Well the time is almost upon us!!! The 2011 CFL DRAFT is only 4 days away!!!
With all the rumours flying around and all the prgnosticators taking their best shots at predicting the first couple of rounds, I think now is as good a time as ever to try it ourselves!!
The big question for our Alouettes is what Popp will decide to do with the 8th and 16th picks!!! Go for the surefire need in Christopher Milo? Draft for the future and depth with an Offensive Lineman once again? or maybe even Trade up to fill Ben's shoes with an Anthony Parker or Nathan Coehoorn??? All these questions will be answered soon enough, but this is how I see the first 2 rounds panning out barring trades...
1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers - Scott Mitchell (OL Rice)
2 Edmonton Eskimos - Anthony Parker (SB Calgary)
3 BC Lions - Henoc Muamba (LB StFX)
4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers via TOR - Nathan Coehoorn (WR Calgary)
5 Hamilton Tiger-Cats - Matt O'Donnell (OL Queens)
6 Calgary Stampeders - Paul Swiston (OL Calgary)
7 Saskatchewan Roughriders - Tyler Holmes (OL Tulsa)
8 Montreal Alouettes - Marco Ianuzzi (WR Harvard)
I think the Als will surprise some people here and attempt to fill Ben's shoes with the speedy Ianuzzi and hope that one of Christopher Milo or Hugh O'neill are available in the 2nd Round.
9 Calgary Stampeders via WPG - Andre Clark (CB York)
10 Edmonton Eskimos - Moe Petrus (OL UConn)
11 Calgary Stampeders via BC - Phil Blake (OL Baylor)
12 Toronto Argonauts - Junior Turner (DL Bishops)
13 Edmonton Eskimos via HAM - Anthony Barrette (OL Concordia)
14 Calgary Stampeders - Renaldo Sagesse (DL Michigan)
15 Saskatchewan Roughriders - Gregory Alexandre ( DL Montreal )
16 Montreal Alouettes- Christopher Milo (K Laval)
If available at this spot (and should be due to low demand for kickers, Hamilton has Medlock, Edmonton has Schiavone and the Riders' Luca Congi is attempting a comeback from a serious injury) , a kicker would be the logical pick, with both Milo and O'neill rumoured to be around the same level, I think Popp gives the nod to the hometown kid.
Let me know what you think!!!! Which way will the dice roll during the 2011 Draft??
If one of Iannuzzi or Coehoorn or Parker is available, when we select number eight, I say that we will draft the one available; unfortunately, I don't see anyone of them available. The only exception would be if we trade with BC for McCallum and their selection,i,e, number 3; yes,we would have to give a good player -Watkins?- but I still think that it could happen.
If no trade, I say that we will select Moe Petrus,junior OL.
Interesting quote by Jim Popp on the CJAD website on the Als draft philosophy:
"There is an art to it,? says Popp, taking a timeout from reviewing more videotape of prospects in the days leading up to Draft Day. "We rank our top 50 according to who can help us the most 3 years down the line.?
I dont have Mel Kiper hair any longer so could be wrong, but I cant see the Als taking a receiver in the first round. It will likely be an offensive or defensive lineman and could very well be a junior. I believe Milo follows in Round 2.
Come on Richard, I respect you a lot but your not saying you would trade one of the top five receivers in the league, one in his prime for a 41 year old kicker who is into real estate and has no interest in living East. I think your way out in left field with this McCallum thing.
Three years down the road. You have to think DB, LB or DT or OL. I’m thinking they go with an NCAA Junior. We have no immediate need. Might as well grab the best guy player available.
Je suis probablement dans le champ, comme d'habitude, mais j'ai plutôt l'impression que les Alouettes vont choisir un botteur au premier rang s'il est disponible. Si on regarde l'article sur le site, on met un intérêt pour O'Neill en évidence mais on évite soigneusement de parler de Milo. Depuis quand un club annonce-t-il d'avance au monde entier les joueurs qu'il veut vraiment repêcher?
Blake, Mitchell, O'Donnell, Holmes et Petrus ne seront peut-être même pas disponibles lors que les Alouettes vont repêcher. Les Alouettes ont recruté plusieurs jeunes joueurs de ligne offensive dans les deux derniers repêchage. Ils vont regarder ces joueurs plus loin qu'en première ronde.
Ils ne perdront pas leur temps avec Vaughn Martin en première ou en deuxième ronde non plus.
À la limite Coehoorn ou Turner.
Blake est probablement étiquetté NFL, tout comme Vaughn.
Je fais donc un fou de moi en tentant ces prédictions de première ronde :
1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers - Scott Mitchell (OL Rice) (Regarnir la ligne offensive pour protéger l'homme de vitre)
2 Edmonton Eskimos - Tyler Holmes (OL Tulsa) (Regarnir la ligne offensive pour acheter du temps à Ray)
3 BC Lions - Matt O'Donnell (OL Queens) (Regarnir la ligne offensive pour être enfin capable de finir une saison avec le même quart qu'au début de la saison)
4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers via TOR - Anthony Parker (SB Calgary) (Avoir un DI canadien rapide avec de bonnes mains)
5 Hamilton Tiger-Cats - Paul Swiston (OL Calgary) (Regarnir la ligne offensive pour acheter du temps à Glenn)
6 Calgary Stampeders - Henoc Muamba (LB StFX) (Combler le départ de Browner ou Anderson par un joueur polyvalent)
7 Saskatchewan Roughriders - Nathan Coehoorn (WR Calgary) (Canada Air Force oblige... Fantuz est parti)
8 Montreal Alouettes - Christopher Milo (K Laval) (Vous vous attendiez à quoi?)
Je reviendrai plus tard pour avoir l'air encore plus fou avec mes prédictions de la deuxième ronde... si j'ai le temps.
En 15 ans avec les Alouettes Jim n'a jamais utilise 2 roster spots pour des botteurs et le concensus est que Milo et Oneil ne sont pas presentement capable de remplire tout les roles, mais tout est possible.
Je suis bien d'accord qu'on devrait avoir un botteur pour faire tous les rôles. Mais je suis sceptique sur ceux qui disent que Milo ne peut pas combler les deux. Il a eu de bons résultats dans les deux aspects du jeu.
En ce qui concerne sa moyenne de bottés, n'oublions pas qu'il jouait pour une équipe qui était nettement plus forte que ses adversaires. La moyenne de distance ne dit pas tout : il faut aussi considérer l'endroit sur le terrain d'où le botté est fait.
Peut-être la question est-elle : peut-il botter plus de 50 verges régulièrement? On sait que David ne le peut pas.
Peut-être que l'autre question est : peut-il régulièrement placer le ballon entre les poteaux depuis plus de 40 verges? On sait que David ne le peut pas. Clairment, on a besoin d'un botteur et Popp n'est pas allé en chercher un aux Excited States of America. Je crois qu'il en veut un dans ce repêchage.
I'm with you LeStaff: I would chose Chris Milo IF he is available then! Milo had the best yardage with the punt and the longest field goal average in the CIS. Other than that a Canadian receiver would fit and IZZwhatsthename would be a valuable addition to he team. Other than FG/P the Als have no crucial need. I would not be suprised if the team picked juniors in later picks.
Ok , but why would you select a kicker in the first round ? There will be a kicker there in rounds two and three. I am not sold on any of these kickers. I think the Kicker position is second or third in importance in the CFL, so it isn't enough for the guy to be average, he has to be top notch.
Since Trestman came in we dont really play NI receivers and SJ replacing Cahoon is even more proof of that.
We play LB and we have three great young ones in Emry, Dublanko and Brouillete and there isn't anyone after Muamba really. So we wont go there.
Corner, we have Woldu but again he's not a starter and there dosen't seem to be any blue chip DB in this draft.
Defensive tackle is a spot where we could use a prospect but again I'm not sure besides Vaugh Martin who will likely never play in the CFL that there is someone there but there are a couple guys like Turner, Sagesse and a few others.
Oline: We are stocked full, not even sure we can keep the 8 we have now... but you never have enough of these guys and with Scott in his mid-thirties and our Tackles possibly heading to Free agency getting a Junior NCAA linesman would be a good fit.
Overall unless a receiver the Als really like drops and falls in their hands i think the Als will draft an NCAA junior Olinesman with their first pick. after that I can see them going for a dlinesman, a kicker and a db.
Last year I was suprised at the Popp/ Trestman picks and the team had an excellent draft- I had doubt of their third round CIS QB selection from Montreal. This year I will have no suprise at whom they will pick as, I have extreme trust in these two guys and, I will agree totally re their choices. The Als have had quite good drafts in the recent past. The only poor draft the team had was the year Popp was coach. The only rookie that earned a selection that year was a defensive back from North or South Dakota. Can't recall his name but the Als burned him against SASK in the Grey Cup game last year. I have wondered about this very poor draft and, have speculated that Popp might have been too involved with coaching that pre season to attend to CIS scouting? I think we may all have another suprise this year.
We got two second round picks for Donovan Alexander.
One is Curtis Dublanko, a powerful and intelligent LB that will be at camp this year and Martin Bedard who played great special teams last year and is a capable long snapper.
On ne voit que deux botteurs dans ce repêchage. Les Alouettes ont besoin d’un botteur et les Roughriders pourraient être tentés par un botteur en deuxième ronde, histoire qu’il ne soit pas parti en 3ième ronde. Kean est bien, mais il ne peut assumer les trois rôles (comme si bien souligné) et est limité côté distance sur les placements.
C’est dans cette optique que je voyais les Alouettes vouloir s’assurer d’avoir un botteur dans leurs sélections. Comme l’équipe est assez bien pourvue par ailleurs, ce repêchage en est un où elle pourrait se permettre un choix hors-norme sans compromettre l’avenir de l’équipe.
Du côté de la défensive, il y a des prospects intéressants, notamment Sagesse et Fortin. Sagese est un gars puissant, tandis que Fortin est un gars rapide avec un bon sens du jeu.
I've always envisioned place kickers as little guys. Who needs tons of muscle to send footballs through the goal posts anyway? I figured I'd meet a guy who looked like he'd just finished math homework before donning his shoulder pads.
But that’s not Brody. The junior from Vancouver, B.C., is built like a tank, but with bigger arms. He weighs in at around 200 pounds, but bench presses 380, and honestly looks more like a linebacker than a kicker.
Looking at him, I figure the only thing he’d be kicking is my ass. An intimidating character, indeed.
But damn is he friendly. And after a rather charming introduction to the basics of field goal kicking, he lets me give it a whirl.
We start with extra points, kicked from about the 10-yard line. He demonstrates (nearly booting the sucker out of the stadium) and I try to mimic (sending a squibber far left and barely a foot off the ground).
This is going to be harder than I thought.
I decide to level the playing field; I’ll kick from the 5-yard line (technically a shorter kick than this is not even possible in a real-game scenario) and he’ll be back nailing 45-yarders.
He boots his through the poles with ease, even showing off a bit and hitting one from the sidelines. Great. Thanks, Brody.
Back to McKnight: It was the junior who also hit a perfect pooch kick after UM's first touchdown. The ball bounced high in the air before it was covered by UM's Josh Stuberg. Jabin Sambrano took a reverse 27 yards for the touchdown on the next play.
Oh, and McKnight hit a 53-yard field goal, the second-longest of his career, to tie the game at 24-all at 5:43 of the third.
I wonder if Milo can make field goals from 53 yards out ?
I was super happy with the trade for Whyte. He showed well in sharing the kicker position with Mc Callum last year- and got added coaching in 2010. We are getting in Whyte a known good player. I have noted in past posts that one of these guys could be the solution to the P/K deficit for the Als. It was interesting to note that Hugh O'neil was a third pick by BC and will most likely be their future kicker. Like Richard V, I I do wonder if any of the Als choices will be on the team this year? McKnight has established himself well in the NCAA and, might be NFL material in their 2012 draft . In addition it is questionable that Philip Blake and Vaugin Martin will even become an Al in the near future. Never the less I believe the two were good additions for a team that NOW has no critical P/K needs. Blake and Vaugn Martin however just might be available futures like Josh Bourke ,via the NFL who turned out to be a most valuble OT.
In my opinion one of the smartest move in the draft was picking Julian Feoli Gudinewho has been a super receiver for Laval in the past 4 seasons. He had an injury late in 2010 and, was not the fastest receiver in the CIS but, he was great for Laval especially with the long pass. He was a late draft pick with great potential. I think it was the argos who selected him.
