2026 CFL Draft - Blue Bomber Selections

[Tecno]

If it was Cline at 13 and Daniels at 20, would it bother some of us less?

That's not the question.  The question is "If it was Daniels at 13 and Cline at 20".  The problem isn't the order, the problem is the trade to 10 (hinders us next season).

Everyone wants to know... was OTT, EDM, TOR going to take Daniels at 10, 11 or 12.  That's the real 64k (er, uh, '27 2RDP) question!  A lot of us think the answer to that is "no!".  3down indicates some teams thought he'd go in 2nd round (not necessarily at 10-12 though), and some teams thought he was going to languish into the 5th round.  If the latter is true, we lost the 27 DP for nothing.

Like that other thread said: maybe KW was the antsy one.  That X video sure looked antsy!  But if being high on Daneils was his conviction and he thought there was a >10% chance he gets sniped, them I'm ok with the move.

[Tecno]

I think they drafted Clercius to block like Bailey but were not happy last year, so I see Dante Daniels as taking that role. As Walters says, Sh#$t kicking blocker, mean mofo.

Problem with that type of player is we may take a lot more holding and blocking-downfield penalties.  It's like always-hold SSK's blockers: they take a lot more of those penalties than we do -- always skirting the line, betting on complacent refs.

"To be able to marry that run with the pass is going to be the key."

Listen to him when he says this.  He's laying it all out telling everyone what our identity is this season.  Daniels gets us closer to this reality.  It's going to be Brady ball with a ton of blockers, and passes when the D doesn't expect it.  This is what was missing last season.

[Tecno]

EDIT: listened to KW, and he spells out it's the legit #2RDP, not the bonus #2 pick, so that answers that.

All the paraphrases of the trade deal say "A 2RDP".  Did we just fool OTT into trading for #19-#20 instead of #10-#18?  That would be sweet.  I'm a lot happier at giving up a #20 instead of a #10.

Though if we make the cup in '26 it all becomes a wash anyhow...

[Tecno]

I'm kind of excited for Gatkuoth as this finally might get us back to cheetah.  Gat in for Lawson along with 3 IMPs on DL, all in pass-rush mode.

Or allowing us to get Griffin more SAM snaps by having 2 (or 3?!) NAT DL.

At worst this 1RDP should be able to do what Kongbo did for us.  Hopefully more.  A lot more.

[Waffler]

3down says OTT was a flat no on us getting #1 overall.  They wanted Vacaro no matter what.  So we tried to get the hometown boy, but couldn't pull it off.

Vacaro had no NFL interest and is ready to play now. That does not mean we look back in 2 or 3 years and say he was the best OL picked. Yet to be determined on some others that MAY have a higher ceiling.

[Blue In BC]

Well, it can all work out if this season Shay is moved up to legit backup to MLB (or WILL?) who sees 1/4 to 1/3 the snaps a game.  Then he starts in '27.  If he can be even 3/4 as good as Singleton then it's a win.

If Shay's turns into a bust, then we really Shay-t the bed.

It's a great thought but then why did we sign Santos-Knox. We have too many LB's even before that: Ayers, Griffin, K.Wilson and Woodbey.

We'd all like to see Shay get a larger role and all of this could change in TC. Something has to give. Plus we drafted more LB's this week.

[theaardvark]

Draft picks are a quality not quantity situation, and thier value drops after the first round.  Giving up a 2nd rounder next year to get a guy they wanted is not an issue, especially since we seem to get a free 2nd rounder every year.

This is not the Joe Mack era where we never seemed to have any picks.  We have our fair share, and have normally done pretty darn good with them.  DL seems to be a sore spot, though, lets hope the third time is the charm.

If Condell was behind the Daniels pick, then he has to live with it.

I just wish they had dropped a couple late rounders on potential never coming north guys, rather than TC fodder.

[Jesse]

It's a great thought but then why did we sign Santos-Knox. We have too many LB's even before that: Ayers, Griffin, K.Wilson and Woodbey.

We'd all like to see Shay get a larger role and all of this could change in TC. Something has to give. Plus we drafted more LB's this week.

We signed Santos-Knox because we recognized that last year wasn't good enough and we needed more talent on the roster.

Sign talented players. Let their play decide who fits in.

[Blue In BC]

We signed Santos-Knox because we recognized that last year wasn't good enough and we needed more talent on the roster.

Sign talented players. Let their play decide who fits in.

It's easy to say that but then what does that say about the Canadian LB's drafted in 2025. If you expected any of them to take a bigger role, you wouldn't bring in Santos-Knox.

If there are those that aren't good enough, then why haven't they been released? We allowed a multitude of players to leave during free agency, deemed not good enough.

[theaardvark]

It's easy to say that but then what does that say about the Canadian LB's drafted in 2025. If you expected any of them to take a bigger role, you wouldn't bring in Santos-Knox.

If there are those that aren't good enough, then why haven't they been released? We allowed a multitude of players to leave during free agency, deemed not good enough.

ST play is an important part of the team, you know that.  Backup in a pinch is also part of roster management.

Santo-Knox is not the top MLB in the league, but he's no slouch either.  Is he getting better or worse?  Is he capable of stealing the job at WIL?  Or is he a no risk TC fodder with upside? 

When someone of his ilk comes available and agrees to Your terms, its a no risk no brainer, isn't it?

[Jesse]

It's easy to say that but then what does that say about the Canadian LB's drafted in 2025. If you expected any of them to take a bigger role, you wouldn't bring in Santos-Knox.

If there are those that aren't good enough, then why haven't they been released? We allowed a multitude of players to leave during free agency, deemed not good enough.

I don't think it says anything about the players we have, I think it says a talented player was available who might be able to help us.

As to why we don't release everyone, how are we supposed to see who wins the competition if we release all the competitors?

[Blue In BC]

ST play is an important part of the team, you know that.  Backup in a pinch is also part of roster management.

Santo-Knox is not the top MLB in the league, but he's no slouch either.  Is he getting better or worse?  Is he capable of stealing the job at WIL?  Or is he a no risk TC fodder with upside? 

When someone of his ilk comes available and agrees to Your terms, its a no risk no brainer, isn't it?

Roster size in TC is limited. Ratio during the season is specific. Sure ST's are important but you can still only play 12 players at a time and roster space is also limited for those roles.

If we were truly interested in adding a top LB we could have added Sankey or Awe as better choices.  I'd disagree it's a no risk / no brainer issue.

If they expect to replace a veteran, that should have been done earlier to allow him an opportunity elsewhere.

My current expectation is that K. Wilson will not win the starting WIL. He certainly isn't going to accept a PR spot.

IMO it definitely says says something about those we have. In particular it says that none of the Canadian LB's will have a greater role on defence as it stands now.

Now if Shay and Smith are going to be the ST LB's then why do we need Ayers taking up a DI spot? He doesn't seem to have any chance to even be the immediate back up WIL or MAC.

Smith has 1 less ST than Ayers as a 1st year Canadian.  K. Wilson might be a better choice as a DI instead of Ayers alternatively is Santos-Knox starts at WIL.