Top pick may be used differently
Quick, here’s an easy trivia question for Ottawa Redblacks fans — who’s the only non-offensive lineman the team has selected in the first round of the CFL Draft?
Easy, right? Antoine Pruneau. And even that comes with an asterisk. When they took Pruneau with their first-rounder (fourth overall) in 2014, the Redblacks had an offensive lineman up their sleeve — they had already dealt their first overall pick to get centre Jon Gott from Calgary.
In their seven drafts, the Redblacks have taken six offensive linemen. First up was Nolan MacMillan, then it was Alex Mateas, Jason Lauzon-Seguin, Evan Johnson, Mark Korte and Alex Fontana.
Carter O’Donnell is clearly rated the best offensive lineman in this year’s draft class, but the University of Alberta star has signed a contract with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts — which could scare away teams picking early. It may also push other offensive lineman up the draft board, guys like University of Buffalo’s Tomas Jack Kurdyla and Laval’s Ketel Asse.
So, maybe Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins will provide us with a second name to add to the trivia contest during Thursday’s night’s CFL Draft. Yep, maybe the Redblacks, who hold the sixth overall pick (they swapped first-rounders and added in a third-rounder to get the rights to QB Nick Arbuckle from Calgary), veer away from the offensive line.
“In our opinion, there aren’t nearly as many quality offensive linemen at the top as there have been in the past,” said Desjardins. “I would say that reduces the likelihood we would get an O -lineman at six. It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t, but the possibility is reduced a bit.”
OK, so he’s saying the team might look elsewhere — maybe on the defensive line, a defensive back, a linebacker, a receiver?
Depending on what goes on in front of them — East Carolina linebacker Jordan Williams is expected to be one of the early picks — the Redblacks could be looking at defensive linemen Mason Bennett (a very good pass rusher out of North Dakota), Southeastern Louisiana’s Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund or Brown University’s Michael Hoecht (he lived in Stittsville for a year, went to South Carleton High School and played for the Bell Warriors). Hoecht has an NFL deal in place, signing with the Los Angeles Rams. Defensive backs Marc-Antoine Dequoy (out of the University of Montreal, he has a free agent deal with the Green Bay Packers) or Laval’s Adam Auclair are possibilities. If they want to look at a receiver, the University of Virginia’s Dejon Brissett is ranked fifth on the CFL Central Scouting Bureau list.
“We have flexibility with our O -line, so let’s say we start two Canadian receivers and one goes down, all of a sudden we can just add another starter to the O -line,” said Desjardins. “It’s not like we’re in scramble mode to have another receiver. Would it be nice to have another receiver, another D-lineman or another free safety? Maybe.”
The Redblacks also hold the first pick of the second round — 10th overall. So with two picks in the Top 10, do they go offensive line with at least one of those?
“Not necessarily,” said Desjardins. “We have a good contingent of Canadians (on the offensive line). We don’t know right now if we’re going to start three or four or five — probably not five. So our depth is pretty good as it is. The draft itself is a little different and our situation is a little different than it has been in past years.”
The Redblacks have a territorial pick at the end of the second round (so does Toronto) — the CFL put the rule in a year ago to help the two worst teams the previous season. The intent of the rule is to help the lower teams get better. But the boundaries are hardly fair. Ottawa’s territory goes just 120 km in each direction from the Peace Tower.
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out last month’s CFL Combine, where the top prospects are tested and interviewed. Desjardins said it’s been business as usual heading into the draft.
“It doesn’t change anything for us a whole lot,” he said. “We’ve (coaches and football operations personnel) been meeting online daily, going over different things, for the last week at least. The dynamic is obviously a little different because you’re not face-toface. But we’re having good discussions and good differences of opinion on different guys because that’s a healthy thing, too.”
The Redblacks have done virtual interviews with many of the top players.
“We feel like we did a good job of interviewing most of these players online a couple of weeks ago,” said Desjardins. “I would say 99.9 per cent of them were on the call when they were supposed to be. It’s been different in that you’re not in the room with them, but you’re still able to ask multiple questions from multiple different people as opposed to just a handful of people in an interview room.”
Paul LaPolice, who became the head coach in early December, has been heavily involved in the lead-in to the draft.
“Paul has been involved in all of the meetings we have, similar to what Rick was,” said Desjardins. “His opinion and that of his coaches is taken into consideration. The personnel group watches film, then gives it to the coaches by position group. It’s easy for me to say I have the final decision, which I do, but most of the time I don’t have to use that. We as a group kind of agree how a guy should be graded and slotted based on not only his grade as a football player but also other criteria that come into the mix — i.e. testing, i.e., character, i.e. health, all of those things.”