Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea, GM Kyle Walters and Assistant GM Ted Goveia
There has always been a hit-and-miss element to the Canadian Football League Draft, especially as an event with more layers to it than any other talent grab in professional sports.
It’s not just that Canadians are the backbone of every CFL team that makes the annual affair so vital, it’s that they are also in smaller supply than American talent. On top of that, the best of this country’s rapidly growing talent pool often find work down south in the National Football League, meaning it’s hardly a given they will ever play at home given the risk any CFL organization takes in selecting a player they may never see.
Now, CFL teams and their scouting departments are light years ahead of where they were even as recently as the 1990s when the Ottawa Rough Riders selected a player in a dispersal draft in 1995 who had died in a car accident five months earlier and then the Montreal Alouettes called out a player who had passed away a few months before the 1996 CFL Draft.
Players are scouted more than ever, both live and in person at the annual CFL Combine. More teams conduct personal interviews and workouts with prospects beyond that, all part of thousands upon thousands of hours spent studying everyone with a Canadian passport or eligibility.
It’s with that bit of background that we open our annual Blue Bombers at the Draft preview, outlining what the club’s football operations department is prepping for heading into Tuesday’s Global and Canadian Drafts.
Winnipeg has 10 selections in the Canadian draft – their own pick in each of the eight rounds, plus a bonus at 20th overall as one of two teams, along with B.C., which led the league in national snaps in 2023, and an additional fifth-round choice, 40th overall, from the Ottawa RedBlacks as part of the Dru Brown trade in January.
Nic Demski posted the first 1,000-yard receiving season of his career in 2023
The Blue Bombers started eight Canadians last year, one more than the minimum, in guards Pat Neufeld and Geoff Gray, centre Chris Kolankowski, receivers Nic Demski and Drew Wolitarsky, running back Brady Oliveira, defensive tackle Jake Thomas and dime back Redha Kramdi. All return except Gray, who was a victim of a salary-cap squeeze in free agency, leaving Liam Dobson and Tui Eli as the leading candidates as his replacement.
As well, four Canadian starters are on the plus-side of 30 in Neufeld (35), Thomas (33), Kolankowski (32) and Demski (30) as are vital depth players like long snapper Mike Benson (36), linebacker Shayne Gauthier (32), safety Nick Hallett (30) and running back Johnny Augustine (30).
Also worth noting as it pertains to the club’s Canadian talent depth – receiver Brendan O’Leary-Orange has moved on to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, veteran linebacker Jesse Briggs retired and fullback Mike Miller, who missed all of last year, retired to become the team’s special teams coordinator. Offsetting that is the return of Canadian defensive back Tyrell Ford, who spent a good chunk of last year with the Green Bay Packers but is back now to possibly challenge for a starting cornerback job.
This year’s draft will be the 11th for the current Blue Bombers regime of GM Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea, along with Assistant GMs Ted Goveia and Danny McManus and Assistant Director of Player Personnel Cyril Penn.
Consider this, for what it’s worth, of the 70 selections made by this crew, the breakdown by position is as follows – defensive backs (17), defensive linemen (15), offensive linemen (12), receivers (10), linebackers (nine), running backs/fullbacks (five) and kickers (two).
And although the club has not taken an offensive lineman in the previous two drafts, five have been selected by this regime in first rounds previously – more than any other position.
Here are some CFL Draft Day basics to help get Blue Bombers fans up to speed:
CFL DRAFT DAY
What: the CFL’s 2024 Global and CFL Drafts
When: Tuesday, April 30st. The Global Draft begins at 10 a.m. and is then followed by the main CFL Draft at 7 p.m.
How to watch: The Global Draft is not televised, although the selections can be followed live on the CFL’s Global Draft Tracker.TSN will broadcast the first two rounds of the CFL Draft in the evening with coverage of Rounds 3-8 live on tsn.ca and the TSN app. The league’s pick-by-pick tracker is here.
THE BLUE BOMBERS CFL DRAFT PICKS:
ROUND 1: 8th overall
ROUND 2: 17th overall
ROUND 2: 20th overall (bonus pick as a reward for national snaps in 2023)
ROUND 3: 29th overall
ROUND 4: 37th overall
ROUND 5: 40th overall (via Ottawa for Dru Brown trade)
ROUND 5: 46th overall
ROUND 6: 55th overall
ROUND 7: 64th overall
ROUND 8: 73rd overall
THE BLUE BOMBERS GLOBAL DRAFT PICKS
ROUND 1: 8th overall
ROUND 2: 17th overall
Liam Dobson was selected third overall by the Blue Bombers in 2021
BLUE BOMBERS DRAFT PICKS CURRENTLY ON THE ROSTER
DT Jake Thomas* (Round 4, 29th overall, 2012)
LB Shayne Gauthier (Round 4, 28th overall, 2016)
WR Drew Wolitarsky* (Supplemental Draft, 2017)
RB Brady Oliveira* (Round 2, 14th overall, 2019)
OL Tui Eli (Round 4, 34th overall, 2019)
DB Nick Hallett (Round 7, 61st overall, 2019)
DB Noah Hallett (Round 2, 18th overall, 2020)
LB Tanner Cadwallader (Round 7, 64th overall, 2020)
OL Liam Dobson (Round 1, 3rd overall, 2021)
DB Redha Kramdi* (Round 2, 16th overall, 2021)
DB Tyrell Ford (Round 2, 13th overall, 2022)
DE Anthony Bennett (Round 1, 8th overall, 2023)
DB Jake Kelly (Round 2, 15th overall, 2023)
WR Jeremy Murphy (Round 3, 26th overall, 2023)
DT Tanner Schmekel (Round 4, 35th overall, 2023)
DT Collin Kornelson (Round 5, 44th overall, 2023
DB Bret MacDougall (Round 6, 53rd overall, 2023)
RB Jonathan Rosery (Round 7, 62nd overall, 2023)
LB Max Charbonneau (Round 8, 71st overall, 2023)
OTHER BLUE BOMBER CANADIANS CURRENTLY ON THE ROSTER
OL Patrick Neufeld* – Round 5, 33rd overall, by Saskatchewan in 2010; traded to Winnipeg in 2013 for DE Alex Hall and a second-round pick in the 2014 draft. CFL All-Star the last three seasons.
SB Nic Demski* — Round 1, 6th overall, by Saskatchewan in 2015; signed with Winnipeg as a free agent in 2018. Recorded the first 1,000-yard season of his career last season.
RB Johnny Augustine – First signed as an undrafted free agent by Edmonton in 2017; signed with Winnipeg as a free agent in 2018 and now has 75 regular season games as a Blue Bomber.
LS Mike Benson – Veteran long snapper signed with the Blue Bombers in 2021. First signed with Edmonton as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and has now played in 139 career games with Winnipeg, Edmonton, B.C. and Ottawa
C Chris Kolankowski* – Round 6, 49th overall, by Toronto in 2016; Has started 33 games over the last two years at centre
DT Cam Lawson – Round 2, 16th overall, by Montreal in 2021. Acquired in a draft day trade with the Alouettes in 2022. Posted a career high five sacks last year.
LB Jared Beeksma – Round 5, 46th overall, by Hamilton in 2022. Appeared in three games last year with the Blue Bombers before a season-ending injury.
DB Nico McCarthy – Signed with the club this January after going undrafted. A Second Team OUA All-Star at safety with Wilfrid Laurier last year.
*Indicates starter
BLUE BOMBERS GLOBAL PLAYERS ON ROSTER
P Jamieson Sheahan
DB/LB Souleymane Karamoko
Laval receiver Kevin Mital was one of the standouts at the CFL Combine in Winnipeg this spring
CFL SCOUTING BUREAU FINAL DRAFT RANKINGS
- Isaiah Adams, OL, Illinois, (Ajax, Ont.) – Selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round, 71st overall, in last week’s NFL Draft.
- Theo Johnson, TE, Penn State (Windsor, Ont.) – Selected by the New York Giants in the fourth round, 10th overall.
- Tanner McLachlan, TE, Arizona (Lethbridge, Alta.) – Selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round, 194th overall.
- Kyle Hergel, OL, Boston College (Toronto, Ont.) – Signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints on Saturday.
- Theo Benedet, OL, UBC (North Vancouver, B.C.) – Signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent after the NFL Draft.
- Joel Dublanko, LB, Cincinnati (Aberdeen, WA.)
- Nick Mardner, WR, Auburn (Oakville, Ont.) – Has rookie mini-camp invitation with New York Giants.
- Giovanni Manu, OL, UBC (Pitt Meadows, B.C.) – Selected by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round, 126th overall.
- Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, LB, Memphis (Lévis, Que.) – Attending Miami Dolphins rookie mini-camp.
- Kevin Mital, WR, Laval (Saint-Hubert, Que.)
- Anim Dankwah, OL, Howard (Toronto, Ont.) – Signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent after the NFL Draft.
- Gabe Wallace, OL, Buffalo (Salmon Arm, B.C.)
- Daniel Okpoko, DL, San Diego State (Saskatoon, Sk.)
- Nathaniel Dumoulin-Duguay, OL, Laval (Rimouski, Que.)
- Christy Nkanu, OL, Washington State (Montreal, Que.)
- Daniel Johnson, OL, Purdue (London, Ont.)
- Melique Straker, LB, Arkansas State (Brampton, Ont.)
- Dhel Duncan-Busby, WR, Bemidji State (Vancouver, B.C.)
- Luke Brubacher, DL, Wilfrid Laurier (Listowel, Ont.) – Attending New York Jets rookie mini-camp
- Kevens Clercius, WR, Connecticut (Montreal, Que.)
