U SPORTS News

Second Team All-Canadian Coulter Woodmansey, an offensive lineman from the Guelph Gryphons, was the first U SPORTS player selected in the 2020 CFL Draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at No. 5, on Thursday evening.  

It’s the second consecutive year that the top U SPORTS selection has gone to Hamilton, after Waterloo offensive lineman Jesse Gibbon was selected by Tiger-Cats at No. 2 last year.

Woodmansey was one of four U SPORTS players who went in the opening round on Thursday. He was followed by Laval Rouge et Or defensive back Adam Auclair (No. 6, Ottawa REDBLACKS), along with offensive linemen Mattland Riley of the Saskatchewan Huskies (No. 7, Saskatchewan Roughriders) and Theren Churchill from the Regina Rams (No. 9, Toronto Argonauts). 

Woodmansey, Riley and Churchill all went unranked on each of the three editions of the CFL Scouting Bureau’s Top 20 rankings this season heading into the draft.

Auclair was ranked No. 15 in the final rankings published on Apr. 20, after opening the season at No. 8 in September, before falling to No. 13 in December.

Overall, 57 U SPORTS standouts were selected out of 73 total picks (78.1 per cent). The OUA led the way with 28 selections, followed by CW with 14 - with the Saskatchewan Huskies having the most players picked with five, while the Montreal Alouettes picked the most of any CFL team at 10.

In all, 21 of the 27 U SPORTS programs had at least one player chosen. 

Since 2003, over 700 U SPORTS football alumni have been drafted into the CFL, while approximately 200 Canadian university football standouts annually start the season on the opening day rosters of the league’s nine teams.

For the full CFL Draft Tracker, click here.

BY THE NUMBERS: U SPORTS players selected in the 2020 CFL Draft (57)