Stamps find first-rounder in their backyard
CFL club beefs up its offensive line with selection of Dinos product Sceviour
Ryan Sceviour won’t have to move very far.
On Thursday evening, the Calgary Stampeders selected the former University of Calgary Dinos offensive lineman with the eighth-overall pick in the CFL draft.
That means he’ll have to walk his equipment roughly 100 feet from the Dinos locker-room at McMahon Stadium to his new digs in the Stamps’ clubhouse.
For a guy who grew up in a family with Stampeders season tickets and lists Dimitri Tsoumpas as his favourite player, there was no better CFL landing spot than Calgary.
“It’s great. I’ve always looked down here and have seen this big building and their locker-room and thought, ‘Maybe one day you can be there,’ ” the Bowness High School graduate said shortly after his selection was announced.
The Stampeders have seen Canadian offensive linemen Pierre Lavertu and Dan Federkeil retire this off-season, so it was no surprise they opted for an O -lineman with their first selection.
Sceviour certainly looks like exactly the sort of player they’d want protecting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
At six-foot-four and 305 pounds, he’s a big guard who was twice named a second-team all-Canadian on a Dinos team that put up big numbers.
He’s strong, too, as his 22 reps on the bench press at the CFL National Combine in March was tied for third among all players.
“We’re very pleased with the selection,” said Stamps president/ GM John Hufnagel. “Ryan’s a good football player, an excellent guard who plays with great technique.
“He’s a smart player, very strong lower body and he’ll be a great addition to our squad and come in and compete and provide great depth for us.”
Sceviour said the Stamps had been in contact with his agent for a couple weeks, so he knew staying in Calgary was a strong possibility, although with five offensive linemen getting selected with the draft’s first six picks there was a chance he’d be off the board before the Stamps got the chance to take him.
“I’ll say there were a few nerves,” Hufnagel said. “Fortunately he was still there and so I’m pleased with the way it worked out.”
For Sceviour, who lives at home with his parents in Tuscany, but said he might need to start thinking about getting his own place, the focus now shifts to breaking into the starting lineup, something Hufnagel said he hoped to see from whoever the Stamps selected.
Despite the retirements of Federkeil and Lavertu, there’s still sure to be competition for a starting spot on the Stamps’ offensive line. Of course, a team can never really have enough Canadian depth on the O -line and Sceviour made it clear he has every intention of coming into training camp and fighting for a starting spot.
“I don’t think anyone would come to camp and say it was not their goal to contribute, so I’m going to go in there and try my best and try to crack the roster and crack a starting spot if I can and just help the team,” Sceviour said. “I’ve been trying to prepare for this moment and I’m prepared as I physically can be, I think.”
I’ve always looked down here and have seen this big building ... and thought, ‘Maybe one day you can be there.’