2017 CFL Draft - What Players Will Our Leos Choose

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WestCoastJoe
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2:12 Montreal Alouettes — OL Jeremy Zver, Regina

Missed the 2015 season but returned to start at left tackle for the Rams in 2016. Went to the Minnesota NFL regional combine, and you can find him showing off his athleticism in the Fekula Classic Dunk Competition on YouTube.
On film this guy is a beast. Very physical. Left tackle.

I like the pick.
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WestCoastJoe
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Danny Vandervoort, McMaster

One scout threw an Andy Fantuz comp on him, something sure-handed receivers out of Golden Horseshoe CIS programs are used to by now. He’s 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, and he’s got more than enough speed and elusiveness.
Good size. Athletic. Confident. Could be productive for us.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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David
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Overall, this could be a very good draft for BC if we can get everyone signed.

Many of our needs addressed (receiver, interior DL, a potential guard/tackle.....we were even able to draft LB Jordan Herdman at #60 overall. I know he had disappointing Pro and Combine days, but he's a tackling machine. At the very least should fill a ST need with Lokombo gone). :thup:

Again, heavy reliance on East Coast selections. Will some of these guys want to (eventually) play closer to home?


DH :cool:
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TheLionKing
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Other BC draftees:

Round 3 - Frederic Chagnon - LB

Round 4 - Nathaniel Hamlin - DB

Round 5 - Edward Godin - DL

Round 6 - Dakota Brush - WR

Round 7 - Jordan Herdman - LB

Round 8 - Mitchell Hillis - WR

Breakdown of draft: - 3 wide receivers, 2 defensive linemen, 1 offensive lineman, 2 linebackers and 1 defensive back
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Hambone
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David wrote:Again, heavy reliance on East Coast selections. Will some of these guys want to (eventually) play closer to home?


DH :cool:
When one thinks about it I suppose it makes sense that eastern schools would dominate BC's selection. There are 7 football programs (6 CIS and 1 NCAA Div II) located west of Lake Huron. That makes up only 25% of the Canadian university football talent pool. OUA (11), Quebec (5) and Atlantic (5) make up 21 schools or 75% of the draft pool. Looking at things strictly on a mathematical basis odds are 75% of BC draft picks should come from eastern schools. Personally I don't worry about guys wanting to play closer to home because for most players once they establish themselves in a market for a few years that tends to becomes home.
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B.C.FAN
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I wouldn't have picked a receiver but Vandervoort was probably too good to let slide. I am glad the Lions came back with defensive and offensive linemen with their next two picks. There have been lots of comparisons between Vandervoort and Clermont. That's probably unfair to Vandervoort, who is a bit smaller, but he seems to like the challenge. I think this also signals a lack of confidence in the two receivers chosen by the Lions last year, Brett Blaszko (second round) and Shaq Johnson (fourth round). Blaszko is a similar type of player to Vandervoort and probably has the most to lose.

Wally seems pleased. He said Vandervoort and DL Junior Luke were the two players they wanted in the first round. They nixed a trade deal with Montreal when Luke was still available at No. 7.

Here are some draft recaps quoting Wally and others on the Lions' picks:

Lowell Ullrich, 3downnation.com:
Lions followed script in CFL draft

Steve Ewen, The Province:
Lions add to receiving corps by drafting Danny Vandervoort 3rd overall

Matt Baker, bclions.com:
“WE HIT OUR PLATEAU EARLY.”- LIONS SELECT 9 IN CFL DRAFT
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SammyGreene
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It seems like when all was said and done the Lions top priority was simply trying to replace their two biggest loses among national players — Gore and Westerman. That's even with their plans to tweak their starting nationals.
The more flexibility the better, especially if the 4 national starters on the oline runs into injury trouble, at least from a starter quality standpoint at tackle. Hopefully the Ianuzzi/Adekolu/Vandervoort combo gives them the option of using 2 effective nationals in the 5 receiver set if need be.

The comparsions of Vandervoort to Clermont or even Fantuz seem highly unfair. I would be content if they said he is a far better prospect and safer pick than Adam Nicolson or Matt Carter. Comparing him to a 3-time MOP winner and probably the 2nd best national receiver (to Jim Young) in the club's 64-year history is massive hype. If he is reliable as Gore was I would be thrilled.

Brett Blaszko is actually a bigger receiver so it will be interesing comparing him to Vandervoort at camp.

Junior Luke has a great opportunity to step right into Westerman's spot in the d-line rotation. With these new 1-and-1 rookie deals now, Lions are forced to fast track guys maybe a bit quicker than the old 2-and-1 contracts, especially when taking Eastern based players.

TSN' draft expert Marshall Ferguson felt this class isn't as deep in talent as 2016 for whatever that is worth.

My other couple of takes on the draft:
Lions must be pretty pleased with returning national o-lineman Steward, Husband, Fabian, Vailllancourt, Dhillon and the addition of Foucault. All under the age of 30 and they know Vailllancourt needs every opportunity to start with Eastern teams licking their chops if he doesn't extend here.
Seems like the big battle at camp will be Jeremy Zver and Dhillon as the main contenders for the sixth spot on the game day roster.

It remains a 3 man battle between Kenyon Parker, Anthony Thompson and Matt Buckner for the national field corner spot.
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WestCoastJoe
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The first play on the film is awesome. LOL

He throws a blocker aside and runs down the play for a huge loss. He plays "football fast."

Edward Godin. He looks like he could contribute. When I saw his size, he reminded me of David Menard. He also has the high rev motor that Menard has. Very productive. As one commentator noted, he is ferocious. LOL
............

Vandervoort should be a good pro.

Luke should also be a good pro, since he had his epiphany and now understands the need to train and prepare at the highest level.

I expect Zver can play for us.

If Godin stays and plays, this could be a very, very good draft for us.

Perhaps no CFL All Canadians in the new group, but it seems like a very solid draft.
..........
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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Hambone
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B.C.FAN wrote:I wouldn't have picked a receiver but Vandervoort was probably too good to let slide. I am glad the Lions came back with defensive and offensive linemen with their next two picks. There have been lots of comparisons between Vandervoort and Clermont. That's probably unfair to Vandervoort, who is a bit smaller, but he seems to like the challenge. I think this also signals a lack of confidence in the two receivers chosen by the Lions last year, Brett Blaszko (second round) and Shaq Johnson (fourth round). Blaszko is a similar type of player to Vandervoort and probably has the most to lose.

Wally seems pleased. He said Vandervoort and DL Junior Luke were the two players they wanted in the first round. They nixed a trade deal with Montreal when Luke was still available at No. 7.

Here are some draft recaps quoting Wally and others on the Lions' picks:

Lowell Ullrich, 3downnation.com:
Lions followed script in CFL draft

Steve Ewen, The Province:
Lions add to receiving corps by drafting Danny Vandervoort 3rd overall

Matt Baker, bclions.com:
“WE HIT OUR PLATEAU EARLY.”- LIONS SELECT 9 IN CFL DRAFT
When I was trying to come up with one word to describe the Lions' draft I came up with "efficient". They did a nice job of filling their priorities which is what drafting is all about. This year's class wasn't like 2016 in terms of OL quality. That's not to say it was an off year for quality. It was just that 2016 had somewhat of a bumper crop of OL at the top. Perhaps this year's group was pushed down the board a bit because of the quality of DL. As for receivers Vandervoort and Behar were clearly 1a and 1b with there being a drop off to the next tier. I think McEvoy and Geroy did a good job of reading the tea leaves with their top 3 picks and navigated the board astutely. NFL signings put aside I don't think their was a whole lot of difference between Woods and the next 4 or 5 OL but there was a difference between the top 2 receivers and the rest. The fact that only 1 receiver went between picks #5 and #29 speaks volumes to that. In fact there were as many WR (I excluded TE Auclair who is currently in the NFL) taken in the 6th round as there were in the first 5 rounds combined. I think Wally was correct in his assessment that if they didn't take Vandervoort at #3 they don't get both him and Luke and they don't come out of the first 2 rounds having filled their top 3 priorities.
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Hambone
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Was it just me or? Just an observation here. Wally's critics always dump on him for allegedly running the show on draft day. Yet every time TSN's coveraged tuned into the BC war room there was McEvoy working the phone, checking his notes or using his highlighter on them. Beside McEvoy was Wally leaning back in his chair, relaxed, with his hands clasped together over his belly while twiddling his thumbs. It almost looked to me like Wally was just a spectator, not unlike the Lions' ST holders who took up the invite to attend at the Surrey facility. He just happened to have a seat at the main table. Just curious if any Lionbackers were in attendance and able to comment on the general interactions of the Lions' staff as the draft unfolds. I think next year I will have to jump on the invite as I think it would be very cool to be there just to see what all goes on.
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DanoT
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Hambone wrote:Was it just me or? Just an observation here. Wally's critics always dump on him for allegedly running the show on draft day. Yet every time TSN's coveraged tuned into the BC war room there was McEvoy working the phone, checking his notes or using his highlighter on them. Beside McEvoy was Wally leaning back in his chair, relaxed, with his hands clasped together over his belly while twiddling his thumbs. It almost looked to me like Wally was just a spectator, not unlike the Lions' ST holders who took up the invite to attend at the Surrey facility. He just happened to have a seat at the main table. Just curious if any Lionbackers were in attendance and able to comment on the general interactions of the Lions' staff as the draft unfolds. I think next year I will have to jump on the invite as I think it would be very cool to be there just to see what all goes on.
While Wally is to a large extent a control freak, he is not an Xs and Os guy or details guy and as such he delegates a lot to his staff. I guess he just tells 'em what he wants and leaves them to figure out how to get there.

Very nice Lions draft day. Well done Wally AND STAFF. :good:
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David
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My "Was it just me or?" moment came when the TSN panel said the usual complimentary things for a #3 pick in Vanderhoot, but then suddenly were gushing when the Esks took Behar at #5. Oh well, only time will tell. It was like the year there was Anthony Parker, Nate Coehoorn, and Marco Iannuzzi to choose from. I would say only in the last year or so has Parker separated himself from the bunch. Marco is a skilled returner and a serviceable (but not spectacular) wideout, and Coehoorn just retired.

Also, why did Duane Forde look so uncomfortable yesterday when expressing his surprise that the Leos took both first round picks instead of trading one of them?


DH :cool:
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Hambone
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David wrote:My "Was it just me or?" moment came when the TSN panel said the usual complimentary things for a #3 pick in Vanderhoot, but then suddenly were gushing when the Esks took Behar at #5. Oh well, only time will tell. It was like the year there was Anthony Parker, Nate Coehoorn, and Marco Iannuzzi to choose from. I would say only in the last year or so has Parker separated himself from the bunch. Marco is a skilled returner and a serviceable (but not spectacular) wideout, and Coehoorn just retired.

Also, why did Duane Forde look so uncomfortable yesterday when expressing his surprise that the Leos took both first round picks instead of trading one of them?


DH :cool:

I wouldn't have been surprised if BC moved one but wasn't surprised they didn't. You still need a trading partner with the right combination of returns to justify it. When draft day deals happen it's usually when one of the trade partners is on the clock and is heavily dependent on who is still on the board. Sounds like while they supposedly has something pending with Montreal if it didn't fall apart from a Montreal standpoint when Edmonton took Behar it would've been nixed by BC when Luke was still available. It likely only would've happened had Edmonton taken Luke.
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TheLionKing
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Looks like the Lions addressed their needs. Question now is : will any of draftees have an immediate impact ?
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Hambone
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TheLionKing wrote:Looks like the Lions addressed their needs. Question now is : will any of draftees have an immediate impact ?
Depends on your definition of impact. Vandervoort, Luke and Zver will all have to make the 46 lest they want to risk getting them plucked off the PR as happened with Mrabure and Guy last year. That in itself probably puts Adekolu or Blazko, Forde and Dhillon on the bubble. I don't expect any to push starters for a while but believe Luke stands the best chance to contribute right away by getting into the DL rotation for some reps either to give one of the inside guys a breather or to give Washington more options to mix things up in his rotations. I'm thinking he could be rotated in to plug the middle and Menard taken out without having to juggle other D spots for ratio. Prior to drafting Luke BC's NAT DL content was all in the 247-262 lb range, mostly suited for DE.
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