Luc Mullinder
As we countdown the hours to the 2016 CFL Draft, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, with the first overall pick, are on the clock. Riderville.com’s Luc Mullinder will break down what is available at the top end of the draft. Today is his intro and insight with Monday breaking down the defence and on Tuesday morning, he will break down the offence. The last two pieces will have game film and photos of all of the prospects mentioned. Lets hand it off to Luc now….
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It’s about 30 Degrees outside as I start typing this 2016 Draft Primer out. Across the street, my neighbour’s kids have a highly contested shirts and skins basketball going on. They’re young savages these kids…They’ve even lowered the rim in order to make sure someone gets dunked on, and to ensure that their 3-pointers from the flowers that mom planted last weekend are more likely to fall.
I’m pretty sure there’s an entrepreneurial 6 year old out here hawking lemonade for coins that their parents will eventually “borrow” for parking change, but I don’t have time to slide through a drink stand because JUNE is right around the corner, and that means that FINALLY (*In The Rock’s WWE voice) THE CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE IS ABOUT TO GET STARTED!
That’s right folks! The only thing that’s left on the CFL “To-Do” list is the 2016 CFL Draft that goes down on Tuesday May 10th at 7 pm EST and then we’re off to training camps across the country as our league’s 9 teams get their rosters in order.
Over the last few days I’ve gone over as much film as I possibly could access via Youtube, Hudl, and other avenues, in order to get a fair grip on the players that are being talked about the most this year. It’s worth noting that the assessments that I’m able to offer while wearing my “analyst” hat stem from a somewhat restricted resource pool. Unless one is actually part of a pro football front office, there’s only so much info one can get on a player. Conversations with trusted CFL or collegiate coaches, and highlight tapes found on Youtube, Hudl or other avenues usually make up an analysts study material.
Man! It’d be so cool to be able to access entire games that universities, and agents, send out to teams. Only then can one truly get a sense of how a prospect actually carries himself during the course of a 60 minute tilt. Some of the intangibles that can’t be found on highlight tapes include how tough a player is, or how a guy reacts to adversity. Scouts and GM’s want high character guys that aren’t on tape taking a play off every now and then. The little things that make football players special (and valuable) are so important in the evaluation process to prospective coaches. The devil is always in the details.
Resources aside. I think we’ve got a ton of stuff here that will help you guys out when it comes down to your favourite team picking an elite athlete that can help them chase the ultimate goal, a Grey Cup Championship.
In mind the easiest way to sum up next week’s selection process is this…The 2016 CFL draft class is like the latest album from one of the best-selling rappers in the world, Drake. The album, VIEWS doesn’t feature a song that makes you go absolutely bananas, but there are a ton of tracks on the 20 song playlist that you’ll come to LOVE after investing some time into them. #PotentialVsImmediateImpact
Now that synopsis lends well to the narrative that the Saskatchewan Roughriders are in a curious position because they hold the usually coveted 1st pick.
Pundits have speculated for months over how the new sheriff in town, Chris Jones, should go about handling his teams draft position. Right now the Riders are slotted in the #1 spot but the Green and White won’t pick again until the 3rd round with the 24th and 26th choices, and then again with the 35th pick to finish out the 4th round. 
On one hand, Jones could trade the number 1 in an effort to gain more picks in the first 2-3 rounds.
That logic holds weight if one thinks that this draft devoid of a can’t-miss 18 game starter. The problem with that is that if there isn’t a guy that everyone MUST HAVE, teams aren’t just going to offer the farm in order to move up.
Another way to view Saskatchewan’s 2016 opportunity is to say, “Well, if there isn’t a guy that jumps off the page, then we dam sure better get the guy that is going to develop and contribute the most within the quickest time frame!”
After all, it’s not like teams can’t find good players in the 3rd to 7th rounds. The Stampeders picked starting guard Shane Bergman in the 6th round of the 2013 draft when John Murphy was helping call the shots for the Stamps. Having a guy like Murphy with the Riders now surely increases the potential value finds for a team that needs an infusion of talent.
Either way no matter what all the experts think about the leverage that Saskatchewan has, or doesn’t have; for 70 young elite college football players, their fate lies in what they’ve put on tape.
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Luc Mullinder was a 4th round pick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 2004 CFL Draft out of Michigan State. He then played nine seasons in the CFL with eight of them right here with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. You can now see Luc on riderville.com’s Chalk Talk and on riderville.com’s live shows during Training Camp 2016 in Saskatoon. You can also hear him regularly on 620 CKRM’s Sportscage and on the Saskatchewan Roughriders pregame show.
