Elks, Redblacks GMS plot strategies for CFL draft
Pivotal season in rebuilds to get out of basement
Chris Jones and Shawn Burke are both keeping an open mind about the 2024 CFL draft.
Jones, the Edmonton Elks head coach/general manager, holds the top selection of the April 30 draft with Burke, the GM of the Ottawa Redblacks, slated to pick second. Both teams posted 4-14 records last year and split their season series 1-1 with the Redblacks finishing ahead on point differential.
Ottawa and Edmonton picked 1-2 in last year’s draft, with Burke taking Dontae Bull, an offensive lineman from Fresno State, first overall. Jones then selected Montreal linebacker Michael Brodrique.
Jones also had the first overall pick in 2022. He dealt it to Montreal for the fourth selection and rights to Canadian offensive lineman Carter O’donnell. Montreal then took Syracuse linebacker Tyrell Richards first overall.
“You always have to listen, you’ve got to see what they have to offer,” Jones said. “We’ve not got a call this year. ... What will happen is they’ll try to catch you off guard where you haven’t thought about it and get you to jump on something that maybe isn’t good for your football team.
“We’ve gone through a lot of different scenarios with the personnel department. We’ve talked about the different teams that could call, so we’ll just wait and see.”
A factor working in Jones’ and Burke’s favour is this year’s draft is regarded as a deep one. And it only got deeper with the CFL adding linebacker Joel Dublanko to the 2024 class. Th 6-foot-4, 240-pound Dublanko was born in Aberdeen, Wash., but qualified for Canadian citizenship as his father is from Edmonton. Dublanko played collegiately at Cincinnati and after being bypassed in the 2022 NFL draft spent time with the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks before playing in the USFL last season. Dublanko is projected to participate in the CFL’S national combine in Winnipeg, March 19-24.
According to a source, the
CFL has also added quarterback Casey Bauman to the combine list. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Bauman is an American but qualifies for the 2024 draft as his mother is Canadian. Bauman threw for 2,878 yards and 29 touchdowns in 13 games last season at Augustana University. The source spoke anonymously as the CFL has not announced Bauman’s inclusion.
Dublanko’s journey is similar to that of linebacker Alex Singleton, who was selected sixth overall in the 2016 CFL draft by Calgary. Following his college career at Montana, Singleton, a native Californian, signed with Seattle after the 2015 NFL draft and also spent time with New England and Minnesota before being deemed eligible for the CFL draft because he was a dual citizen as his mother was born in Toronto.
After three productive CFL seasons (two-time league allstar, 2017 top defensive player and 2018 Grey Cup champion) Singleton, 30, has gone on to shine in the NFL with Philadelphia (2019-21) and Denver (2022-present).
Once again, there’s no shortage of Canadian talent drawing NFL interest. Offensive linemen Isaiah Adams and Anim Dankwah and tight ends Theo Johnson and Tanner Mclachlan all participated in the league’s recent combine in Indianapolis.
Adams was the top-ranked CFL draft prospect in December ahead of Johnson (No. 3), Mclachlan (fourth) and Dankwah (eighth). Theo Benedet, UBC’S towering offensive tackle and the No. 2 prospect, has also garnered NFL interest.
Jones has been busy, signing quarterback Mcleod Bethel-thompson, returner Javon Leake and kicker Boris Bede as free agents while acquiring Canadian receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
“We feel strongly the last two years that we’ve brought in some good, young Canadians and a lot of them were playing special teams for us this past year,” Jones said. “We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position because we have six of the top 31 picks (this year).”
Burke has also been active, most notably acquiring the rights to Dru Brown from Winnipeg before signing the American quarterback to a two-year deal. Burke also added linebacker Adarius Pickett and offensive linemen Phillip Norman and Dariusz Bladek as free agents.
Ottawa currently has seven selections, including four in the first 35.