The 2012CFL Draft took place on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET on
TSN.[1] 45 players were chosen from among eligible players from
Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the
NCAA. The
Calgary Stampeders had the most selections with eight, while
Hamilton had seven picks. The
Toronto Argonauts and
Montreal Alouettes each had six and the
Edmonton Eskimos and
Winnipeg Blue Bombers had five picks. The defending
Grey Cup champion
BC Lions and the
Saskatchewan Roughriders had the fewest selections with just four. A total of three trades involving 11 draft picks in this draft were made on the draft day itself.[2] Of the 45 draft selections, 24 players were drafted from
Canadian Interuniversity Sport institutions, which is the lowest percentage of CIS players taken since
2006 (26 of 50, 52%, were selected then).[3] It is also the lowest number of CIS players taken since the
2000 CFL Draft when just 22 out of 46 players were chosen.
60 of the top Canadian athletes attended the 2012
CFL Evaluation Camp which took place March 2–4 in
Toronto.[5] Below is a table with the CFL Scouting Bureau rankings of the top CFL Draft prospects.[6]
Edmonton → BC (D). Edmonton traded this selection and the 20th overall pick in this year's draft to BC for the fourth overall pick, the 14th overall pick, and the 38th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
BC → Edmonton (D). BC traded this selection, the 14th overall pick, and the 38th overall pick in this year's draft to Edmonton for the second overall pick and the 20th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Hamilton → Winnipeg (D). Hamilton traded this selection to Winnipeg for the eighth overall pick in the 2012 CFL Draft and the 13th overall pick in the 2012 CFL Draft.[2]
Round two
Saskatchewan → Winnipeg (PD). Saskatchewan traded this selection, a fourth round pick in the 2012 CFL Draft, and a conditional draft pick in the
2013 CFL Draft to Winnipeg for
Odell Willis and a conditional fifth round draft pick in the
2013 CFL Draft.[12]
BC → Edmonton (D). BC traded this selection, the fourth overall pick, and the 38th overall pick in this year's draft to Edmonton for the second overall pick and the 20th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Winnipeg → Hamilton (D). Winnipeg traded this selection and the 13th overall pick in this year's draft to Hamilton for the third overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Winnipeg → Hamilton (D). Winnipeg traded this selection and the eighth overall pick in this year's draft to Hamilton for the third overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Calgary → Saskatchewan (D). Calgary traded this selection and the 35th overall pick in this year's draft to Saskatchewan for the 15th overall pick in this year's draft and a second round pick in the
2013 CFL Draft.[2]
Toronto → Winnipeg (PD). Toronto traded this selection and a first round pick in the
2011 CFL Draft to Winnipeg for
Steven Jyles. This selection, originally a fourth round pick, could be upgraded to as high as a second round pick, contingent upon the number of games that Jyles plays for Toronto. Jyles played in eight games and this pick became a third round selection.[14]
Edmonton → BC (D). Edmonton traded this selection and the second overall pick in this year's draft to BC for the fourth overall pick, the 14th overall pick, and the 38th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Saskatchewan → Calgary (D). Saskatchewan traded this selection and a second round pick in the
2013 CFL Draft to Calgary for the 12th overall pick in this year's draft and the 35th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Round four
BC → Calgary (PD). BC traded this selection and a second round pick in the
2011 CFL Draft to Calgary for
Jesse Newman.[15]
Edmonton → Toronto (PD). Edmonton traded this selection to Toronto for
Delroy Clarke.[16]
Saskatchewan → Winnipeg (PD). Saskatchewan traded this selection, a second round pick in the 2012 CFL Draft, and a conditional draft pick in the
2013 CFL Draft to Winnipeg for
Odell Willis and a conditional fifth round draft pick in the
2013 CFL Draft.[12]
Winnipeg → Calgary (PD). Winnipeg traded this selection conditionally to Calgary for
Pat MacDonald.[18]
Winnipeg → BC (PD). Winnipeg traded this selection conditionally to BC for
Kelly Bates.[19]
BC → Edmonton (D). BC traded this selection, the fourth overall pick, and the 14th overall pick in this year's draft to Edmonton for the second overall pick and the 20th overall pick in this year's draft.[2]
Calgary → Saskatchewan (D). Calgary traded this selection and the 12th overall pick in this year's draft to Saskatchewan for the 15th overall pick in this year's draft and a second round pick in the
2013 CFL Draft.[2]
Round six
Hamilton → Toronto (PD). Hamilton traded this selection conditionally to Toronto for
Steve Schmidt.[20][21]
Edmonton → Montreal (PD). Edmonton traded this selection and a sixth-round pick in the
2013 CFL Draft to Montreal for
Dylan Steenbergen.[22]
Winnipeg → Calgary (PD). Winnipeg traded this selection to Calgary for
Neil Ternovatsky.[23]
Forfeitures
Winnipeg forfeits their first round selection after selecting
Kito Poblah in the 2011 Supplemental Draft.[24]
Edmonton forfeits their second round selection after selecting
Ted Laurent in the 2011 Supplemental Draft.[25]
BC forfeits their sixth round selection after selecting
Alex Ellis in the 2011 Supplemental Draft.[26]