Monday Morning Sentimonies: Every Day It’s Shufflin’

Of course we are talking about the CFL draft.  Its draft week and CFL teams are placing the final touches on their draft boards. You wouldn’t really know its draft week though as there is very little being talked about it. I know the CFL draft is like the retarded cousin of the NFL one but still. Oh well, at least you can get your draft fix here.

Here’s a quick rundown on the CFL implications of the NFL Draft

- 2011 Alouette Draft picks OL Phillip Blake (4^th Rd to Denver) and K Brody McKnight (FA signing NYJ) were scooped up. The impact here is minimal since Blake was expected to land in the NFL even last year when the Als took him in the 5^th round and McKnight was just a stupid use of a first rounder by the Als.

- A few American players on neg lists got picked up (well there were probably a ton but here are the one we know about). Hamilton owns the neg rights to QB Kellen Moore (who was a FA pick up by Detroit) and DT Akiem Hicks (3^rd round pick by the Saints). Hicks of course played with the U of R Rams do to being caught up in some recruiting violations down south. Montreal owns the rights to QB Russell Wilson who went in the 3^rd round to Seattle. Impact here is likely minimal since I’m sure this happens all the time with neg listers.

As for the impacts on this Thursday’s draft:

- DL Tyrone Crawford went in the 3^rd round to Dallas. Crawford is hands down the best player available in the CFL draft but it’s been a foregone conclusion that he was NFL bound. The fact that he went as high as the 3^rd round likely means it’ll be at least 3 years of ever before Crawford heads north. That plummets him from a sure-fire first rounder in the CFL to a 5^th round flyer. My guess is Calgary, BC or Montreal will be the ones to take the chance.

- Another DL Chrito Bilukidi went in the 6^th round to Oakland. Now here the later round selection increases the odds he may eventually venture north but that still won’t be for a while, again dropping him from a first rounder to a 3^rd or so.

- OL Austin Pasztor wasn’t drafted but signed on with my Vikings as a free agent after the draft. Pasztor is regarded as every bit as good as a lineman as Heenan and so had he not been picked he could very well have gone first overall. Now a undrafted free agent signing is less risky than a NFL draft pick for CFL teams to take but there is still risk. They may just get a cup of coffee and be back in no time. An example is Shologan, he ended up in San Diego but the Riders still used a first rounder on him and he was worth every penny. Or they may last a long time. For example the CFL is still waiting for the likes of Joel Reinders, Sam Giguere and Matt O’Donnell to venture north. You just never know. I still bet Pasztor goes before the end of round 2 and even think the Eskimos will use their second 1^st rounder on him.

Big names like DL Ameet Paul, WR Shamawd Chambers and of course Ben Heenan are so far still on the market which puts their stock extremely high.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my full 6 round mock draft and of course Thursday’s Live Draft Day Blogging.