps’ selection in the 2016 draft, when they picked another player who was born and raised in the U.S. but had family ties to Canada and was able to secure dual citizenship.
A year ago, it was linebacker Alex Singleton, who almost immediately stepped into the starting lineup and put together a season that likely would have seen him earn Most Outstanding Rookie honours if it hadn’t been for teammate DaVaris Daniels.
There’s no suggestion that Colling will be able to replicate Singleton’s ability to make an immediate impact, but his AFL pedigree and the injuries to Quinn Smith and Junior Turner mean he’ll likely get that opportunity.
“It’s everyone’s goal to be a starter, that’s my goal, it’s to become a starter as soon as possible,” Colling said.
“Teams don’t draft in the first round to warm the bench, so I’ve gotta make the best out of it and get myself on the field as soon as possible.”
With their second round pick, the Stampeders selected Julan Lynch, a wide receiver out of the University of Saskatchewan and the team then took defensive back Tunde Adeleke, from Carleton University in the third and Simon Fraser product Ante MilanoicLitre, a running back, in the fourth. For graduating University of Calgary football players, it seems like Hamilton, Ont. is the place to be.
For the second year in a row, the Dinos football program saw a top prospect selected early by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Last year, it was running back Mercer Timmis getting picked by the Ticats in the second round.
On Sunday, the Ticats used their first-round selection, No. 4 overall, to take defensive lineman Connor McGough.
On round later, the Hamiltonians doubled-up on Dinos and took offensive lineman Braden Schram with the No. 13 pick.
“It’s definitely a plus knowing that Mercer’s there and knowing McGough just got picked up,” Schram said.
“It’s a very positive thing, but I think when you come from a team like the Dinos where we put a lot of players into the CFL it just kind of becomes a common commodity, where anywhere you go you’re going to find alumni, you’re going to find Dinos.”
As usual, Sunday’s CFL Draft saw the Dinos graduate a disproportionate number of players into the pro ranks.
This year, the team led all Canadian university programs with nine players getting drafted.
It’s a list that includes DL Matthew Carson, DB Adam Laurensse, OL Jordan Filippelli, WR Brendon Thera-Plamondo, WR Austen Hartley, WR Denzel Radford and DB Robert Woodson.