The CFL Draft is set for Tuesday, May 4, and despite the unclear state of play regarding a season in 2021 due to the global pandemic, it should still garner a lot of eyeballs.
This year’s draft has been pared down to six rounds from the customary eight because of CFL training camps featuring a double cohort of Canadian rookies with groups from both the 2020 and 2021 drafts.
And let’s be clear, in a normal year, this would be the premier attention grabber in the leadup to a new CFL season but because COVID-19 has thrown so many spokes in the wheel in the last year, who knows if It will have the wide-ranging spinoffs that it normally would in any given year.
And as was the case with the Global Draft, due to the pandemic and the associated health safety protocols, teams will have to rely heavily on videos, virtual combines and Zoom interviews.
There were no U Sports games this year so general managers, scouts, personnel guys, and coaches will have an even tougher job deciding on who they want to draft and when.
These are the top 20 draftees according to the CFL’s final Scouting Bureau rankings:
| Rank | Player | Position | University | Hometown |
| 1 | Josh Palmer | WR | Tennessee | Brampton, ON |
| 2 | Alaric Jackson | OL | Iowa | Windsor, ON |
| 3 | Jevon Holland | DB | Oregon | Coquitlam, BC |
| 4 | Amen Ogbongbimega | LB | Oklahoma State | Calgary, AB |
| 5 | Chuba Hubbard | RB | Oklahoma State | Sherwood Park, AB |
| 6 | Benjamin St-Juste | DB | Minnesota | Montreal, QC |
| 7 | Pier-Olivier Lestage | OL | Montreal | Saint-Eustache, QC |
| 8 | Sage Doxtater | OL | New Mexico State | Welland, ON |
| 9 | Mohamed Diallo | DT | Central Michigan | Toronto, ON |
| 10 | Deane Leonard | DB | Ole Miss | Calgary, AB |
| 11 | Patrice Rene | DB | North Carolina | Ottawa, ON |
| 12 | Liam Dobson | OL | Maine | Ottawa, ON |
| 13 | Daniel Joseph | DE | NC State | Toronto, ON |
| 14 | Alonzo Addae | DB | West Virginia | Pickering, ON |
| 15 | Terrell Jana | WR | Virginia | Vancouver, BC |
| 16 | Bruno Labelle | TE | Cincinnati | Montreal, QC |
| 17 | Nelson Lokombo | DB | Saskatchewan | Abbotsford, BC |
| 18 | Logan Bandy | OL | Calgary | Calgary, AB |
| 19 | Bryce Bell | OL | Laurier | Waterloo, ON |
| 20 | DeShawn Stevens | LB | Maine | Toronto, ON |
There are some other players who are not necessarily ranked in the top 20 by scouts, but who are tipped to be drafted in the early rounds. They include Ben Hladik, linebacker, UBC, Patrick Davis, offensive line, Syracuse, Nick Cross, linebacker, UBC, Grant McDonald, linebacker, Calgary and Shae Weekes, defensive back, Manitoba.
And there are yet more players who may have snuck under the radar of scouts but who, by the same token, shouldn’t be overlooked. These include Tommy Nield wide receiver, McMaster, Griffin Campbell wide receiver, Western, Lliam Wishart, wide receiver UBC, Will Corby, wide receiver Toronto, Dylan St Pierre, wide receiver Ottawa, Luther Hakunavanhu, wide receiver York, Michael Ritchott running back, Manitoba, and Daniel McWhirter defensive back, Carleton.
The Tiger-Cats have the first overall pick and all indications are that they will draft #13 ranked DE Daniel Joseph.