By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

CFL Draft and a plan to save the 2020 season

Apr 30, 2020 | 9:23 AM

In previous years the CFL draft would be something that would be interesting to follow, especially here in football appreciative western Canada. As a result of increase coverage of the NFL draft and the fantasy football world where people get to indulge their armchair GM, it’s fun to see the players and try to figure out how they might pan out as pros.

A few years ago Saskatchewan hosted the CFL combine and I took advantage to take in sessions and see how teams responded to players showing their skills and especially how the players responded. It’s a different generation and the old ways of trying to coach players just doesn’t work as effectively as it once did and teams are discovering newer ways of evaluating players to determine their future success in pro ranks.

This year with Covid-19, the combines were eliminated because of concerns of spreading the disease and CFL teams now had to rely on game tape and lots of tape and personal connections. It’s a situation that also affected the NFL which puts on a glitzier show but this year reverted to a more approachable and accessible video draft which went without a hitch.

The NFL also benefits from having a more extensive system of scouting than the CFL does with its football operations cap. This means teams have to go back to the days when their director of scouting had to develop contacts across the States and hope to find a player suited to the CFL but either too small or light for the NFL.

Hanging over the draft on April 30 is the thought that maybe the 2020 season will be cancelled and the potential for a massive free agency as contracts are voided because if games don’t get played, players don’t get paid. CFL teams have been forced to roll back salaries to employees or lay them off because the CFL has not been able to sell a ticket for several weeks because of the uncertainty.

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The league has pushed back the start of the season to July 1 and hasn’t been talking to the CFLPA because of the changing situation. Some provinces like Saskatchewan have begun to reopen parts of their economy, but in most provinces the ban on mass gatherings of people to prevent the spread of the virus will likely be in effect until this fall.

Then again, the prospect of a second wave of the virus to coincide with the regular flu season may be enough to give many people the willies and avoid public gatherings wherever possible. For a league that survives through the revenue generated at the gate from fans, that could be a death blow.

So on Tuesday I was picking up some things when I talked to a former Rider who told me the team is working on a scenario that would see the league start September 1, then play games every 5 days in an effort to complete an 18 game.

There would be no byes weeks and the idea would be to cram a complete schedule in to help teams with their cash flow situation. It wasn’t clear how fans fit into the scheme and seating plans like plastic shields around seats were being discussed along with staggered seating and reduced access to concessions.

For players, the prospect of playing a game every five days may provide a moment of pause. Currently the gap between games is roughly a week and the bye weeks were brought in to reduce wear and tear on players. I would imagine if the league introduces this idea, the question of player safety will come up and probably the CFL will prohibit hitting at practices and perhaps look at expanding the roster to bring more players to spell off those either injured or needing a break.

At the beginning of April I thought there was no chance the CFL would run a season this year. The logistics of trying to “stay safe” while providing games and a cash flow for players and teams and stadium and team workers would mean that if there was one case of Covid-19 exposure, people would need to be quarantined for 14 days and when you are playing every five days, that seems to be a stretch.

On Wednesday the CFL said they had approached the federal government for help for up to $150 million. Instead of being a handout, this was sold as a loan and the CFL would make itself available with players getting invovled in the community, public service stuff etc and perhaps even making the loan interest free so it could be more easily repaid.

The social media storm was interesting to follow. Some wonder about the optics of getting involved with the federal government, some wonder about sports leagues getting public money and feel it should be going to people who need it more.

What this virus has shown so far is the futility of relying on the good will of other nations to help in say, supplies of masks and gowns, or perhaps stocks of medicine. After the spectacle of Donald Trump stopping shipments of masks to Canada and shipments of masks being hijacked in China, there is a greater awareness of ensuring that Canadians look after their own interests because relying on others to play fair just doesn’t cut it anymore.

The difference between the CFL and say the NHL is that the CFL is a smaller business organization that doesn’t pay for the most part the inflated salaries you see in the NHL. There are also three community owned teams in the CFL with probably the Argos having the richest owners in MLSE compared to other leagues.

Covid-19 has shaken a lot of assumptions people have had about their world and how it operates. It has also shown the importance that arts and sports have in providing an outlet for people. While it might be easy to jump to the conclusion the CFL could well be toast if there is no season this year, the announcement Wednesday of the approach to the federal government and their willingness to listen, makes it seem at least to me the CFL is looking at all options, especially when word of this contingency plan to play every five days once a season starts.

The mind boggles at the logistics of this plan and how the league could avoid a rash of injuries from such an enhanced schedule. The reaction from the CFLPA would likely ask for an expansion of the player roster to provide what the Toronto Raptors called “load management” when talking about the playing time for Kawhi Leonard last season.

The problem is no one knows how this would unfold or if it would even work. What if the virus comes back next fall and uses public gatherings as a way to increase its hold on society? A soccer game in Italy apparently served as the spark for the virus to spread in that country to devastating effect and you wonder how that would go over here.

The news about the different looking season might also explain the number of signings going on. The Riders signed former Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford, which is interesting considering the Riders have William Powell who had a good year, but they seem to be stockpiling running backs.

If you think about where the greatest wear and tear will take place, think running backs and linemen, offensive and defensive. While the Rider signings might be an effort to create competition, they also indicate a team looking ahead to whatever format the season may take and how to best deal with it.

This definitely has a effect on the CFL draft with a number of high-ranked Canadian prospects either getting drafted in the NFL or signing undrafted free agent contracts. Included in that group are Carter O’ Donnel from the University of Alberta who is now signed to the Indianapolis Colts; Montreal Carabins defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy (Green Bay Packers), Brown University defensive lineman Michael Hoecht (Los Angeles Rams) and Simon Fraser receiver Rysen John (New York Giants).

The thing to keep in mind with rookie free agent contracts is that sometimes CFL teams may have to wait a bit before the players shake loose. The other thing to keep in mind is with the Covid-19 crisis, teams that had a solid nucleus that works well togethr will likely go better than teams who are rebuilding.

So the players who signed in the NFL will lilkely still get drafted, but in later rounds as teams focus on players who are staying in Canada – at least for the moment.

That means expect to see Jordan Williams, a small but speedy linebacker will be the first overall pick for Calgary. John Hufnagel said no teams have approached him about trading and he is open to the idea of trading down, but expect to see Williams or even Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund, a defensive lineman which makes sense since Calgary does not have many Canadian defensive linemen.

Adeyemi-Berglund even plays special teams, which is a question all CFL teams ask potential draft pcisk – would you be willing to play special teams? Calgary has options and the interesting question would be if they would consider taking a flyer on say O’Donnel expecting he may be back in September, assuming NFL camps start on time.

That element of uncertainty has me thinking that if CFL teams go for the Labour Day start and even this one game every five days, they want guys who will in camp, or what will pass for camp, as quickly as possible. Knowledge of what systems the teams use and familiarity with their teammates may make the difference between a Grey Cup contender and a team that is on the outs this year.

The Riders are picking in seventh and could either look at the best athlete available or fill holes on the offensive and defensive line. The Riders lost Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek in free agency, although Blake has had injury problems and Bladek had problems with holding.

The Riders brought back former number one draft pick Josiah St. John who maybe is willing to apply himself without feeling entitled to a roster spot. Perhaps his experiences in BC and Edmonton last year made him realize what an opportunity he had in Saskatchewan.

So depth on the offensive line would be nice, the Riders do have Logan Ferland, 6’4” roughly 300 lbs from the Regina Thunder who signed with the Riders at the end of last season. Ferland, who originally hails from Melfort, has been on the Rider practice squad and is a known quantity to the club.

So how would the 2020 CFL Draft shake out?

1. Calgary – Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund

2. Toronto -OL Tomas Jack-Kurdyla

3. BC – OL Carter O’Donnell

4. Edmonton – DL Mason Bennett

5. Hamilton – K/P Marc Liegghio

6. Ottawa – OL Chris Gangarossa

7. Saskatchewan – LB Jordan Williams

8. Hamilton – OL Mattland Riley

9. Toronto -REC Dejon Brissett

This is just an educated guess, but it will be fun to watch the draft unfold and see if the CFL is serious about how they are approaching the season.