The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have added to their trenches with their first pick in today's Canadian Football League Canadian Draft.
Picking in the first round for the time since 2000, the Bombers used the sixth overall pick to grab University of Regina offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte. A 6-foot-4, 320-pound man mountain from Weyburn, LaBatte was a CIS second team All-Canadian with the Rams and was a Canada West all-star and participated in the East-West Shrine Game.
"It feels unreal, it is just such a relief to finally know where you're going to be going rather than sitting around and waiting," LaBatte told TSN.ca's live webcast of the draft. "I actually hadn't talked to many teams at all and that was adding to the stress because I hadn't heard anything and I was getting a little worried it wasn't going to turn out the way I planned.
"I'm a young O-lineman with a lot of room to develop and I feel pretty good about my pass blocking and run-blocking ability. Hopefully I'll be able to help out and contribute to the offensive line they already have."
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had the first pick over all for the second straight spring and used it to select University of Saskatchewan Huskies safety Dylan Barker, a hard-hitting defensive back who could be converted to linebacker in the Ticat defence.
Edmonton Eskimos had the second pick overall but swapped that choice and their second pick, 16th overall, to the Calgary Stampeders for O-lineman John Comiskey, Boston College wide receiver Kevin Challenger and the 11th and 19th pick overall. The Stamps then used the second pick overall to grab Weber State O-lineman Dimitri Tsoumpas, ironically an Edmonton product who Calgary hopes can step in strengthen their trenches.
The Stamps also had the third overall pick and used it to choose Louisiana-Lafayette O-lineman Jesse Newman, giving Calgary the two highest-rated hogs on the draft board.
The Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders held the fourth overall pick, courtesy the Toronto Argonauts and the trade that sent quarterback Kerry Joseph east, and selected University of Central Florida defensive lineman Keith Shologan. Considered the heir apparent to Scott Schultz along the Rider d-line, Shologan has signed an NFL deal with the San Diego Chargers and won't be available to Saskatchewan -- at the earliest -- until September.
Montreal, which lost the fourth overall pick because of a salary-cap evaluation, used the seventh overall pick to select UBC linebacker Shea Emry while the Ticats rounded out the first round by grabbing Univeristy of Sherbrooke wide receiver Samuel Giguere, who just this week signed a free-agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Bombers have five more picks in today's draft, 15th overall, 24th, 31st, 39th and 47th. Fans can follow the draft live on www.cfl.ca or www.tsn.ca.
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