Riders pondering options ahead of CFL draft
Chris Jones may not be satisfied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ position in Thursday’s CFL draft.
The Riders’ head coach and general manager said the team has discussed trading up in the draft to land a player they want. The Riders have five picks in the draft, including the fifth overall selection.
“We’ve talked about the possibility of moving up or moving down,” Jones said Wednesday. “One thing we know for sure is that there are four people who are going to be taken before we choose. If we’re not able to position ourselves to move up, we’ll have to wait and see who is there. The possibility of moving down is there also.”
Saskatchewan’s other picks are in the second (14th overall), fifth (36th), sixth (45th) and eighth (63rd) rounds. Not having a selection in the third and fourth rounds has created some challenges.
“You have to make sure who they are because it’s not a very deep draft,” Jones said.
This draft will be Jones’s third since being hired by the Roughriders in December 2015.
In 2016, with the first overall selection, he selected University of Oklahoma offensive lineman Josiah St. John.
St. John has yet to become a regular starter.
“It’s easy to pick on a guy who has come in and not started right away,” Jones said. “That’s part of pro football. Tackle or guard are probably one of the harder positions to play. We’re not going to put our quarterback in a position where the guy isn’t quite ready. Josiah has put in the work and I look forward to seeing what he does this year.”
With the second overall pick in 2017, Jones selected UCLA linebacker Cameron Judge, who played in three regular-season games before suffering a seasonending shoulder injury.
“We didn’t just hide him, he was legitimately hurt or he would have played last year,” Jones said. “He had injuries last year and, hopefully, he comes in and he’s ready to go.’’
As far as the 2018 draft goes, Jones wouldn’t disclose which player or position he might be targeting.
“We just want to take the best player available,” Jones said. “We’ve ranked them from one to 10, but not at every position. If we could upgrade a position, that would be great.”