Roughriders, Ticats draft Victoria players
The third round was the charm for both Terrell Davis and Quinn van Gylswyk as the two Victoria athletes were selected Tuesday in the 2016 Canadian Football League draft.
Davis was chosen 21st overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and van Gylswyk was secured five picks later by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the last choice in the third of eight overall rounds on the day.
“I can’t explain how happy I am to be going to such a great organization,” said Davis, who was out on a hike with his girlfriend and sister to keep his mind off the proceedings. “I got a bunch of texts from all my friends so I thought, ‘I wonder what’s going on? I better go check the draft.’
“Sure enough, there it was, picked in the third round by Hamilton. Unbelievable,” said Davis, one of three Vanier Cupchampion UBC Thunderbirds to go in the third round along with van Gylswyk and defensive back Taylor Loffler, who was taken 19th overall by Winnipeg.
“Last year they came out to a couple of the practices,” Davis said of the Ticats. “I kind of had a relationship built with them and they stayed in contact with me. I kind of felt I would go there and was hoping I would go there and, sure enough, they traded up to get me.”
Davis hopes to suit up this season and take a spot at Tim Hortons Field in Steeltown.
“It’s a sweet stadium and I’m going to love playing under those lights in front of those great fans,” said Davis, who led the T-Birds in tackles and was third in the CIS.
As for van Gylswyk, the former Westshore Rebels kicker could also be playing in a new complex as the Riders are constructing the new Mosaic Stadium to replace Taylor Field for June 2017.
The day started with the Roughriders selecting Oklahoma offensive tackle Josiah St. John, of the Toronto area, first overall.
Offensive linemen were the flavor of the day as the Montreal Alouettes chose Laval guard Philippe Gagnon second overall and the Tiger-Cats grabbed Grand Valley State offensive lineman Brandon Revenberg, after making a trade with the B.C. Lions.
Acadia receiver Brian Jones went fourth to the Toronto Argonauts and the Lions, who dropped down to No. 5 in the earlier trade, selected Laval’s Charles Vaillancourt at that position.
“He’s a very imposing guy and I thought at E-camp [evaluation camp] he was the dominant player,” Lions general manager and head coach Wally Buono told reporters afterward. “When you look at improving your football club, the line of scrimmage is the place to start.
“It was discussed earlier, but Hamilton wanted to wait till we were up to see if the individual they wanted was available,” Buono added of the trade. “For us, we had an order and obviously we were very happy to have Charles there.”
Calgary went with Montana State linebacker Alex Singleton at No. 6 and OL Jason Lauzon-Seguin of Laval and WR Tevaun Smith of the University of Iowa went seventh and eighth, respectively, to Ottawa and Edmonton to close out the first round.
The Lions also took former Okanagan Sun defensive back Brennan Van Nistilrooy, who attends the University of Alberta, in the sixth round.