By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

CFL Draft leaves interesting questions as Riders head to training camp

May 6, 2022 | 8:45 AM

So the CFL and TSN had their draft this week and in a year that was considered to be weaker than say, usual, the Saskatchewan Roughriders dropped some interesting clues about what their team may look like in 2022.

First off, let’s look at the CFL Global draft held earlier that day and which raises a question I want to ask CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie.

Do any of the countries from whom the CFL drafted global players actually televise CFL games and if so, how much does the CFL get from that?

I notice TSN is televising Spanish soccer games and I imagine they must be paying something for that. So do other countries carry CFL games in return or is this just Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which has a major soccer stick stuck up its collective rear end, indulging in a lot of wishful thinking?

Chris Jones, now leading the Edmonton Elks, clearly has no use for the Global draft except for maybe looking for a cheaper punter/kicker because he cut all his global players he inherited.

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The Riders have two Global players with one being the punter. The Riders went for futures here. With Jordan Genmark Heath, LB, Sweden who started at Notre Dame and UCLA, but signed a late undrafted free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Riders went with Lukas Ruoss, LB, Switzerland in the second round. Apparently he was a standout at Bemidji State before returning to Europe to be a difference-maker for the Potsdam Royals, and has all the requisite athletic ability to play at the CFL level. Uh, OK, the pick does make sense because the Riders are looking for back-up linebacker help that can also play special teams.

In the third round the Riders picked Maceo Beard-Aigret, DB, France, who played CEGEP in Canada and returns as a developmental safety prospect with the size to play special teams. Again, the Riders are looking at having someone play safety who is not an American and Beard-Aigret did play junior college football in Quebec before he went back to Europe.

This may be a process that takes a few years, but Ambrosie did touch on the lower participation levels in collegiate football in Canada and why this dictates looking at other countries and if that gives the CFL exposure, so much the better. So once again, I ask what kind of exposure does the CFL have in those countries now and does the league get any money from it?

The main CFL draft was an entertaining affair, thanks to Jones who traded away the first overall pick to Montreal. Jones continued his habit of being a mad scientist, nabbing versatile players who can play multiple positions and make it tougher for other teams to game plan because they have no idea who will be lining up where.

Most felt the Riders would look at offensive linemen, like Noah Zerr of the U of S, but the Riders went with receiver Samuel Emilus of Louisiana Tech, where he was known as the Canadian Odell Beckham Jr.

The Riders had draft pick Terrence Jana retire before the season, considering he was drafted a year ago, and Brayden Lenius is in the Atlanta Falcons camp and the Falcons need receivers so there is no guarantee he might be back.

The Riders have Kian Shaeffer-Baker who emerged as the star of the draft for the Riders last year and Emilius has what is described as an excellent catch radius, which means he is not afraid to go for the contested ball, which will make Cody Fajardo very happy. Emilius got an invite to the rookie mini-camp of the Arizona Cardinals but the Riders should see him at some point.

The Riders went for offensive lineman Zack Fry in the second round for an interesting reason. Rider GM Jeremy O’Day, who knows something about offensive linemen, said he was impressed with the feet of Fry, who apparently needs to work on his upper body strength, but if you have the feet to move quickly, it does present an option to move Fry from guard to tackle when needed.

In the third round the Riders got Diego Altorre Montoya of UBC is originally from Mexico but became a National for the draft. Unlike Fry who might be described as a finesse blocker, Montoya is a brawler who played left and right tackle before moving to left guard in his last year. A brawler is what the Riders need when facing the evil Bombers.

The Riders went with Tommy Bringi a linebacker from Wilfred Laurier in the fourth round that can back up at Micah Teitz at linebacker. Teitz seems pretty durable, so expect to see Bringi play special teams while he learns the system and what is required to play pro football.

The Riders got Tristan Fleury of McGill in the fifth round who if he makes the team will back up at safety and again, play special teams. He is interesting size wise at 6’2’ 192 pounds which means teams will not be able to exploit him by using a bigger receiver.

Jayden Dalke of the University of Alberta came to the Riders in the sixth round and he also has the size to help in the defensive backfield, where he played in Alberta and with the Edmonton Wildcats but more likely on special teams.

Zach Herzog of Hillsdale (I have no clue where this is, other than a street in Regina), was picked in the seventh round and 3DownNation feels Herzog has the potential to start at safety. But then again, every team feels it has nothing but players with starting potential in each draft, regardless of league.

The Riders wrapped up with Riley Boersma of the U of R Rams in the eighth round. Boersma is small, but had the second best 40 yard time at the CFL combine and tied for the best vertical jump at 40.5 inches. This is important when you consider receivers sometimes have to jump for the ball. Boersma may go back to the Rams for another year, so this training camp will give him a pretty good idea of what to expect at the pro level and what he will have to work on.

Right now the CFL and CFLPA are working on a new collective agreement and word came out Thursday the CFL wants a 10 year agreement between the two sides. Apparently this would lock in revenue sharing with the players but if the league gets more money, the players may not see it.

When you compare the previous contracts, three to five years, one only hopes this is an opening of negotiations tactic. It seems the league may be getting a reduction in the import ratio with Americans who have been with the same team for a number of years qualifying as a Canadian.

This will reduce the number of Canadian jobs which kind of defeats the purpose of the league. This isn’t anything really new because Ron Lancaster qualified as a naturalized Canadian, which I believe he actually became, and gave the Riders flexibility with their roster.

However, if Ambrosie and the shady people at MLSE are serious about Canadians in the CFL, they could look at an Arena style feeder system where Canadians can get experience in various cities across the country during the winter.

I work midnights and to spend some time I watch an Indoor Football League (who apparently took over the mantle from the Arena Football League) and their seats cost $10, kids under 10 years old got in for free, and the in game rivals that of the Saskatchewan Rush.

The CFL may be belatedly realizing that the gap between the Grey Cup and the next season is being filled by other sports and even the NFL has managed to keep people interested through free agency, the NFL Combine, draft etc.

The rosters would not be the same size as the CFL, but it would give players with less experience, like Canadians and perhaps the Global players, an opportunity to experience pro football and learn how to operate at a higher level.

With the smaller rosters, you could have teams in Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Saskatoon, Regina, Brandon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, London, Windsor, Hamilton, Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal, Moncton, and Halifax and say St. John’s.

The CFL needs to address the issue of affordability which will help bring in new fans that might not be inclined to spend big bucks these days on something they might know nothing about.

In the meantime you have teams like Edmonton which just announced the exhibition game will be a Salute to Ukraine with proceeds going to help Ukrainian refugees settle in Alberta. In BC the new owner is looking to build partnerships and visibility for the team, long overdue after the benign neglect of former owner David Braley.

The CFL draft was interesting and TSN did a better job this year than previous years. Let’s hope the CFL and TSN continue working on keeping the CFL relevant as the 2022 season continues to unfold.

After all, the first exhibition game at Mosaic Stadium is just 18 days away on May 23.