It’s one of the biggest days of the year for the scouting department of the Saskatchewan Roughriders led by General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day.
The Roughriders will be taking part in the CFL Global Draft beginning at 9:00 am, followed by the CFL Draft tonight which begins at 6:00 pm.
Saskatchewan holds the third overall selection of the CFL Draft. In total, the green and white currently possess eight picks.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS are scheduled to make the first selection tonight, followed by the Edmonton Elks.
There is plenty of mystery of how the first round selections will unfold in tonight’s draft. Among the contenders that could be taken in the first round include Pittsburgh WR Jared Wayne, Penn State DB Jonathon Sunderland, TCU DL Lwal Uguak, Southern Utah DL Francis Bemiy, Fresno State OL Dontae Ball and Northern Illnois WR Cole Tucker.
In the two-round Global Draft, the Roughriders have the third and eleven overall selections.
On Monday, O’Day didn’t want to tip his hand on what the Roughriders plan will be on draft night.
“I don’t think I’ll stand up here and say we really need a certain position. ”
Competition is something that the Riders general manager wants to create with the addition of the CFL Draft picks tonight.
“And really sometimes when you’re drafting guys, you want to say who’s this guy going to beat out on your roster. ”
O’Day added, “you have starters back but you want guys to come in and try to compete and beat them.”
Heading into the 2023 season, the majority of the Canadians on the Saskatchewan roster are on the offensive side, with the Roughriders anticipating they will likely go with five Canadians on the offence and will go with two Canadian defensive players to comply with the league’s ratio.
O’Day believes the Riders are in good shape in regards to the Canadian ratio.
“The areas where we are using the ratio, we feel like we have starters in everyone of those spots. ”
It’s also a very important day for a few players from the University of Regina Rams, who are expected to be selected at some point during tonight’s draft.
Rams defensive end Anthony Bennett, defensive back Jaxon Ford, linebacker Josh White and defensive lineman Tanner Schmekel are among the prospects that are expected to be picked.
Bennett has been projected to go as high as late in the first round while Ford’s stock rocketed up after an impressive showing at the CFL combine in March, and the grandson of former Rider and GM Al Ford could hear his name called, possibly in the second round.
Full coverage of the entire 2023 CFL Draft can be found on 620 CKRM beginning at 6:00 with Michael Ball live from the Harvard Media Lounge at Mosaic Stadium.
