Lions select Aussie punter No. 1 in global draft
The B.C. Lions hope a kicker from Down Under can help put them over the top.
With the first pick in the CFL's global draft on Thursday, the Lions took Australian punter Jake Ford, a 28-year-old who was most recently a member of Alphas in the U.S. developmental Spring League in 2020.
“It's an honour to be taken No. 1 and ... I'm excited about getting up to Vancouver and playing for the B.C. Lions,” Ford said from Little Rock, Ark., where he's currently living.
“I watched a lot of the CFL, I watched a lot of Josh Bartel, Ty Long, Richie Leone and just seeing how they played. It's a different game, a lot more focused on special teams and obviously three-down football and the extra player and the fair catch rule and all those sort of things. So, it's something I've got a knowledge on.”
Lions coach Rick Campbell had said that whomever the Lions took at No. 1, he wanted it to be a player who wouldn't just compete for a roster spot but contribute. Aside from Ford, the Lions currently have only one kicker on the roster, former UBC Thunderbird and Edmonton Football Team kicker Greg Hutchins.
There were 39 kickers or punters on the CFL list of eligible draftees, and almost all of them had played at a high level, including NCAA and the NFL's development league.
Ford, a native of Victoria, Australia, moved to the U.S. to play for the University of Oregon in 2015 before transferring to Saint Augustine University in North Carolina.
He then transferred to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, helping the program go undefeated in back-to-back regular seasons and capture the 2019 Great American Conference championship.
In 2018, he led America in net punting average and also had 28 of his 52 total punts land inside the opposition's 20-yard line while having only six total punts returned. Ford also served as the squad's holder on field goals.
Before moving to North America, Ford played rugby and Aussie Rules football before eventually earning an invitation to Prokick Australia, a program that helps guide and transition young Aussie athletes into playing at both the U.S. college and NFL levels.
Prokick has gotten more than 100 kickers from Australia scholarships to American universities.
“I played Australian Rules Football growing up and I was lucky enough to play that at the top level,” said Ford. “I just sort of fell out of love with it. I played it through my whole life and got to that (pro) level and just couldn't break into the senior team.”
Ford was one of four Australian kickers taken in the first round, along with Joseph Zema (Montreal), Cody Grace (Calgary), and Joel Whitford (Hamilton). Zema and Grace were considered the top two kickers in the class, having had NFL interest last year, while Whitford averaged 42.9 yards per kick in his final season with the Washington Huskies.
“I think as time goes on, you're probably gonna see a lot more Australians coming over and you know playing in the bigger leagues, like the CFL, the NFL and the XFL, and things like that,” said Ford.
“I always knew about American football. I watched a lot of the old PAC 12 football growing up, especially USC. I used to love watching Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews, guys like that.”
The Lions dipped into the Asian market for their second and third picks — 18th and 19th overall — taking Chinese linebacker Boqiao Li and kicker Takeru Yamasaki of Japan. German defensive lineman Niklas Gustav, who was the alltime sacks leader (23.5) at Div. II Morningside College (Iowa), was their final pick at No. 36.
B.C. was looking to add more players who can contribute, and Campbell said he expects at least two of their four picks to be on the active roster.
“I think going forward with these guys, you're going to have to be able to groom them and put them in positions to succeed,” said Lions co-general manager Neil McEvoy. “And one of the things that I like about the global draft is that all these kids, they do have ability, they do have athletic ability.”