2019 CFL–LFA Draft | |
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General information | |
Sport | Canadian football |
Date(s) | January 14, 2019 [1] |
Time | 10:00 am CST |
Location | Mexico City |
Overview | |
27 total selections in 3 rounds | |
First selection | Diego Viamontes, WR, Edmonton Eskimos |
The 2019 CFL–LFA Draft took place on January 14, 2019. [2] [1] 27 players were chosen from an invited pool of 51 Mexican players: 34 from the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) (a professional American football league) and 17 seniors from Mexican university teams. [3]
In October 2018, Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie outlined a plan to grow the CFL's presence, which he dubbed CFL 2.0, including growth internationally. [4] In November 2018, the LFA signed a non-binding Letter of Intent with the CFL to share resources and to allow for at least one CFL game to be played in Mexico, [5] as wells as lay the ground work for special Mexican-specific editions of the CFL Combine and CFL Draft.
On January 11, 2019, 51 players from the LFA and Mexican college ranks were announced as participants in a combine to beheld on January 13 and a 27-player draft to be held on January 14, 2019. [1] Each CFL team sent scouts and were reported to likely receive four picks. [1] Consensus after the combine was that 6-18 players were of (or could be made into) CFL camp caliber, but that a majority of players had no professional potential. [6] This led to criticism of commissioner Ambrosie for spending time and resources on this additional draft, when a collective bargaining agreement with the CFLPA still had not been reached. [7] Originally, there were plans for a 4-round 36-player draft but, after the combine and interviews, was scaled back to a 3-round, 27-player draft. [8] BC Lions General Manager Ed Hervey was reported to have, "settled for athletic and the ability to speak English" in player evaluations. [9] It was not reported if drafted players would count towards a team's National or International slots. [10]
On January 12, 2019, the LFA held their own domestic 66-player draft in advance of the CFL's draft. [11]
Unlike the normal CFL Draft, which sets selection order based on a team's record the previous season (similar to the NFL Draft), the CFL–LFA draft instead used a weighted lottery system where teams receive more balls in a selection bin depending on their record, with more balls increasing the chance at a higher draft priority (similar to the NBA draft). [1] The draft order was set the night before the draft: [12] The Edmonton Eskimos received the first pick, despite Edmonton's general manager and head coach both skipping the combine and draft process, sending a subordinate instead. Edmonton GM Brock Sunderland in particular was largely dismissive of the entire process. [13]
Pick # | CFL Team | Lottery weight (% chance for 1st pick) |
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1 | Edmonton Eskimos | 6/45 (13.3%) |
2 | Ottawa Redblacks | 2/45 (4.4%) |
3 | Montreal Alouettes | 8/45 (17.8%) |
4 | Toronto Argonauts | 9/45 (20%) |
5 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 7/45 (15.6%) |
6 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 3/45 (6.7%) |
7 | BC Lions | 5/45 (11.1%) |
8 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 4/45 (8.9%) |
9 | Calgary Stampeders | 1/45 (2.2%) |