May 19, 2016

Alouettes sign five draft picks and two Canadian quarterbacks

MONTREAL – The Montreal Alouettes announced on Thursday that the club has signed 2016 draft picks receiver A-Dre Fraser and offensive lineman Matthew Toppan to four-year deals. The team also signed recent draftees George Johnson, Emmett Tims and Maïko Zepeda as well as Dominique Termansen, who the team protected following the draft, to two-year contracts.

Fraser (6’1″, 174 lbs.) cumulated 520 yards on 33 catches while scoring five touchdowns for the Guelph University Gryphons last season before the Alouettes selected him in the sixth round (47th total). In four seasons at the collegiate level, he caught 85 passes good for 1,414 yards and ten touchdowns. The Halifax, NS native also returned 31 kickoffs for 751 yards and 80 punts for 846 yards in that same period of time.

Toppan (6’1″, 276 lbs.), another former Gryphon, was selected in the eighth round (64th total) last week. The Oakville, ON native was part of an offensive line which helped his team finish fifth in the conference with 1,479 rushing yards and fourth with 2,872 passing yards in 2015.
Johnson (6’3″, 188 lbs.) caught 32 passes good for 540 yards, while scoring a touchdown, last season with the Western Ontario University Mustangs before the Alouettes made him their fourth round draft pick (29th overall). In 2013, Johnson was voted an All-Canadian following an impressive season where he gained 982 receiving yards on 60 catches, while scoring five touchdowns. The London, ON native completed his collegiate career with 116 catches, good for 1,848 yards.

Tims (6’5″, 240 lbs.), who was drafted in the sixth round, 50th overall, played four seasons as wide receiver during his first four seasons with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, before making the switch on the defensive line. The Calgary, AB native was the team’s long snapper throughout his collegiate career. Former Alouette Soctt Flory was among his coaches these past two seasons.

Zepeda (5’8″, 200 lbs.), a defensive back that the team selected in the seventh round (56th overall), intercepted four passes in 2015, while making 34.5 tackles and defending six passes for the Université de Montréal Carabins. In 2014, he helped the Carabins win the Vanier Cup at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. His team also made it to the championship game in 2015.

Termansen (5’11”, 175 lbs.) collected 56 tackles and one interception last season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, which he helped win the Vanier Cup at the Université Laval Peps. The defensive back impressed during the Edmonton Regional Combine, which allowed him to get invited to the National Combine in Toronto. In four seasons with the Thunderbirds, the North Vancouver, BC native amassed 102 tackles and five interceptions.

The Alouettes also announced that they have signed national quarterbacks Drew Burko and Jimmy Underdahl to two-year deals.

Burko (6’4”, 229 lbs.) played four seasons for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies where he completed 572 of his 951 passes good for 7,549 yards while throwing 50 touchdowns passes. He maintained an impressive 251.6 yards per game average and added 215 rushing yards in 30 outings during his brilliant collegiate career. The Saskatoon, SK native led the CIS West conference in touchdown passes in 2014 with 21 and completing over 60% of his throws while being intercepted only eight times. He had the opportunity to play a major role in the 2015 East-Wast Bowl for the East team. He completed 13 of his 16 passes for 180 passing yards and a touchdown en route to a 29-21 win over the West. The Kinesiology student made training camp stints with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2013 as well as with the Edmonton Eskimos last year. His father Darrell played for the Toronto Argonauts in 1980.

Underdahl (5’11”, 199 lbs.) played 28 games for the University of Calgary Dinos over the course of the last four seasons in the CIS West conference, recording 872 passings yards and throwing six touchdown passes. The Kelowna, BC native averaged a stunning 70.7 completion percentage over his collegiate career with the Dinos. The young quarterback is the true definition of a double-threat weapon as he registered 413 rushing yards on 76 carries while scoring 16 rushing touchdowns.

The team was also given permission to have St. Francis Xavier University quarterback Dante Djan practice with the team. He will be allowed to attend meetings and practice during the team’s training camp, up until the team’s first exhibition game.