The 2021 CFL Draft day is finally here, and all the action will kick off at 7 p.m. tonight. Our Alouettes will attempt to select top amateur talent among a pool of collegiate players from U SPORTS in Canada, NCAA teams in the United States, and junior football.
Follow the action live!
The first two hours will be broadcasted on TSN1 and TSN3 (TSN4 will join at 7:30 p.m. ET). To follow along with the subsequent rounds, turn your attention to CFL’s Official Draft Tracker: https://www.cfl.ca/draft-tracker/
RDS will also cover the draft on RDS.ca
We will be posting every single pick live on our social media, so make sure to follow our platforms to stay in the know!
| Facebook: facebook.com/mtlalouettes | Twitter: twitter.com/MTLAlouettes | Instagram: instagram.com/mtlalouettes/ |
A different draft format…
Due to the cancellation of the 2020 season, a few changes have been made to the traditional draft format:
- The draft order for the first round was 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 canceled, the league settled 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.
- 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.
The Alouettes’ draft order:
- Round 2, 10th overall
- Round 3, 27th overall
- Round 4, 28th overall
- Round 5, 45th overall
- Round 6, 46th overall
No first-round pick for the Alouettes? That’s right…The club traded its first-round pick to Hamilton Tiger-Cats in exchange for Johnny Manziel in 2018.
The top prospects to keep an eye on
The CFL’s Scouting Bureau recently unveiled its final edition of the top 20 prospects eligible for the 2021 draft. Three Quebecers made the list, including defensive back Benjamin St-Juste, offensive lineman and former Carabin Pier-Olivier Lestage, and tight end Bruno Labelle.
Check out the top 20 prospects: https://www.lcf.ca/2021/04/26/bureau-de-recrutement-josh-palmer-se-hisse-sommet-classement/
