Nathan Rourke<\/a> gets his new toys, the defence gets some added defensive back depth and a few big bodies enter the developmental pipeline.<\/p>\nA smart, sound draft from a team that didn\u2019t have many high-value picks.<\/p>\n
EDMONTON ELKS<\/p>\n
GRADE: B+<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Dariel Djabome
\nLB
\nRutgers
\n1st Round (3rd)<\/p>\n
Benjamin Sangmuah
\nDB
\nUBC
\n2nd Round (12th)<\/p>\n
Wesley Bailey
\nDL
\nLouisville
\n2nd Round (19th)<\/p>\n
Carter Kettyle
\nREC
\nAlberta
\n3rd Round (21st)<\/p>\n
Spencer Walsh
\nOL
\nWilfrid Laurier
\n4th Round (32nd)<\/p>\n
Justin Pace
\nLB
\nQueen\u2019s
\n4th Round (35th)<\/p>\n
Chris Pashula
\nOL
\nCalgary
\n6th Round (50th)<\/p>\n
Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald
\nQB\/REC
\nMcGill
\n7th Round (58th)<\/p>\n
Matthew Ljuden
\nOL
\nAlberta
\n7th Round (59th)<\/p>\n
Rutgers\u2019 linebacker Dariel Djabome is such a great player and his ability to move around with or behind Joel Dublanko is a tremendous way to build the Canadian front.<\/p>\n
The Elks also added some \u2018futures\u2019 picks that included a few developmental linemen, local receivers, high-value tackling linebackers and a super athletic dual-threat quarterback. That gets the big thumbs up from me.<\/p>\n
CALGARY STAMPEDERS<\/p>\n
GRADE: A-<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Eric Rascoe
\nLB
\nAngelo State
\n1st Round (6th)<\/p>\n
Jesulayomi Ojutalayo
\nREC
\nWilfrid Laurier
\n3rd Round (26th)<\/p>\n
Tristan Marois
\nDL
\nColorado
\n3rd Round (27th)<\/p>\n
Matt Sibley
\nREC
\nCalgary
\n5th Round (44th)<\/p>\n
Mitchel Schechinger
\nOL
\nGuelph
\n6th Round (53rd)<\/p>\n
Steven Kpehe
\nDL
\nQueen\u2019s
\n7th Round (62nd)<\/p>\n
Jack Warrack
\nOL
\nSaskatchewan
\n8th Round (71st)<\/p>\n
Angelo State\u2019s linebacker Eric Rascoe and Wilfrid Laurier\u2019s receiver Jesulayomi Ojutalayo were two of my favourite players at the CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness Canada.<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s defensive lineman Tristan Marois also impressed me at the combine with his energy in every rep, while Calgary\u2019s receiver Matt Sibley has quickness that should get him open. That potentially creates a Calgary-Dinos-to-Calgary-Stampeders receiver crew headlined by star receiver Jalen Philpot.<\/p>\n
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS<\/p>\n
GRADE: A<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Malcolm Bell
\nDB
\nMichigan State
\n1st Round (9th)<\/p>\n
Dylan Djete
\nREC
\nAlabama State
\n2nd Round (18th)<\/p>\n
Darius Bell
\nOL
\nEast Carolina
\n3rd Round (29th)<\/p>\n
Osasere Odemwingie
\nLB
\nCalgary
\n4th Round (38th)<\/p>\n
Jez Janvier
\nOL
\nSouthern Mississippi
\n5th Round (47th)<\/p>\n
Albert Reese IV
\nOL
\nMississippi State
\n6th Round (56th)<\/p>\n
Shemar McBean
\nREC
\nUBC
\n7th Round (65th)<\/p>\n
Ryan Speight
\nFB
\nWilfrid Laurier
\n8th Round (74th)<\/p>\n
Michigan State defensive back Malcolm Bell is going to be a problem if and when he gets to the CFL, while\u00a0undersized-but-hyper-fast receiver Dylan Djete went earlier than expected.<\/p>\n
East Carolina offensive lineman Darius Bell, Calgary linebacker Osasare Odemwingie and the rest of their highly capable and talented class have restocked multiple positions for the Riders.<\/p>\n
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS<\/p>\n
GRADE: B-<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Nuer Gatkuoth
\nDL
\nWake Forest
\n1st Round (4th)<\/p>\n
Dante Daniels
\nTE
\nNorth Carolina State
\n2nd Round (10th)<\/p>\n
Kevin Cline
\nOL
\nBoston College
\n2nd Round (20th)<\/p>\n
Charles-Elliot Bouliane
\nLB
\nMontreal
\n3rd Round (24th)<\/p>\n
Ethan Stuart
\nDB
\nMcMaster
\n4th Round (33rd)<\/p>\n
Brody Clark
\nLB
\nYork
\n5th Round (42nd)<\/p>\n
Benjamin Britton
\nREC
\nCalgary
\n6th Round (51st)<\/p>\n
Joshua Jack
\nREC
\nSaint Mary\u2019s
\n7th Round (60th)<\/p>\n
Brady Lidster
\nK
\nWindsor
\n8th Round (69th)<\/p>\n
Wake Forest defensive lineman Nuer Gatkuoth is a nice piece if he continues to develop lower body power that a pro defensive ends requires.<\/p>\n
The selection of North Carolina tight end Dante Daniels pick had me dazed and confused for a solid round on Tuesday. I tried to understand the fit and usage rate expected from the big bodied, primarily blocking tight end who doesn\u2019t show true tackle instincts if he were to throw some weight on and switch positions.<\/p>\n
Getting McMaster defensive back Ethan Stuart and York linebacker Brody Clark is great value. Mike O\u2019Shea also added another kicker in the pipeline capable of 50+ yards walk-off wins in Windsor\u2019s Brady Lister.<\/p>\n
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS<\/p>\n
GRADE: B<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Jonathan Denis
\nOL
\nLouisiana Tech
\n1st Round (5th)<\/p>\n
Malick Meiga
\nREC
\nCoastal Carolina
\n2nd Round (14th)<\/p>\n
Devynn Cromwell
\nDB
\nMichigan State
\n3rd Round (25th)<\/p>\n
Brayden Szeman
\nOL
\nCalgary
\n4th Round (34th)<\/p>\n
Lo\u00efk Gagn\u00e9
\nLB
\nConcordia
\n5th Round (43rd)<\/p>\n
Marc Djonay Rondeau
\nLB
\nOttawa
\n6th Round (52nd)<\/p>\n
Aamarii Notice
\nDL
\nCoastal Carolina
\n7th Round (61st)<\/p>\n
Kyler Laing
\nDL
\nMercyhurst College
\n8th Round (70th)<\/p>\n
I hope Jonathan Denis can stay healthy but you never know with a history like his.<\/p>\n
The real upside here comes in the form of Coastal Carolina receiver Malick Meiga, Michigan State defensive back Devynn Cromwell and centre Brayden Szeman, who has legitimate starting middle man potential within the next few years.<\/p>\n
TORONTO ARGONAUTS<\/p>\n
GRADE: C+<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Niklas Henning
\nOL
\nQueen\u2019s
\n1s Round (2nd)<\/p>\n
Isaiah Smith
\nRB
\nGuelph
\n2nd Round (11th)<\/p>\n
Ethan John
\nDB
\nWindsor
\n2nd Round (16th)<\/p>\n
Louis-Philippe Gauthier
\nDB
\nMontreal
\n3rd Round (22nd)<\/p>\n
Darius McKenzie
\nLB
\nSouth Alabama
\n3rd Round (23rd)<\/p>\n
Nolan Ulm
\nREC
\nEastern Washington
\n4th Round (30th)<\/p>\n
Frank Vreugdenhil
\nOL
\nMcMaster
\n5th Round (40th)<\/p>\n
Tyriq Quayson
\nREC
\nWindsor
\n6th Round (49th)<\/p>\n
Nathan Walker
\nK
\nYork
\n7th Round (57th)<\/p>\n
Weagbe Mombo
\nRB
\nWindsor
\n8th Round (67th)<\/p>\n
Sebastian Parsalidis
\nFB
\nWilfrid Laurier
\n8th Round (68th)<\/p>\n
Queen\u2019s offensive lineman Niklas Henning is a tremendous player who I hope will grow into a long term All-CFL threat, but picking a running back in the second round because there weren\u2019t many others available doesn\u2019t feel overly inspired.<\/p>\n
Windsor\u2019s Ethan John is a scrappy undersized defensive back which was a theme of the Argos draft. Their choice to take receiver Nolan Ulm and offensive lineman Frank Vreugdenhil might just save the Double Blue 2026 class depth.<\/p>\n
OTTAWA REDBLACKS<\/p>\n
GRADE: A<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Giordano Vaccaro
\nOL
\nPurdue
\n1st Round (1st)<\/p>\n
\u00c9meric Boutin
\nFB
\nLaval
\n2nd Round (13th)<\/p>\n
Charlie Parks
\nDL
\nSaskatchewan
\n4th Round (31st)<\/p>\n
Alassane Diouf
\nOL
\nMontreal
\n5th Round (39th)<\/p>\n
Benjamin Dobson
\nLB
\nCalgary
\n5th Round (41st)<\/p>\n
Rene Konga
\nDL
\nLouisville
\n6th Round (48th)<\/p>\n
Josh Connors
\nLB
\nWilfrid Laurier
\n8th Round (66th)<\/p>\n
As always, the class will be defined by the top overall pick, but addressing needs is the name of the game here.<\/p>\n
\u00c9meric Boutin stands next in line to be a long term fullback starter who can do much more than block. Meanwhile, Charlie Parks works in behind Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund<\/a> to hone his pass-rushing skills and the back end of Calgary\u2019s Benjamin Dobson, Louisville\u2019s Rene Konga, and Wilfrid Laurier\u2019s Josh Connors might be the best last three picks of the selection show.<\/p>\nMONTREAL ALOUETTES<\/p>\n
GRADE: B-<\/p>\n
Player
\nPosition
\nSchool
\nSelection<\/p>\n
Rohan Jones
\nTE
\nArkansas
\n1st Round (8th)<\/p>\n
Shakespeare Louis
\nDB
\nSoutheastern Louisiana
\n2nd Round (17th)<\/p>\n
Nathan Udoh
\nREC
\nManitoba
\n3rd Round (28th)<\/p>\n
Liam Talbot
\nRB
\nWindsor
\n4th Round (37th)<\/p>\n
Harrison Daley
\nDB
\nWindsor
\n5th Round (46th)<\/p>\n
Michael Horvat
\nK\/P
\nMcMaster
\n6th Round (55th)<\/p>\n
Cyrus McGarrell
\nDB
\nNorthern Illinois
\n7th Round (64th)<\/p>\n
Zachary Houde
\nREC
\nSt. Francis Xavier
\n8th Round (73rd)<\/p>\n
If first round pick Rohan Jones arrives on the scene this grade improves dramatically. That said, the Alouettes will be unbothered by a B- because they\u2019ve done such a great job building depth on their roster that they can afford to spend a pick hoping someone like Jones comes North.<\/p>\n
The selection of Southern Louisiana defensive back Shakespeare Louis in the second round felt like a reach to me, but the solid size and positional variety of their subsequent picks, plus a top notch kicker\/punter prospect in Michael Horvat, means the Als are doing just fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 CFL Canadian Draft has come and gone with plenty to discuss. Every year we say we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-638281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"CFL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777451836_446_CFL-Draft-Stacked-Wordmark.png\")
CFL CANADIAN DRAFT