Given the way they've drafted the last few years, if Mack and company are still in charge its almost safe to guess none of the top ranked guys will necessarily be picked by the club. I wouldn't be shocked to see them go OL again with either Sewell or Kashama. I think they are stocking NI Olinemen with the hop of moving to an all canadian group. They talked up Pencer as a potential future LT. MTl has an extra pick in the first rd from the McKnight trade to Edm, Calgary has an extra 2nd rounder from a trade with the Riders, maybe a move with either of those teams for an extra pick in the early rounds if they prefer an Olineman. I would agree though, one of the 2 Dlinemen would help the bombers more if they were headed to the CFL for sure. But if they are getting NFL sniff it could be quite a risk considering how many guys have had try outs in recent years, and a few even been drafted (blake, bilukidi, watkins to name a few, and hicks who was american but played in Regina with the saints). Coming off a bad season I would much prefer earlier picks being used on more immediate prospects and mid round picks to be risks on players that might not play in the CFL.
This draft is really hard to figure. I’d like to know if players drafted but not under contract need to be protected. Same with neg list players. Last time they were fair game. Are they this time ? Considering Ottawa can draft four redshirts there are at least 17 in the draft. If players not under contract do not have to be protected it becomes extremely attractive for GM’s to target redshirts as they would not be under contract by December 2013 when the expansion draft is held. It would be nice to see more of the details of the expansion draft.
I would like to see them really tighten up the draft rules. I believe that technically players drafted remain your rights until you sign them. You can draft a CIS player sign him, have him in camp, then decide he’s best served going back to his CIS team for another year or maybe to learn to play another position. Now as I understand it, and I could be wrong, the problem there is that he is technically a FA after you’ve cut him to send him back to school and you can lose your rights to the player. I’ve been told that there is a general agreement amongst teams not to poach another teams drafted FA player and that teams won’t go after a player trying out again after another year of CIS unless the drafting team doesn’t want him. In the case of a reshirt NCAA guy, you retain their rights until they sign or you renounce the rights. So even if they end up NFL bound, if the ever come back to the CFL they have to sign with the team that drafted them. It will be interesting to see if there is an early run on the redshirts to get some before Ottawa gets their chance, or if there may be a behind the scenes “recommendation” to lay off and give ottawa a couple before making it open season.
But what we don’t know is do draft picks who are not under contract available in the expansion draft if they are not part of the six or eight protected NI ??? That will influence the draft greatly IMO. Likely to the advantage of teams who are well garnished in CFL ready NI talent.
.....Who do we pick first overall....?????? :roll: Lots of questions for 2013.... I'll sure be glad to see the end of this season...ADIOS 2012 :thdn: