By Jamie Nye

Saskatchewan Roughriders trade 7th overall pick to Toronto

May 10, 2011 | 11:16 AM

By Jamie Nye

paNOW Staff

The Saskatchewan Roughriders made a deal to begin their draft day with the Toronto Argonauts.

The Roughriders acquired the Argonauts 2nd and 4th round selections for the 7th overall pick. With that 2nd round pick (12th overall), the Riders selected defensive back Craig Butler out of the University of Western Ontario. The Riders then used their own 2nd round pick (15th overall) to select offensive lineman Matt O'Donnell from Queen's University.

Head Coach of the Roughriders, Greg Marshall, says the team is very high on their first pick of the draft, Craig Butler, “He plays special teams. He plays defense. He played all over the secondary in his career at Western Ontario. We think that he can come in and impact our special teams right away and fill that role of back-up free safety.”

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Marshall says the Riders focused on players that could help out special teams and the team made a deal with Edmonton for full back Graeme Bell, who comes back to his home province. The Riders gave up the second last pick of the draft for Bell. Marshall also says their final pick of the draft, Kyle Exume, was the top special teams player in the draft on their board.

Offensive line was another priority for the Roughriders and though Matt O'Donnell's stock decreased after the Shrine Game and a mediocre performance at the Evaluation Camp, General Manager Brendan Taman says the 21-year old's size (6'9, 340 lbs) is tough to ignore, “He's 21-years old, he's not going to come in here and be the man right away but we feel he's got a great future.”

Taman did concede that Canadian receiver is still an area they need to address and will identify some potential free agents in the coming days.

The Roughriders selection of kicker Chris Milo was not a surprise as Luca Congi's year may begin on the nine-game injured list. Marshall and the staff were very impressed with the young kicker when they worked him out, saying he hit 14 of 16 field goals, including a 58-yard field goal.

Alex Krausnick-Groh is an offensive lineman, who the team believes has the potential to be a starting centre in the CFL.

Here are the results from the CFL Draft in Round One and Riders selections.

Round One:

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers – LB Henoc Muamba of St. Francis Xavier University

2. Edmonton Eskimos – OL Scott Mitchell of Rice University

3. Calgary Stampeders (trade 6th, 11th and 37th overall to B.C.) – WR Anthony Parker of University of Calgary

4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers – WR Jade Etienne of University of Saskatchewan

5. Edmonton Eskimos (trade 10th and 13th overall to Hamilton) – WR Nathan Coehoorn of University of Calgary

6. B.C. Lions (trade 3rd, 26th and 34th overall to Calgary) – WR Marco Iannuzzi of Harvard University

7. Toronto Argonauts (trade 12th and 27th overall to Saskatchewan) – OL Tyler Holmes of Tulsa University

8. Montreal Alouettes – K Brody McKnight of University of Montana

ROUGHRIDER SELECTIONS:

ROUND 2 (12th overall) – DB Craig Butler of University of Western Ontario

ROUND 2 (15th overall) – OL Matt O'Donnell of Queen's University

ROUND 4 (27th overall) – OL Alexander Krausnick-Groh of University of Calgary

ROUND 4 (30th overall) – K Chris Milo of University of Laval

ROUND 6 (40th overall) – FB Kyle Exume of Bishop's University

ROUND 6 (46th overall) – Traded to Edmonton for FB Graeme Bell

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