1st & 10 | “It seemed like it could be a good fit and I’m super-excited they picked me.”
Spend even just a few minutes with Jaylen Smith and it becomes instantly clear why the Winnipeg Blue Bombers fell in love with the University of North Texas linebacker.
Enthusiasm oozes from his every answer and there’s an infectious energy to him the club hopes will soon translate to the locker room and the practice field.
Selected in the second round, 15th overall, in this week’s CFL Draft, Smith — a proud Hamilton, Ont. product — will be arriving in Winnipeg next Tuesday and on the field for the first day of rookie camp on Wednesday.
It will mark the next chapter in his life as he closes out his college days with an exam Monday night in Denton, Texas, then boards a plane the next day in Dallas bound for Winnipeg.
“I’m so excited. I’m sick of school and I just want to play football,” began Smith in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “The draft process seems to take so long and is so strenuous. I can’t wait to get on the field and just start playing. I just want to show them the best I possibly can.”
Smith has seen a lot of airports in the last week, to tell the truth. His parents surprised him a week ago, paying to fly him back home to Hamilton from Texas for a CFL Draft night party.
“They called me last Sunday and told me they were flying me home,” he said. “I was shocked at that. I got home on Monday, got ready, got my haircut, had all my friends and family there on Tuesday — almost 60 people — so it was a special moment. I hadn’t seen a lot of them in a long time, some of them for probably four-five years because I hadn’t been home at all for a lot of that time.
“My parents (Elsa and Wallace) enjoyed it all and were definitely taking more of the spotlight than me. But they just wanted to show how proud they are of me, and I’ll always be appreciative of them. They instilled a lot of good in me. I’m just happy for them, as well.
“When my name was said on TV it got loud,” he added with a chuckle. “My uncle tweeted out something. That was cool. It was unexpected because we didn’t know when I was going to get picked and we were just waiting. Then it seemed out of nowhere I was picked and everyone started screaming. I wasn’t even paying attention — I was just staring at my phone waiting for that call. And then Coach O’Shea called me.”
Blue for da W! #JaylenSmith pic.twitter.com/zJZEXLvy8a
— Rudy Toronto (@dialabottle) April 30, 2025
The Blue Bombers made Wyoming linebacker Connor Shay their first pick, 6th overall, on Tuesday night and then followed that up by grabbing Smith with their second selection. Shay had been ranked first overall on many mock drafts, so grabbing him was a no brainer.
The fact that Smith was still there at the 15th spot was another slam dunk as the Blue Bombers beefed up their Canadian linebacker depth behind Shayne Gauthier and Tanner Cadwallader and instantly improved their special teams.
Smith said the Blue Bombers were the first team to call him and conduct a one-on-one interview and he had good vibes right from the get-go.
“With some of the other teams it felt like I was in a job interview,” he explained. “They would ask questions, and I had to answer in a certain way. But with them, it was probably the most-chillest, casual conversation. They just wanted to get to know me and my family. I went over a few other things with them, but it was just an enjoyable conversation.
“It seemed like it could be a good fit and I’m super-excited they picked me, and I can’t wait to get there and get ready to go.”
Smith’s versatility jumped out in his game film as he played all over the defence, occasionally lining up on the edge, at a couple linebacker spots and even dropping back into pass coverage.
All that made him stand out, as did his leadership as a captain with the Mean Green.
“The other thing is, I love doing special teams and I know that’s something they were big on,” said Smith. “I’m excited to show them that.
“I see myself as a tough, hard-nosed football player. I like to let you know after I make a play. I like to study film. I like to know where you’re going to be, what you’re going to do.
“I’m just a ball player. I’m not a linebacker. I’m a ball player. I play defence. Shoot, if you want to put me at D-line, I’ll play D-line. I’ll play any position they want me to play. And if I don’t play on defence, I’ll do my best on special teams. That’s my rock, my go-to.
“Like I said, I can’t wait to get started.”
More draft related notes and quotes as we wrap up our final 1st & 10 column of the offseason before the opening of rookie camp on May 7 and main camp on May 11th…
A COUPLE MORE TAKES ON SMITH… from the TSN crew on draft night that are worth passing along…
First from analyst and draft guru Duane Forde:
“He’s a guy who is a 227-pound linebacker but whose background in football is as a defensive back — that’s what he was in high school and when he started his college football career — and he demonstrated that versatility, that flexibility, when he arrived at North Texas.
“A great fit for the Canadian Football League for that multiplicity that defensive coordinators like to have — showing different looks with the same groups of people.”
Courtesy University of North Texas
And from Paul LaPolice, who knows the North Texas head coach — Eric Morris — from their days together in Saskatchewan with the Roughriders; LaPo as a coach, Morris as a receiver:
“This is what Eric said about him, ‘When I got here this was the guy we put on a pedestal week after week and showed people if you put practice tape on like this it’s going to show up on game film.’ He talked about the work ethic of this player, which was amazing.
“So, Jaylen Smith is somebody you get into that building that will become a leader of the special teams and then figure out where he can be in the other packages.”
TWO OF THE BLUE BOMBERS TOP THREE PICKS… Shay, and Wilfrid Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma, will be participating in NFL rookie mini camps before coming to Winnipeg.
Shay and Elgersma were both scheduled to attend Green Bay Packers rookie mini camp, which wrapped up on Friday. Shay has also accepted an invitation to New York Jets rookie mini-camp May 10-11, while Elgersma will also attend the Buffalo Bills rookie camp May 9-10.
Here’s a piece from ESPN which best explains a rookie mini-camp and at the 6:20 mark of this video following the session on Friday Packers head coach Matt LaFleur speaks about Elgersma:
And one more on Elgersma, from TSN’s Forde:
“There are a few things that stand out to me that having nothing to do with Xs and Os or evaluation of quarterback play, arm strength, blah-blah… I talked to his head coach Michael Faulds and Michael described him to me as, ‘the best leader I’ve ever been around.’ Given that Michael Faulds is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, that’s saying something.
“Next thing… drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. What have we kept saying about Winnipeg? They’re going to take the best player regardless of position and give him a chance to play that position. Great fit in terms of the pick.”
ICYMI… Winnipeg media had a chance to speak to Elgersma on Wednesday. Here’s that story:
AND FINALLY… If you haven’t already seen it, please check out this excellent look inside the Blue Bombers Draft night put together by our Senior Video Producer Josh Kjarsgaard:
