Thursday will be the CFL’s first ever Global draft. And Riders GM Jeremy O’Day is ready to find some talent.
“There’s going to be a much bigger, much better I would say, group of players that are in this draft,” he told the Sports Cage on Monday.
Thursday’s draft will comprise players from around the world–Germany, Japan, Australia and South Africa to name a few countries. In 2019 there were separate drafts for players from Mexico and Europe. The expansion of the draft meets with the depth of quality players available.
“There’s some very talented, with a number of guys who are in the NFL and also a number of guys that have been in NFL camps in the past that are now free agents,” says O’Day.
For this season teams must carry two Global players on their game roster and can have three more on the practice roster. O’Day expects a run on specialists before it’s his turn with the fifth-overall pic..
“I don’t think it’s a secret that the Global draft will be really heavy in punters and kickers that can play special teams in our league,” he says. “So I think you’re going to see a large amount of special teams players that are selected.”
On Monday, Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported on the Sports Cage that on April 19 the CFL will give “clarity” on the upcoming season. It’s expected that the league will announce a delay to the start of the 2021 season–currently set to begin June 10.
O’Day says a pending announcement changes little in his world.
“In Football Ops we have our start to training camp that’s the date that we’ve been told. And basically we’re going to operate as if we’re starting on time until we’re told we’re not. We’re no different than the players where we’re waiting and anticipating whether we’ll start on time.”
“I think it’s important that we all understand that there’s a lot at play for the league and there’s big decisions to be made,” he adds. “And I’m sure they’re going to do that at the right time.
“We’re just excited about having a season. We feel very optimistic that we’re going to have one, whether that starts on time, that’s just something we’ll have to deal with when we know more.”
