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 Hamilton Tiger-Cats in this edition.

 

Current National Roster - Nationals Under Contract (as of May 7, 2015): 34

 
NAME POS HT WT DOB COLLEGE/JUNIOR TEAM
Dyakowski, Peter OL 6'5" 325 4/19/1984 Louisiana State
Filer, Mike OL 6'2" 300 5/6/1990 Mount Allison
O'Neill, Tim OL 6'3" 305 10/17/1979 Calgary
Reinders, Joel OL 6'8" 312 10/2/1987 Waterloo
Rice, Landon OL 6'6" 315 2/28/1988 Manitoba
Rockhill, Carson OL 6'6" 284 6/30/1990 Calgary
Aprile, Giovanni REC 6'3" 220 6/12/1989 Queen's
Coates, Matt REC 6'3" 197 7/15/1991 Hamilton Hurricanes (Jr.)
Fantuz, Andy REC 6'4" 220 12/18/1983 Western
Haidara, Seydou Junior REC 6'1" 215 3/5/1989 Laval
Watt, Spencer REC 6'0" 180 12/15/1988 Simon Fraser
Woodson, Anthony RB 6'0" 215 1/7/1988 Calgary
Primé, Carl-Olivier FB 6'1" 255 9/29/1989 Wagner College
Atkinson, Michael DL 6'0" 312 3/5/1989 Boise State
Bulcke, Brian DL 6'4" 281 4/27/1987 Stanford
Gascon-Nadon, Arnaud DL 6'3" 250 7/10/1988 Laval
Gaydosh, Linden DL 6'4" 305 1/4/1991 Calgary
Girard, Matthieu DL 6'3" 295 5/17/1991 Montreal
Hazime, Hasan DL 6'5" 260 12/23/1987 Wake Forest
Laurent, Ted DL 6'1" 303 1/1/1988 Mississippi
Mawa, Stephen DL 6'4" 275 5/2/1990 UBC
Pesek, Martin DL 6'3" 250 2/23/1990 Acadia
Williams, Everton DL 6'6" 285 2/10/2015 Toronto
Beswick, Marc LB 6'1" 198 1/23/1983 Saint Mary's
Johnson, Christopher LB 5'11" 220 4/10/1991 Toronto
Kruba, Pawel LB 5'11" 210 3/21/1990 Western
Landry, Beau LB 5'11" 201 9/24/1991 Western
Plesius, Frédéric LB 6'1" 240 2/10/1988 Laval
Butler, Craig DB 6'2" 196 12/19/1988 Western
Daly, Mike DB 6'1" 182 5/30/1990 McMaster
King, Neil DB 6'0" 195 9/10/1988 Saint Mary's
Miller, Kyle DB 5'10" 190 1/11/1990 Simon Fraser
Stephen, Courtney DB 6'0" 194 10/27/1989 Northern Illinois
Crawford, Aaron LS 6'4" 250 9/23/1986 Saint Mary's
 

How They Were Acquired

Drafted by Tiger-Cats: 14
Signed as Undrafted Free Agents: 4
Free Agents with CFL/NFL Experience: 12
Signed from CJFL: 1
Acquired via Trade: 3

 

Five-Year Draft History (2010-2014)

 
YEAR OVERALL NAME POS COLLEGE
2014 8 Beau Landry LB Western Ontario
2014 9 Evan Gill DL Manitoba
2014 44 Christopher Johnson LB Toronto
2014 52 Mathieu Girard DL Montreal
2014 53 Stephen Mawa DL British Columbia
2014 62 Martin Pesek DL Acadia
2013 1 Linden Gaydosh DT Calgary
2013 15 Brent Urban DL Virginia
2013 19 Carl-Olivier Prime LB Wagner
2013 35 Simon Le Marquand WR Ottawa
2013 37 Isaac Dell FB Wilfrid Laurier
2013 43 Neil King DB Saint Mary's
2013 45 Michael Daly DB McMaster
2013 53 Brett Lauther PK Saint Mary's
2012 8 Courtney Stephen DB Northern Illinois
2012 10 Frédéric Plesius LB Laval
2012 13 Carson Rockhill OL Calgary
2012 17 Arnaud Gascon-Nadon DE Laval
2012 20 Michael Atkinson DL Boise State
2012 25 Simon Charbonneau-Campeau WR Sherbrooke
2012 33 Bo Palmer RB Simon Fraser
2011 10 Moe Petrus OL Connecticut
2011 13 Maurice Forbes DL Concordia
2011 20 Marc-Antoine Fortin DL Laval
2011 21 Pascal Baillargeon OL Laval
2011 33 Patrick Jean-Mary LB Howard
2011 36 Tyrell Francisco TE Weber State
2011 44 Jadon Wagner LB BYU
2010 1st round Zac Carlson (2009 Supp. Draft) OL Weber State
2010 19 Samuel Fournier RB Laval
2010 22 Eddie Steele DT Manitoba
2010 27 Chris Rwabukamba DB Duke
2010 36 Justin Palardy K/P Saint Mary's
 

 

Canadians to Watch

- Michael Atkinson: Knee injuries kept him on the sidelines for the first season and a half of his CFL career but, with fellow Canadian defensive tackle Linden Gaydosh out for the year, Atkinson will be counted on to play a bigger role in the rotation in 2015.
- Anthony Woodson: At least twice last season, the Tiger-Cats had to limit their playbook after injuries to their American tailbacks forced fullback C.O. Prime to play out of position. That should no longer be an issue after the signing of the versatile Woodson, a Canadian backup, whose natural position is RB.
- Peter Dyakowski: After missing almost the entire 2014 season due to a knee injury suffered in the 2013 Grey Cup game, Dyakowski finally appears to be back to 100%...which is great news for a team that was frequently forced to start three International O-Linemen in his absence.

 

In the Pipeline

DT Brent Urban (Baltimore Ravens)
DT Evan Gill (University of Manitoba, unsigned 2014 draftee)

 

Picks in 2015 CFL Draft

8 selections
8th, 17th, 20th, 24th, 29th, 51st, 52nd, and 61st overall

 

Random Thought

Since Kent Austin arrived in Hamilton in 2013, the Tiger-Cats have signed 2012 draftee Mike Atkinson, traded for Hasan Hazime, inked free agents Brian Bulcke and Ted Laurent, and drafted Linden Gaydosh, Brent Urban, Evan Gill, Martin Girard, and Steven Mawa – all defensive tackles. While Girard is expected to move to O-Line, the Tiger-Cats are the only team in the CFL that hasn’t actually drafted an offensive lineman since 2012. The depth of this year’s OL class and the ratio limitations associated with playing three Americans up front may force Hamilton to reverse their recent trend.