CFL Scouting Bureau FINAL rankings: 13 U Sports, 7 NCAA players on the list

Thursday, April 13, 2017 — TORONTO (April 13, 2017) – The Canadian Football League (CFL) Scouting Bureau has released its third and final rankings of the top 20 eligible prospects for the 2017 CFL Draft.

April Scouting Bureau Ranking
Rank Name Position School Hometown
1 (1) Justin Senior OL Mississippi State Montreal, QC
2 (3) Eli Ankou DL UCLA Ottawa, ON
3 (5) Geoff Gray OL Manitoba Winnipeg, MB
4 (7) Danny Vandervoort REC McMaster Barrie, ON
5 (11) Faith Ekakitie DL Iowa Brampton, ON
6 (8) Christophe Mulumba LB Maine Laval, QC
7 (2) Antony Auclair TE Laval Notre-Dame-des-Pins, QC
8 (10) Mason Woods OL Idaho Port Coquitlam, BC
9 (12) Nathaniel Behar REC Carleton London, ON
10 (15) Dariusz Bladek OL Bethune-Cookman Kissimmee, FL
11 (9) Junior Luke DL Montreal Montreal, QC
12 (6) Kwaku Boateng DL Laurier Milton, ON
13 (13) Qadr Spooner OL McGill Brossard, QC
14 (17) Robert Woodson LB Calgary Calgary, AB
15 (19) Kay Okafor DL St. FX Enugu, Nigeria
16 (-) Braden Schram OL Calgary Manning, AB
17 (-) Johnny Augustine RB Guelph Welland, ON
18 (-) Fabion Foote DL McMaster North York, ON
19 (-) Dondre Wright DB Henderson State Ajax, ON
20 (-) Connor McGough DL Calgary Medicine Hat, AB

(Danny Vandervoort. Feature Photo Credit: Arthur Ward/CFL)

TOP 5 PROSPECTS

Montreal’s Justin Senior went wire-to-wire as the top-rated prospect for the 2017 CFL Draft. In his final season at Mississippi State, Senior was named the top offensive lineman, starting three straight years. He finished his career with 49 games, starting in 39 of those games. Senior was honoured not only for his play on the field but off the field, where he was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honour Roll and was invited to the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine.

UCLA’s defensive lineman Eli Ankou jumped up a spot to second on the scouting bureau. The Ottawa, Ontario native appeared in ten games this year for the Bruins, starting eight. In his collegiate career he amassed 46 solo tackles and 41 assisted tackles.

Manitoba Bisons offensive lineman Geoff Gray rose two spots to attain the third-place ranking. Gray anchored the Bisons offensive line where he was named U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian and played in the prestigious East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Top-rated receiver Danny Vandervoort jumped up three positions following his CFL Combine performance. The 6’1” receiver from McMaster accumulated 631 yards and five touchdown receptions during regular season play. The Barrie, Ontario native was named an OUA First-Team All-Star and a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian.

Rounding out the top five is Brampton, Ontario native Faith Ekakitie. The defensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes accumulated 21 solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles, including two for a loss of seven yards. As a senior, Ekakitie was honoured with ‘The Finish Strong’ award.

BY THE NUMBERS

The April rankings include: seven defensive linemen, six offensive linemen, two receivers, two defensive backs, a linebacker, a running back and a tight end.

There are 17 universities represented on the list with two schools featuring multiple selections: Calgary (3) and McMaster (2). 10 U SPORTS schools and seven NCAA schools are represented in the rankings.

Five new prospects joined the Scouting Bureau rankings: Braden Schram (No. 16), Johnny Augustine (No. 17), Fabion Foote (No. 18), Dondre Wright (No. 19) and Connor McGough (No. 20).

2016 CFL Draft first overall selection Josiah St. John was ranked fifth in the April rankings one year ago.

All 20 prospects from last season’s April CFL Scouting Bureau rankings were selected in the 2016 CFL Draft including seven of eight first round draft selections.

ABOUT THE CENTRAL SCOUTING BUREAU

The CFL Scouting Bureau releases its rankings three times each year: in September, December and April.

The CFL’s Scouting Bureau is comprised of CFL scouts, player personnel directors and general managers from the league’s nine teams.

Source: CFL.ca

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