Lions look to pick up ex-Eagle Boyko
The top-ranked offensive lineman in the 2015 Canadian Football League draft never made it to the CFL last season. Brett Boyko said “it was a dream come true” when the Philadelphia Eagles signed the Saskatoon athlete following last year’s National Football League draft, days before Boyko was expected to be the first overall pick in Canada.
Now the B.C. Lions, who took a flyer on Boyko in the second round (14th overall) last year, could be rewarded for their gamble. Released by the Eagles earlier this week, Boyko said he’s prepared to play football somewhere this season. If it’s in the CFL, so be it.
“I’m weighing my options,” Boyko said in telephone interview from Philadelphia. “I feel like there are options for me. If, for some reason, they don’t come to pass, I’ll come to the CFL. No matter what, I’m going to be playing football this year.”
A 6-7, 301-pound guard, Boyko curiously enough played quarterback in his final high school year with the St. Joseph Guardians in Saskatoon. At the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, he opened holes for running back Shaquille Murray-Lawrence, a Scarborough, Ont., native who was a Lions’ thirdround pick in 2015.
Ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the September and December rankings of the CFL Scouting Bureau for the 2015 draft, Boyko slipped to No. 2 in the final April rankings behind Rice University nose tackle Christian Covington. Covington was selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft last year by the Houston Texans. The Lions made him a fifth-round pick in the subsequent CFL draft.
Signed by the Eagles and released on final cut-down day, Boyko was re-signed by Philadelphia on Sept. 6 and spent last season on the practice squad.
He believes he might still be an Eagle if Chip Kelly was in charge. Kelly was let go on Dec. 29 in a controversial firing after two-plus seasons in Philadelphia and later replaced by new head coach Doug Pederson. With a staff turnover comes change and uncertainty for players.
“I think any time there are new people, they want their own people,” Boyko said. “It’s just the way of the world. It’s business. I feel I learned a ton last season. You can’t put a price on that. I’ve developed as a pro. The tough part is that every team has their 90-man roster set. I’ve just got to be patient and stay ready.”
Boyko is scheduled to return to his hometown on Friday and continue workouts at Ignite Conditioning, a facility that trains a number of CFL players in the Saskatoon area. Whether he becomes one of them soon remains to be seen.
“Right now, this is such a new process for me,” he admitted. “I didn’t talk with the Lions last year. I’d already signed with the Eagles by the time they drafted me. I still haven’t spoken with anyone there (B.C.). That’s kind of what I have my agent for — the middle man. I’m just going to wait to see how everything plays out.” End Zone: Defensive linemen George Uko (USC) and Jacques Smith (Tennessee) were added to the Lions’ roster for a three-day rookie camp next week in Kamloops.