Ticats draft recap

The CFL draft featured “trades” galore, lots of wheeling and dealing. As for the Tiger-Cats, they went on the defensive. All 6 of their selections came from the defensive side of the ball. Amid a flurry of “five” first round trades, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats made a deal with Saskatchewan, so that they’d have “two” first round picks instead of one.

They “seemed” determined to draft defense, selecting two linebackers and four d-linemen.

Kent Austin: “We tried to acquire some offensive players but it didn’t work out. We were unable to make it happen. Don’t make too many assumptions.”

With the eighth pick overall, Hamilton chose Western University linebacker Beau Landry who led the Mustangs with 46 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles last season.

With the ninth pick, they selected Manitoba defensive lineman Evan Gill who recorded 28.5 tackles, 3 sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked kick in 2013.

Kent says: “We like complete football players — well coached, productive football players.”

The Ticats then stood idle until the fifth round. With the 44th pick overall, they drafted U of T linebacker Christopher Johnson. In the sixth round, Hamilton had back-to-back picks, and took defensive linemen Mathieu Girard from Montreal and Steve Mawa from UBC. And with their final pick, the Cats grabbed another d-lineman — Acadia’s Martin Pesek.

But will any of these player make an immediate impact? Kent says: “We took the players we wanted — they’ll have a chance to compete just like everybody else.”