The Saskatchewan Roughriders attached considerable weight to the ability to wait.
Across-the-board Canadian depth gave the Green and White the luxury of exercising patience with their first two selections in Tuesday’s CFL Draft — offensive lineman Kyle Hergel (third overall) and linebacker Nick Wiebe (12th).
Hergel, from Boston College, recently signed with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent.
Wiebe sustained a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament on Nov. 4 during a Canada West playoff game with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
“We weren’t scared to take some risk going into it,” Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day said after Round 2. “We feel like we’re in a decent position (depth-wise), so we have some flexibility.
“There’s a lot of different directions we can go with our ratio, so that certainly helped.”
The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Hergel had the best pass-blocking grade (86.6) at Boston College last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
On 402 dropbacks, he didn’t allow a sack and permitted only two quarterback hits.
Hergel was an All-ACC Honourable Mention selection and was also invited to the 2024 East West-Shrine Bowl.
He made his U.S. college debut at North Dakota, earning FCS Independent Newcomer of the Year honours in 2019.
Over two subsequent seasons at Texas State, he made PFF’s All-Sun Belt Second Team (in 2021) and First Team (2022).
“He’s got the flexibility to play at all the spots on the interior of the offensive line,” O’Day noted.
“He’s a physical player — someone who started a little bit lower in (NCAA) Division I football and kept getting bigger opportunities. Every time he got the opportunity, he rose to the occasion.”
It was all a lead-up to quite an occasion on Tuesday — the distinction of being selected third overall in a deep draft class.
“I love football and I love the opportunity,” the Toronto-born Hergel said. “I love competing. I love being part of a locker room.
“Saskatchewan has great fans and great support. I’m just going to play my tail off for whoever I play for. That’s what everyone’s going to get — someone who’s going to give everything they’ve got for whatever jersey they’re wearing.”
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Wiebe was Canada West’s Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team All-Canadian in 2023.
Born in Calgary, Wiebe transferred to the Huskies from the University of Oregon in 2021. He was named the Ducks’ top special teams player in 2020.
Over three seasons and 31 games with the Huskies, Wiebe registered 124 solo tackles, 77 assisted tackles, six tackles for a loss, five sacks and three forced fumbles. He had 52 tackles and 27 assists in nine games last season.
“We trusted our Draft board and he was who we had as the next guy,” O’Day said of the prospects’ rankings when it was the Roughriders’ turn to choose in the second round.
“We had some discussions, obviously, about the injury and about whether he’d be good to go. We feel like he has done enough work on his medical background and with how he’s going with his injury.
“We’re excited to get him.”
In the third round, 23rd overall, Saskatchewan chose receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby, who starred at Bemidji State.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder caught 49 passes for 825 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games last season.
A model of consistency, Duncan-Busby caught 49 passes for 725 yards in 2021 before making 49 receptions for 896 yards in 2022. He has scored 19 TDs over his past 25 games.
“We had him high up on the board,” O’Day said. “He was ultra-productive in college. When we watched him, we weren’t sure how fast he’d run, but when he went to the Combine he answered a lot of the questions for us.”
Duncan-Busby ran the fifth-fastest 40-yard dash (4.56 seconds) at the Combine.
“We were quite happy to get him in the third round,” O’Day added. “As we watched the end of the second transpire, we felt we were going to have a chance on him.”
In Round 4, Saskatchewan chose linebacker Melique Straker (Arkansas State) with the 32nd pick. The 5-foot-10, 202-pounder was listed 17th in spring rankings issued by the CFL Scouting Bureau.
“He’s someone who we feel can come in and help on (special) teams right away,” O’Day said. “He can be utilized in multiple positions, so we’re excited about that.”
The Roughriders’ fifth-round choice (41st) was Purdue Boilermakers offensive lineman Daniel Johnson. He was ranked 16th by the Scouting Bureau.
“He’s going to rookie mini-camp with Indianapolis Colts,” O’Day said. “We just saw some value there with him. Again, we just followed our board, and we were able to pick up another offensive lineman (after Hergel) later in the Draft.”
In the sixth round, 50th overall, Saskatchewan selected University of Regina Rams receiver D’Sean Mimbs.
His father, Robert Mimbs, was a Roughriders running back from 1995 to 1997. In 1996, he was named the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player after rushing for a league-high 1,403 yards.
“(D’Sean Mimbs) had a tough go at the Combine, where he pulled his hamstring,” O’Day said. “He did some of the testing as far as jumping. Those are kind of indicators of what he would run. Obviously, we got to see him play a lot on our own field. It’s nice to be able to pick a local kid, but he has certainly earned the opportunity to play ball.”
Saskatchewan used its seventh-round selection (59th) to claim receiver Ajoj Ajou, from Garden City Community College. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder played at Clemson in 2020 and 2021 before transferring to South Florida and then relocating to Garden City, Kan.
“He was highly decorated coming out of high school,” O’Day said. “He was someone who we followed. He didn’t have the Combine that he would have liked, but we see a lot of potential there. Hopefully we can bring that out of him.
“Hopefully he understands the opportunity that’s in front of him. We certainly feel like he does.”
With its final pick (eighth round, 68th), the Roughriders picked 6-foot-3, 213-pound defensive back Richard Aduboffour from Western.
“He has great size and speed,” O’Day said. “He’s someone we saw at the (Invitational) Combine. He’s from a very good program, obviously, and we see some value in him coming in to contribute on special teams.”
