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We take a
look at the first East team of this preview today. Over the last 2 years Hamilton
has loaded up on early round picks. They had 4 top 20 picks that season and
have another 3 this year. Side note
Picks: 8 picks, first selection is 2nd
Overall
2018 Draft Assessment: Tough to call a draft a success
when you use the first overall pick on a guy that still has not signed. That
said, despite that 2018 was still pretty good for the Ti-Cats. Their other
first round pick turned into Darius Ciraco who started every game in his rookie
season. They also got Jackson Bennett in round 2 who had some good plays on
special teams and I think is a guy poised for a step forward in year 2. Add in
a few other depth picks and you have a pretty good draft class. If Chapman ever
reports it could end up being a great one. 5th round pick Justin
Buren was a guy they were high on (he started the last 6 games) but he retired.
Potential Pipeline: DL Brent Urban (NFL – free agent),
DL Nathan Shepard (neg list, NY Jets), WR Mark Chapman (AAFL)
Current Strengths: Pretty solid across the board.
The interior of theor O-line is good and young. Mike Filer is the “old” one at
29. Ciraco and Revenberg have turned out to be great first round picks for the
Ti-Cats. Add in Girard and Rice for depth They have 3 potential starters at
D-line with Laurent, Westerman and Cappicciotti (man I hate having to type that
name). Add in McGough and Vaugh for depth and they are set there. Mike Daly,
newly signed Tunde Adleke and Jackson Bennett have them solid at DB. Mike Jones
had a breakout year at WR. RB Sean Thomas-Erlington (and 8th round
pick in 2017) turned some heads last season and proved he can be a solid rotational
RB.
Current Needs: The ratio likely dictates starting
2 Cdn Wrs. Mike Jones has one of those spots. But the other one? Chambers has
played more than 6 just once in the past 4 years so I wouldn’t be counting on
him. Brian Jones is serviceable (honestly to Rider fans even remember he played
for us last year?). So unless they get Chapman under contract, they will need more
depth there. While they are OK at OL for now the Ti-Cats have only drafted 4
Cdn OL in the past 5 years… that is not a typo. They could also use to build
some depth at LB/special teams. While they did just re-sign Hajrullahu if you
have followed his career he tends to be really good only in alternating years.
Given that last year was pretty good that doesn’t bode well for 2019.
Prediction:
I see the Ti-Cats using two picks on and OL and a WR. I’m just not sure
in what order. With no clear cut #1 receiver and picking second overall my
guess is they go OL in the first round (Drew Desjarlais, Zach Wilkinson, Jesse
Gibbon) and then target a WR like Kayon Julien-Grant or Kurleigh Gittens in Round
2.
2 comments:
Yeah I like the TiCat National content. They may need to pick 8 on O-Line if they keep starting six across the board to protect the QB as they did for awhile last year for MAX protection. Hamilton looks pretty good this year which means they'll probably win the East with an 8-10 record. LOL Long way to go but sure looks like another year the West crosses over. Sooner or later a crossover team will advance to the big game.
Yes the TiCats should be the early favourite in the East
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