April 12, 2021

Timeline – The events leading up to the start of the season

This weekend’s beautiful weather had us dreaming about warm summer days and seeing our Alouettes playing football at McGill Stadium again. With Quebec is expanding its COVID-19 vaccination rollout to an increasingly bigger part of the population, and the many powerful players we signed over the past few months, we are feeling very optimistic about our 2021 season.

But before the seasons starts, a few crucial events still need to take place to get on hands on the right players to complete our roster. Everything will be looking a little different this year, but as they say: where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Here’s a look at what’s ahead on the calendar…

April 15 – Global Draft

The 2021 Global Draft, for players from outside the United States and Canada, will take place on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 1 p.m.

The draft order for the first round was determined by a random draw in which every CFL team had an equal chance at getting the first pick. The following rounds will follow a ‘snake’ format, which means the reverse order of the previous round. The Global Draft will consist of four rounds.

Below is the Alouettes’ draft order for the Global Draft:

  • Round 1, 6th overall
  • Round 2, 13th overall
  • Round 3, 24th overall
  • Round 4, 31st overall

Virtual CFL combine presented by New Era

 Due to COVID-19, the lay of the combine land will be looking very different this year as combine testing, football drills and interviews will be conducted entirely remotely, using video and online tools.

Our football operations team will have the option of conducting live player interviews online, reviewing prospects’ previous play on tape, and gathering and reviewing medical, background and performance information remotely.

May 4 – CFL Draft

The 2021 CFL National Draft of Canadian players from U SPORTS in Canada, NCAA teams in the United States, and junior football will take place on Tuesday, May 4 starting at 7:00 p.m.

The first two hours of the Draft will be broadcast on TSN and the rest can be followed along live on CFL.ca’s Draft Tracker : https://www.cfl.ca/draft-tracker/

It is important to note that due to the cancellation of the 2020 season, a few changes will be made to the traditional draft format:

  • The draft order for the first round is determined by a random draw that was equally weighted across the nine CFL clubs.
    • Teams traditionally pick eligible players in an order based on their records in the previous season, but since the 2020 season was cancellation, the league settle on a random draw format.
  • The league will use a snake draft format: The first-round order is reversed in the second round and back and forth it goes, a serpent of selection in motion.
    • This year, the Alouettes have no first-round pick as they traded it to Hamilton for Johnny Maziel in 2018.
  • The draft is reduced to six rounds instead of the traditional eight rounds.
    • This is in recognition of the fact that 2021 CFL training camps will feature a “double cohort” of Canadian rookies, with a group from each of the 2020 and 2021 CFL Drafts
  • There will be no territorial selections in the 2021 CFL Draft. 

Below is the Alouettes’ draft order for the 2021 CFL Draft

  • Round 2, 10th overall
  • Round 3, 27th overall
  • Round 4, 28th overall
  • Round 5, 45th overall
  • Round 6, 46th overall

 

 

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