Vaccaro ‘fits the bill’

When the Canadian Football League Draft begins later this month, the first selection could very well be one of Winnipeg’s own.

With team draft boards coming into focus, there is a growing belief that Gio Vaccaro, the former Manitoba Bisons standout who transferred to Purdue for his final season of college eligibility, will be the first name called on April 28.

“To me, I think that he is certainly one of the first offensive linemen off the board, and it’s not unreasonable that he would be a guy that would get some consideration as the top pick. In terms of what he is physically and athletically, he fits the bill,” TSN draft analyst Duane Forde told the Free Press.

The 6-2, 307-pound guard was a two-time first-team All-Canadian selection and 2024 winner of the J.P. Metras Trophy (awarded to the nation’s top offensive lineman) with the Bisons. Although Vaccaro’s move to the NCAA Power 4 ranks didn’t yield a starting job, he saw time on the Boilermakers’ special teams units and played valuable snaps in the team’s regular-season finale against Indiana — the eventual national champions.

While Vaccaro’s size or athleticism won’t blow anyone away, he’s adequate in both areas, and Forde said his skillset, strength and experience make the 22-year-old one of the safest bets in the draft.

Vaccaro’s in-game reps, in particular, will be a huge feather in his cap as teams differentiate between top prospects. A starter from the moment he joined the Bisons, he started every game from 2022-24, which also speaks to his durability.

“The thing I would say about Gio Vaccaro is he may have the highest floor of the offensive linemen,” said Forde. “He’s a pretty polished guy: right technique and good feet, and he’s physically strong, as well. He’s not a guy who is going to come into the CFL and, as a young guy, is going to be sort of overmatched physically in his first couple of years. No, he’s the guy who, in terms of his skills and so on, I think translates to a guy who should be ready to play pretty early.”

The Ottawa Redblacks hold the top pick in the draft, and the St. Paul’s product would make a lot of sense for a team in need of a plug-and-play calibre talent on the interior of the offensive line.

“Scouts rave about his nastiness in the run game and were impressed by how he improved his body composition at Purdue in 2025 to improve his quickness and flexibility,” said 3DownNation draft analyst John Hodge, who recently mocked Vaccaro to the Redblacks with the No. 1 pick.

“Vaccaro projects as a 10-year CFL starter along the offensive line, which makes him hard to pass up at No. 1.”

“Vaccaro projects as a 10-year CFL starter along the offensive line, which makes him hard to pass up at No. 1.”

In the 10 weeks that followed the Christmas break, leading into the heart of the pre-draft process, Vaccaro lost seven pounds of fat while adding eight pounds of lean muscle, transforming his body composition without sacrificing weight.

He boosted his stock further at Purdue’s pro day last month, logging 28 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, a 5.38-second forty-yard dash, 4.83-second shuttle, 7.94-second three-cone drill, 29-inch vertical jump and 8-8 broad jump. When the CFL Combine rolled around a few weeks later, Vaccaro — who did not test — was interviewed by all nine teams, suggesting he has stirred up an interest across the league.

“It’s been a journey. I’ve been enjoying each and every step of the process,” Vaccaro said from West Lafayette, Ind., where he plans to wrap up classes before flying home to be with family on draft night. “Right now I’m in a little bit of a waiting game, so we’ll see where that goes.”

While Vaccaro’s draft card will read “Purdue University,” he acknowledged that his roots are in Manitoba.

“The thing I would say about Gio Vaccaro is he may have the highest floor of the offensive linemen.”

The last Manitoba Bison selected in the first round was Geoff Gray, who was nabbed by his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers with the eighth overall pick in 2017.

Should Vaccaro come off the board first, it would be the first time a Bison has ever been selected with the top pick, and the highest since Randy Ambrosie was drafted No. 2 overall by the Calgary Stampeders in 1985.

“The biggest thing for me is I try not to focus on where I’m going to go in the draft because, truly, I’m grateful for any opportunity,” Vaccaro said.

“It doesn’t matter if I go in the first round, second round or seventh round. I try not to get too caught up in mock drafts and stuff like that, but I do give a lot of credit to my Bison career, my three years there. So it would be pretty cool.”

It can be challenging for anyone to guess where these prospects will land, but as the rumour mill continues to churn down the home stretch, it appears Vaccaro has as much momentum as any prospect in this draft.

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