Calgary Stampeders see quality at every position for 2024 CFL Draft

Article content

Dwayne Cameron is calling this year’s crop of Canadian football talent “impressive.”

Especially when it comes to how far that skill extends across the board, says the Calgary Stampeders’ draft coordinator.

Article content

“The overall quality of the Canadian players continues to get better, and that’s at every position,” said Cameron, ahead of Tuesday’s annual pick-em — the 2024 CFL Draft (6 p.m., TSN) — to help teams accrue home-grown talent for future three-down football seasons.

Article content

“I mean … I think everybody’s used to and accustomed to Canadians playing the offensive line and being effective there,” continued Cameron. “But you’re seeing Canadians be effective in all positions now. And that’s been reflected in the number of Canadians that are getting NFL opportunities overall across the board. It’s great for our game that the talent level continues to grow. And I think that increases the interest in the game overall in our country, which is great.

“It’s an impressive group, I think.”

Good thing, because the NFL stepped in over the weekend and grabbed the top-shelf offensive-line content that had CFL scouts salivating ahead of the upcoming draft, significantly narrowing the elite talent available to Cameron and the Stampeders, who own the fourth-overall selection — in Round 1 — and two picks in the second round — 13th and 14th overall.

The top five — and seven of the first 11 — prospects of the CFL Scouting Bureau’s final rankings were either plucked or signed by teams in the NFL Draft or in the hours just after the four-down pick-em.

And five of those were o-lineman — with top-ranked Isaiah Adams (NCAA’s Illinois Fighting Illini) and No. 8-rated Giovanni Manu (U SPORTS’ UBC Thunderbirds) drafted respectively by the Arizona Cardinals and the Detroit Lions, and No. 4 Kyle Hergel (NCAA’s Boston College Eagles), No. 5 Theo Benedet (UBC) and No. 11 Anim Dankwah (NCAA’s Howard Bison) inked by the New Orleans Saints, the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles respectively.

Article content

Article content

“The offensive-line class is probably the overall the strongest and the deepest group — that group stands out,” Cameron said. “It’s been a couple of years probably since you’ve been able to say that. This year’s offensive line group happens to be exceptionally strong, and half of them may have potential NFL opportunities, so you have to weigh that out.

“Like … Isaiah Adams? I’ve known Isaiah since he was in high school. I know the quality of the player and the athlete’s character … We’re not gonna see him in the CFL anytime soon, if ever.”

That might not happen either for the other Canadian prospects picked up by NFL teams, which also include talented tight-ends Theo Johnson (NCAA’s Penn State Nittany Lions) and Tanner McLachlan (NCAA’s Arizona Wildcats). Johnson and Lethbridge-native McLachlan — Nos. 2 and 3 on the CFL rankings — were chosen by the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Bengals respectively, putting a dent in the availability of sizy pass-catchers that may have caught the eyes of CFL scouts for the draft.

Article content

As that goes, the 2024 CFL Global Draft kicks off the day early, with the Stamps owning the fourth pick — due to their fourth-from-last-place finish in the 2023 CFL standings — in each of the two rounds.

Then it’s on to the 2024 CFL Draft, with the nine league teams standing by to take their best aim at talent in the eight-round process.

The Edmonton Elks own the first-overall pick, with the Stamps slotting in at Nos. 4, 13 and 14 — with the first two determined again by their standings placement, and the latter collected courtesy of the Bo Levi Mitchell trade made with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the end of the 2022 season.

“It’s a great position to be in, but it’s kind of a unique situation,” Cameron said. “Let’s put it this way … you don’t want to be drafting at number four, right? I mean … if you do draft at number four, that means your previous season wasn’t the success that you hoped it was going to be.

“But when you do have that opportunity, you want to make sure that you use that pick as efficiently as possible. And so there’s some great options out there for us Tuesday.”

Barring trades, the Stampeders don’t have a third-round selection in hand but then follow with the fourth pick in every round after that.

Article content

“You want to select the most talented players you can,” Cameron said. “I think different organizations approach it differently. Some make their selections strictly on need. Some make them on best player available. I think probably looking at a combination of the two is probably what serves your organization best.

“It’s difficult to kind of pin down what direction we’ll go,” continued Cameron, who doubles as the Stampeders defensive backs coach. “There’s teams that select in front of us that they may have interest in players that we are interested in. And so until those names come off the board, it’s really difficult to predict what direction you’re gonna go.”

Of those names still rated high on the CFL Scouting Bureau board are linebacker Joel Dublanko (NCAA’s Cincinnati Bearcats) at No. 6, wide receiver Nick Mardner (NCAA’s Auburn Tigers) at No. 7, linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (NCAA’s Memphis Tigers) at No. 9 and wide receiver Kevin Mital (U SPORTS’ Laval Rouge et Or) at No. 10.

After that, it’s defensive lineman Daniel Okopoko (NCAA’s San Diego State Aztecs) amid a four-pack of o-lineman — again the strength of the class — in Gabe Wallace (NCAA’s Buffalo Bulls), Nathaniel Dumoulin-Duguay (Laval), Christy Nkanu (NCAA’s Washington State Cougars) and Daniel Johnson (NCAA’s Purdue Boilermakers).

Article content

The local content includes wide receiver Ajou Ajou (NCAA’s South Florida Bulls), o-lineman John Bosse (U SPORTS’ Calgary Dinos) and defensive lineman Justin Sambu (NCAA’s Baylor Bears) — all Calgary products — and Brooks running back Matthew Peterson (U SPORTS’ Alberta Golden Bears).

“The linebacker, the defensive line group, defensive backs, receivers … there’s talent at the running back,” added Cameron. “There’s talent across all the conditions this year.

“To me, it’s coming from the coaching at the grassroots level. The coaches that those levels are, they have access to more resources to make themselves better, whether that be coaching clinics or YouTube videos … I mean, there’s just there’s so much access to things today that coaches a generation ago didn’t have access to. And so, it’s definitely had an impact on the talent level, for sure.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

X: @ToddSaelhofPM

Stamps at the draft

1st Round

4th overall

2nd Round

13th overall

14th overall (acquired in trade of QB Bo Levi Mitchell to Hamilton Tiger-Cats)

3rd Round

None (24th overall lost in trade of QB Bo Levi Mitchell to Hamilton Tiger-Cats)

4th Round

33rd overall

5th Round

42nd overall

6th Round

51st overall

7th Round

60th overall

8th Round

69th overall

Article content