With the 2015 CFL Draft set to go Tuesday at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, CFL analyst Duane Forde previews each team heading into the big day. Forde takes a look at the BC Lions in this edition. 

 

Current National Roster - Nationals Under Contract (as of May 7, 2015): 29 players

 
NAME POS HT WT DOB COLLEGE/JUNIOR TEAM
Fabien, Kirby OL 6'6" 295 9/7/1990 Calgary
Husband, Cody OL 6'7" 307 3/19/1988 UBC
Norman, Matthew OL 6'3" 317 6/20/1988 Western
Player, T-Dre OL 6'6" 275 2/4/1992 Northwestern State
Steward, Hunter OL 6'6" 315 12/23/1991 Liberty
Thorn, Cameron OL 6'5" 290 4/16/1990 Guelph
Valli, Dean OL 6'5" 300 10/5/1983 Simon Fraser
Adekolu, Stephen REC 6'4" 200 1/20/1989 Bishop's
Collie, Austin REC 6'0" 204 11/11/1985 BYU
Gore, Shawn REC 6'0" 198 4/12/1987 Bishop's
Iannuzzi, Marco REC 6'1" 195 5/21/1987 Harvard
Poblah, Kito REC 6'2" 209 9/18/1987 Central Michigan
Tomusiak, Whitman REC 6'1" 190 9/1/1991 V.I. Raiders (Jrs.)
Harris, Andrew RB 5'11" 213 4/24/1987 V.I. Raiders (Jrs.)
Lochard, Pascal RB 6'0" 215 9/17/1990 Laval
Antwi, Akwasi FB 6'0" 254 5/9/1985 Mount Allison
Lumbala, Rolly FB 6'2" 238 1/30/1986 Idaho
Doege, Steven DL 6'3" 230 1/22/1991 Okanagan Sun (Jrs.)
Menard, David DL 6'1" 265 7/15/1990 Montreal
Westerman, Jabar DL 6'2" 285 5/13/1989 Eastern Michigan
Arakgi, Jason LB 6'2" 205 5/12/1985 McMaster
Chin, Casey LB 5'10" 215 8/27/1992 Simon Fraser
Lokombo, Bo LB 6'2" 233 10/15/1990 Oregon
McGarva, Matt DB 6'0" 192 5/26/1991 Windsor
Parker, Keynan DB 6'0" 183 11/17/1989 Simon Fraser
Rwabukamba, Chris DB 5'11" 192 1/5/1987 Duke
Shott, Steven P/K 6'4" 210 1/1/1990 Okanagan Sun (Jrs.)
McCallum, Paul K 5'11" 185 1/7/1970 Surrey Rams (Jrs)
Benson, Mike LS 5'10" 238 5/13/1987 Acadia
 

 

How They Were Acquired

Drafted by Lions: 16
Signed as Undrafted Free Agents: 1
Free Agents with CFL/NFL Experience: 7
Signed from CJFL: 4
Acquired via Trade: 1

 

Five-Year Draft History (2010-2014)

 
YEAR OVERALL NAME POS COLLEGE
2014 12 Tchissakid Player OL Northwestern State
2014 14 Pascal Lochard FB Laval
2014 27 Casey Chin LB Simon Fraser
2014 32 David Menard DL Montreal
2014 41 Alexander Fox WR Bishop's
2014 50 Dylan Roper DL Simon Fraser
2014 59 Guillaume Bourassa RB Laval
2013 6 Hunter Steward OL Liberty
2013 12 Seydou Junior Haidara WR Laval
2013 21 Boseko Lokombo LB Oregon
2013 33 Matt McGarva DB Windsor
2013 42 Matthew Albright OL Saint Mary's
2013 50 Matt Walker DB British Columbia
2013 58 Cameron Thorn DL Guelph
2012 2 Jabar Westerman DL Eastern Michigan
2012 7 Kirby Fabien OL Calgary
2012 22 Matt Norman OL Western Ontario
2012 37 Jordan Verdone LB Calgary
2012 6th round Alex Ellis (2011 Sup. Draft) DT Wilfrid Laurier
2011 6 Marco Iannuzzi WR Harvard
2011 11 Hugh O'Neill K/P Alberta
2011 19 Michael Carter DB Maryland
2011 37 Yannick Sage OL Sherbrooke
2011 42 Chris Hodgson DL Saint Mary's
2010 4 Danny Watkins OT Baylor
2010 10 Shawn Gore WR Bishop's
2010 16 Joash Gesse LB Montréal
2010 20 Hamid Mahmoudi DB Montréal
2010 24 Nate Binder WR Tusculum College
2010 25 Akeem Foster WR St. Francis Xavier
2010 34 Cauchy Muamba DB St. Francis Xavier
2010 41 Adam Baboulas OL Saint Mary's
2010 42 Matthew Chapdelaine WR Simon Fraser
 

 

Canadians to Watch

- Hunter Steward: Dating back to their first round selections of Justin Sorensen (2008) and Danny Watkins (2010), B.C. has had visions of starting at least one homegrown offensive tackle for years. They’re counting on Steward to build on his rookie season and make that a reality.

- Austin Collie: Joining the likes of Shawn Gore, Marco Iannuzzi, and Kito Poblah, the NFL veteran could put the Leos in a position to start three Canadian receivers, should they need the ratio flexibility.

- Chris Rwabukamba: The former Hamilton Tiger-Cat and Edmonton Eskimo was signed as a free agent to bolster the team’s Canadian options in the secondary.

 

In the Pipeline

- None

 

Picks in 2015 CFL Draft

- 8 selections
- 5th, 14th, 23rd, 32nd, 41st, 43rd, 49th, and 58th overall

 

Random Thought

The Lions took their share of criticism for selecting Danny Watkins fifth overall in 2010, after his junior season, as many had already projected him as a future NFLer. A year later, when the Philadelphia Eagles picked the Kelowna native in the first round of the NFL Draft, it seemed to confirm that B.C. had made a big mistake. However, it became apparent over the course of his three-year pro career that Watkins, despite his obvious physical skills and aptitude for the game, craved more of a balance between football and his other passion of firefighting than the NFL culture offers. In hindsight, the Lions were the only organization in pro football that was right about Danny Watkins - he was perfectly suited to play in the CFL, where he hardly would’ve been the first player to balance those two careers.