Bob Frid/UBC Thunderbirds
Football
4/29/2025 7:58:00 PM
Jeff Sargeant (UBC Communications)
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VANCOUVER – The Canadian Football League Draft was once again very good to the UBC Thunderbirds with a total of five selections Tuesday.
Offensive lineman Arvin Hosseini was the first T-Bird to hear his name called at the 2025 Draft when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats selected him with their third round pick, 21st overall, starting a flurry of activity for the blue and gold.
Tight end Skyler Griffith was chosen one pick later by the Edmonton Elks while running back Isaiah Knight was also taken by Edmonton with the 24th overall selection.
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Centre Gavin Coakes kicked off the fourth round when the Toronto Argonauts selected the Winnipeg native while defensive back Ronan Horrall was taken by Hamilton in the sixth round, 48th overall.
Tied with Alberta for the most selections out of the Canada West, only the OUA’s Western Mustangs boasted more draft picks Tuesday out of the 27 U SPORTS programs.
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Starting every game at right guard for UBC the last two seasons, Hosseini was the fifth offensive lineman to be selected in the 2025 draft and just the second out of a Canadian school. Named a Canada West All-Star in 2024, the North Vancouver product follows in the footsteps of his former offensive line teammates Giovanni Manu and Theo Benedet as CFL draft picks.
Hosseini indeed appeared to open the floodgates for the ‘Birds as Skyler Griffith went immediately after to the Elks. The native of Winnipeg clearly turned heads across the country, selected in the third round despite missing the final three games of the 2024 season and the Hardy Cup semifinal after suffering a week five injury.
We’ve selected RB Isaiah Knight from UBC for our other third-round pick.#GoElks | #CFLDraft pic.twitter.com/t2cQO9tUwo
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) April 30, 2025
Griffith was a first team Canada West All-Star and a second team All-Canadian for his rush/cover special teams duties. He was well on his way to another all-star season prior to his injury while also racking up 124 yards receiving in 2024, averaging 14.5 yards per catch. Griffith is also a multiple academic All-Canadian, a true Thunderbird success both on and off the gridiron.
A menace for Canada West defences since his rookie season in 2021, Knight racked up more than 3600 yards rushing for the T-Birds, averaging 97.4 yards per game. The Ottawa product finished 2024 with 914 yards rushing and nine touchdowns and another 111 yards receiving. He was a second team All-Canadian in 2022 and a three-time Canada West all-star.
Like Hosseini, Coakes has been a stellar piece of UBC’s vaunted offensive line. Lining up at centre for every game the last two seasons, the Winnipeg native made the shift to the middle midway through 2022 and never looked back, a key part of the T-Birds’ Hardy Cup and Mitchell Bowl successes in the 2023 season.
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The fifth and final T-Bird to hear his name called Tuesday, Horrall joins Hosseini with the Ti-Cats. An incredibly impressive athlete, Horrall finished with the second fastest 3-cone drill time at the recent CFL Combine. Another Ottawa product, he completed the 2024 season with 13.5 total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble to his credit.
The five UBC selections in the 2025 CFL Draft makes for a grand total of 40 in head coach Blake Nill‘s ten seasons with the blue and gold. In total 195 players have had their names called at the draft since UBC’s first pick in 1956.
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