Ticats draft preview

The expansion Ottawa Redblacks will have the first pick in Tuesday night’s CFL draft. The Tiger-Cats first selection will be 9th overall, a pick they acquired in a February trade with the Roughriders.

Kent Austin has his sights set on someone in Tuesday’s draft.  “We definitely have somebody we like. We don’t know where he’s gonna be taken. If he’s sitting there at nine, I’m gonna be a very, very happy guy.”

Will Austin trade up from the ninth spot he currently holds? Would he trade one of his existing players? Is he talking to the other G.M.’s?   “Uh, I wouldn’t discuss that if we had been.”

No big surprise there. In fact, Austin didn’t seem to be overly excited about the pool of talent this year.  “You know it’s always hard to say because it’s not a perfect science. I would say it’s not as deep a draft this year, as opposed to last year.”

Hamilton’s top two picks in 2013 — defensive linemen Linden Gaydosh and Brent Urban — have both headed south. Gaydosh signed with the Carolina Panthers last year, and Urban was the first Canadian selected in this year’s draft. He’s heading to Baltimore.

The picks who actually played were defensive back Neil King who saw action in 11 games, kicker Brett Lauther who took the starting spot for a few games, from a struggling Luca Congi, and C.O. Prime who played special teams in four games — and will be going back to his high school roots to play full back this season.

Overall, when it comes to Canadian depth, Austin is satisfied with what he already has: “I feel pretty good about it, I think we’re pretty deep, I think we’re in pretty good shape. But we don’t need a big draft, I don’t think, compared to our current roster.”