2021 CFL Draft

The 2021 CFL Draft is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2021. 54 players will be chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.[1] Unlike previous drafts, where the selection order was determined by the previous year's standings, this year's draft order was determined by a random draw.[2][3]

2021 CFL Draft
General information
Sport	Canadian football
Location	Toronto
Network(s)	TSN/RDS
Overview
54 total selections in 6 rounds
League	CFL
Most selections (7)	Hamilton Tiger-Cats Toronto Argonauts
Fewest selections (5)	Montreal Alouettes BC Lions

Format changes

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2021 CFL Draft underwent several changes. Since there was no previous season and standings, the draft order was a random draw with all nine teams having the same odds of being drawn.[2][4] Every even-numbered round is in the reverse order of the odd-numbered rounds to balance the randomness of the draft order.[2] The number of rounds in the draft decreased from eight to six due to the large number of rookies that will be present in camps (those from the 2020 CFL Draft class).[2][4] To accommodate that change, and due to U Sports and some NCAA programs not playing in 2020, eligible 2021 draftees were able to defer their draft years to 2022.[2][4][5] Following the November 30, 2020 deadline, 132 U Sports players opted out of the 2021 Draft, which substantially reduced the available players this year.[5][6] This led to speculation that NCAA redshirt juniors could be included in the draft to add more talent available this year which would also balance out the massive influx of players in 2022.[5] This was confirmed when the league released the winter player rankings on January 20, 2021.[6]

Further to those changes, there will be no territorial selections in 2021, after featuring them in the previous two drafts.[2][7]

Unrelated to COVID-19 changes, beginning with this year's draft, any American or Global player that played football for a minimum of three years at a U Sports institution and graduated with a degree at that institution would qualify as a National player and be eligible for this year's draft.[8]

Top prospects

Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.[6]

Spring Ranking	Winter Ranking[6]	Fall Ranking[9]	Player	Position	University	Hometown
–	1	1	Alaric Jackson	Offensive lineman	Iowa	Windsor, ON
–	2	4	Josh Palmer	Receiver	Tennessee	Brampton, ON
–	3	–	Chuba Hubbard	Running back	Oklahoma State	Sherwood Park, AB
–	4	2	Amen Ogbongbemiga	Linebacker	Oklahoma State	Calgary, AB
–	5	–	Jevon Holland	Defensive back	Oregon Ducks	Coquitlam, BC
–	6	3	Terrell Jana	Receiver	Virginia	Vancouver, BC
–	7	5	Liam Dobson	Offensive lineman	Maine	Ottawa, ON
–	8	6	Sage Doxtater	Offensive lineman	New Mexico State	Welland, ON
–	9	7	Daniel Joseph	Defensive lineman	North Carolina State	Toronto, ON
–	10	11	Pier-Olivier Lestage	Offensive lineman	Montreal	Saint-Eustache, QC
–	11	–	Benjamin St-Juste	Defensive back	Minnesota	Montreal, QC
–	12	10	Alonzo Addae	Defensive back	West Virginia	Pickering, ON
–	13	8	Patrice Rene	Defensive back	North Carolina	Ottawa, ON
–	14	9	Deshawn Stevens	Linebacker	Maine	Toronto, ON
–	15	–	Mohamed Diallo	Defensive lineman	Central Michigan	Toronto, ON
–	16	12	Logan Bandy	Offensive lineman	Calgary	Calgary, AB
–	17	13	Deane Leonard	Defensive back	Mississippi	Calgary, AB
–	18	15	Luiji Vilain	Defensive lineman	Michigan	Ottawa, ON
–	19	14	Nelson Lokombo	Defensive back	Saskatchewan	Abbotsford, BC
–	20	–	Bryce Bell	Offensive lineman	Wilfrid Laurier	Waterloo, ON
–	–	16	Ben Hladik	Linebacker	British Columbia	Vernon, BC
–	–	17	Bruno Labelle	Tight end	Cincinnati	Montreal, QC
–	–	18	Tyris Lebeau	Linebacker	Massachusetts	Montreal, QC
–	–	19	Grant McDonald	Linebacker	Calgary	Tsawwassen, BC
–	–	20	Nick Cross	Linebacker	British Columbia	Regina, SK

Trades

In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.

Round one

• Montreal → Hamilton (PD). Montreal traded this selection, Jamaal Westerman, Chris Williams, and a first-round pick in the 2020 CFL Draft to Hamilton in exchange for Johnny Manziel, Tony Washington, and Landon Rice.[trade 1]

Round four

• BC → Toronto (PD). BC traded this selection and Davon Coleman to Toronto in exchange for Shawn Lemon.[trade 2][3]

Round five

• Toronto → Calgary (PD). Toronto traded this selection and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft to Calgary in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year's draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel.[trade 3]

Round six

• Winnipeg ←→ Toronto (PD). Winnipeg traded the 52nd overall selection and the playing rights to Cody Speller to Toronto in exchange for the 48th overall selection.[trade 4]
• Calgary → Toronto (PD). Calgary traded this selection, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel to Toronto in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this year's draft and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL Global Draft.[trade 3]

Draft order

Round one

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
1	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
2	Saskatchewan Roughriders
3	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
4	BC Lions
5	Edmonton Football Team
6	Ottawa Redblacks
7	Toronto Argonauts
8	Calgary Stampeders
9	Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Montreal[trade 1])

Round two

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
10	Montreal Alouettes
11	Calgary Stampeders
12	Toronto Argonauts
13	Ottawa Redblacks
14	Edmonton Football Team
15	BC Lions
16	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
17	Saskatchewan Roughriders
18	Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Round three

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
19	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
20	Saskatchewan Roughriders
21	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
22	BC Lions
23	Edmonton Football Team
24	Ottawa Redblacks
25	Toronto Argonauts
26	Calgary Stampeders
27	Montreal Alouettes

Round four

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
28	Montreal Alouettes
29	Calgary Stampeders
30	Toronto Argonauts
31	Ottawa Redblacks
32	Edmonton Football Team
33	Toronto Argonauts (via BC[trade 2])
34	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
35	Saskatchewan Roughriders
36	Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Round five

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
37	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
38	Saskatchewan Roughriders
39	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
40	BC Lions
41	Edmonton Football Team
42	Ottawa Redblacks
43	Calgary Stampeders (via Toronto[trade 3])
44	Calgary Stampeders
45	Montreal Alouettes

Round six

Pick #	CFL Team	Player	Position	University
46	Montreal Alouettes
47	Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary[trade 3])
48	Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Toronto[trade 4])
49	Ottawa Redblacks
50	Edmonton Football Team
51	BC Lions
52	Toronto Argonauts (via Winnipeg[trade 4])
53	Saskatchewan Roughriders
54	Hamilton Tiger-Cats

References

Trade references

1. "Als acquire Johnny Manziel in blockbuster deal". CFL.ca. July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
2. "Lions acquire Shawn Lemon, Argos land all-star Davon Coleman in trade". CFL.ca. August 12, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
3. "Argos acquire rights to three, including Rogers, in trade with Stamps". Canadian Football League. January 31, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
4. "Argos acquire Speller in trade with Bombers". CFL.ca. January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

General references

1. "Canadian Football League expands draft to eight rounds". Canadian Football League. May 4, 2016.
2. "2021 CFL Draft to feature some significant changes". CFL.ca. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
3. "Ti-Cats snag first selection as CFL reveals 2021 order". CFL.ca. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
4. "CFL making changes to draft". TSN. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
5. Hodge, John (December 8, 2020). "CFL may keep all NCAA players in 2021 CFL draft after 132 U Sports players opt out". 3DownNation.
6. "Alaric Jackson tops winter Scouting Bureau Rankings". Canadian Football League. January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
7. "CFL Draft to feature territorial picks". CFL.ca. April 17, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
8. Dunk, Justin (January 7, 2020). "The comprehensive CFL collective bargaining agreement". 3DownNation. p. 50 – via Canadian Football League. Collective Bargaining Agreement
9. "Jackson tops fall edition of Scouting Bureau". Canadian Football League. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.