CFL Scouting Bureau releases spring RANKINGS: Duvernay-Tardif No.1 ranked prospect in 3rd straight list

TORONTO – The Canadian Football League Scouting Bureau today published its final edition of the top 15 ranked prospects eligible for the 2014 CFL Canadian Draft.

For the third-straight ranking, McGill offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is the top ranked prospect.

Duvernay-Tardif added a number of honours to his impressive resume at the end of the 2013 CIS campaign, his fourth with the Redmen. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound medical student was named a first-team all-Canadian for the second straight year, received the J.P. Metras Trophy as the country’s top down lineman, was the RSEQ conference nominee for the Russ Jackson Award (football, academics & citizenship) and, last but not least, was selected as a Top Eight Academic All-Canadian out of over 11,000 CIS student athletes.

Last January, Duvernay-Tardif was one of two CIS standouts invited to play in the 89^th edition of the prestigious East-West Shrine Game – the longest running university all-star game in the United States – at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was accompanied by University of Manitoba defensive tackle Evan Gill, who sits at No. 6 going into the May 13 draft, the same position he held three months ago.

Duvernay-Tardif is followed by two other offensive linemen – David Foucault from Université de Montréal is ranked second and Pierre Lavertu from Laval is third. Rounding out the top five is the biggest mover on the list Quinn Smith. The defensive lineman from Concordia has climbed the charts from not being rated in either the fall or winter scouting bureau lists to the fourth rated prospect in the final edition. In the fifth slot is St. Francis Xavier wide receiver, Devon Bailey.

BY THE NUMBERS

The ranking includes four offensive linemen and defensive linemen, three defensive backs, two linebackers, and a wide receiver and running back.

Université de Montréal has three players on the list, the most by any one school. Laval, Manitoba, McGill, Simon Fraser and Western each have a pair of prospects on the list.

Smith, David Menard and Antoine Pruneau joined the list after not being ranked in the winter edition in January, while Max Caron, Sam Sabourin and Derek Wiggan did  not reach the spring edition after being listed in the winter edition.

After a great showing at the National CFL Combine, Dylan Ainsworth soared from the 15th spot in the winter edition to the seventh spot in the spring edition.

The province of Quebec is represented with six hometown prospects. Following Quebec is Ontario with four, BC with three and Manitoba has two.

All 15 ranked players on last spring’s CFL Scouting Bureau list (it was published in April) were selected in the 2013 CFL Draft. Seven of those players were selected in the first round.

 

Please note: The ranking in the parenthesis is the player’s ranking position from the last CFL Scouting Bureau published in January, 2014. 

The 2014 CFL Draft will take place on May 13, 2014 with the Ottawa REDBLACKS owning the first overall selection.

Last May, University of Calgary defensive tackle Linden Gaydosh became the seventh CIS player in as many years – and the 11^th in the past 14 years – to be selected first overall in the CFL Draft when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats called his name at No. 1. He had been ranked second, third and third on the three Scouting Bureau lists of 2012-13.