The Canadian Football League is scheduled to begin in early August, whether that actually happens remains to be seen. Should the season take place teams will be prepared, the annual draft was recently held and the Riders had several selections.
The Riders had the second overall pick and they elected to stay in the province. The club picked defensive back Nelson Lokombo from the University of Saskatchewan. Lokombo brought home some hardware after his final season with the Huskies. He won the Presidents Trophy in 2019 which goes to the top defensive player in all of USports football. He is capable of playing cornerback, halfback, safety and strong side linebacker.
At 17th overall the Riders went deep and hauled in prize receiver Terrell Jana. Jana received rave reviews from the TSN panel and he is a prime candidate to start should a season take place. Jana attended the University of Virginia, he made 122 receptions for almost 15 hundred yards and 5 touchdowns in 33 games.
In the third round they added Bruno Labelle out of the University of Cincinnati. The six foot four 250 lbs tight end recently signed with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League as an undrafted free agent. Last season he scored two touchdowns.
The draft concluded with three more selections by the Roughriders. At 35th overall they selected defensive lineman Alain Cimankinda out of Guelph. Offensive Lineman Logan Bandy from the University of Calgary was the club’s selection at 38th overall and Matt Watson defensive back from Mount Allison was the final pick for the riders.
The season is scheduled to begin August 5th but only time will tell if it does or not. Fans and players alike are optimistic that it will. If it does the young men selected in the draft could certainly have an impact. Rider Nation is anxiously awaiting a return to Mosaic Stadium to cheer on the green and white!