By Jack Bedell
MontrealAlouettes.com
Growing up in the U.S., I’ve been conditioned to think of the college draft as a matter of following one of two broad strategies — either choosing players based on need or choosing the best players available on the draft board.
Preparing mock drafts for the NFL draft according to these principles is relatively easy since tons of information is available. Between draft pundits like Mel Kiper, Mike Mayock, or Mike Detillier and professional scouting services like Scouts, Inc., every football fan can study his team’s roster for holes and make sound predictions.
The CFL draft however, is a different animal entirely.
First, there are three times as many players realistically eligible for the CFL draft as there are players genuinely being considered by NFL teams. These Canadian players are spread all over North America, playing at a wide variety of levels and against an even wider variety of opponents in the CIS and NCAA.
Second, because many picks in the CFL draft involve players with eligibility remaining, need must be calculated on a “future” basis and against a gamble that the player may never join the team, or might do so years in the future. It takes a crystal ball to make those gambles pay off regularly.
And third, the paucity of film analysis and scouting data on many of the eligible players is pretty pronounced, making the job done by CFL general managers and scouting departments a truly amazing feat.
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“Preparing mock drafts for the NFL draft according to these principles is relatively easy since tons of information is available. […] The CFL draft however, is a different animal entirely. |
Like anything really difficult to collect, the information gathered by CFL teams on their favourite draft prospects is never freely distributed, and that makes predicting how the CFL draft will run down nearly impossible.
No amount of roster-need analysis can predict what players a given CFL team is eyeing, and no amount of personal scouting could build a very accurate draft board ranked by talent. That’s why my hat is off to TSN’s Duane Forde for his Canadian draft expertise. There just aren’t enough minutes in the day to do as a good a job as he does predicting where the CFL draft is headed.
So, in what direction will the Alouettes go on May 8?
Last season, I studied my tail off looking at the talent available for the Als’ picks. Everything in my research led me to believe that the team would go for speed on special teams and depth on defence right away. They went heavy instead with their first pick, Kristian Matte, then shifted their focus right where I thought they might for four of the remaining five rounds. Trust me, though, I was lucky with that prediction, not educated.
This year, I’m returning to the advice of one of my personal CFL football pundits, Alouettes’ cheerleader Liz V., “If there’s a guy who shows potential, if there’s a guy who shows heart, determination and appreciation for the game both as a sport and as a business, then that’s the type of guy I would want on my team. That’s what I’d look for in the draft.”
Here’s my list of the top 10 players fitting that bill:
1. Scott Mitchell, OL, Rice
2. Anthony Parker, WR, Calgary
3. Henoc Muamba, LB, St. FX
4. Nathan Coehoorn, WR, Calgary
5. Matt O’Donnell, OL, Queen’s
6. Philip Blake, OL, Baylor
7. Junior Turner, DL, Bishop’s
8. Christopher Milo, K/P, Laval
9. Tyler Holmes, OL, Tulsa
10. Moe Petrus, OL, Connecticut
Get your popcorn ready to see where they’ll go on May 8.
