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Picks: 5 picks, first selection is 7th Overall
2014 Draft
Assessment: Despite a glaring need at OL Ed Hervey opted to
forgo logic and take a receiver (the position they were likely the deepest at)
in Round 1. Devon Bailey showed promise in his rookie season so it wasn’t a
wasted pick just a very weird one. Beyond that there wasn’t much to show for
this draft class. RB Aaron Milton saw a couple games on special teams, DB Raye
Hartmann stuck around on the practice roster… but that’s about it. The Esks did
a lot of good things in 2014… this draft was not one of them though.
Potential Pipeline: DL Stephan Charles (Buffalo), LS Jorgen Hus (recently cut by Kansas
City), OL Austin Paztor (Jacksonville), K Shaun Suisham (Pittsburgh), LS LP
Ladouceur (Dallas)
Current Strengths: Starts at receiver where they have 3 first round picks in Nate
Coehoorn, Shamawd Chambers and Devon Baily. They also have Paris Jackson and
Akeem Foster for depth. Fourth year DT Eddie Steele had a breakout year for the
Esks, assuming Don Oramasionwu is back to full house the DT spot is solidified.
Another breakout performer was Grant Shaw. Prior to his injury he was on pace
to be among the top kickers in the league (maybe the Ricky Ray trade will pay
off yet J).
During his tenure Ed Hervey has drafted just 2
O-linemen, only one of which is still with the team, the other has never seen
the field. So it blows my mind how they managed to turn their O-line from an
embarrassment to a strength. A ton of credit goes to departed coach Jon
Himebauch (that and improved import OLs). That said the Esks started just 2 Cdn
OL by the end of last season and one of those (Matt O’Donnell) has jumped back
to the NBA… err I mean NFL. Normally that would make OL an area of weakness but
they did add Alex Krasunik-Groh (an underrated player) and Greg Wojt so between
them and a healthy Simeon Rottier they should be in pretty good shape at the
interior of that OL.
Current Needs: They appear to be crazy enough to think Cauchy Muamba can be their
starting safety… something both BC and Winnipeg have already determined is a
terrible idea. For ratio reasons I imagine the plan is for a starting Cdn
safety so they had better look at contingency plans for when (not if) the
Muamba experiment fails.
The Esks do have Ramsay and Sorensen in addition to
Wojt, Rottier and Krausnik so in the short term they should be okay but at some
point Hervey will have to change his aversion to drafting OL or it will
eventually degrade back to the point where Hervey has to blame it all on
Rottier again. They should also look to build up the special teams depth. The
loss of Joash Gesse leaves them very thin at Cdn LB.
Prediction: I expect the Esks to be one of the few teams not snapping up O-linemen
in Round 1. They will likely wait to Round 2 or 3 to target them. I could them
targeting a D-lineman like Maxx Forde or Daryl Waud should he fall that far. DB
Chris Ackie or Byron Archambault might be other names to watch. I honestly
won’t even rule Hervey taking a flyer on Tevaughn Campbell.
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