Bombers ready to pull trigger

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This article was published 05/05/2011 (5509 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After months of film study, interviews, testing and checking references, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are close to making a call on who will be the first pick in Sunday’s CFL Canadian Draft.

How close?

“Pretty close,” said GM Joe Mack with a grin at a media gathering Wednesday.

Asked what was left to decide before pulling the trigger, Mack opted to toy with the local press a little longer.

“What number we would give him,” he said.

At which point legendary play-by-play man Bob Irving of CJOB cleverly asked: “Would that be an offensive lineman number, a receiver number or a linebacker number?”

Again, Mack would not bite: “Bob, think about it. If this was Christmas Eve and I told you… you would be so disappointed if I told you what your present was.”

Added Irving: “I’d get over it.”

And so it went during a get-together in which Mack — not surprisingly — was offering up very few hints as to which name will be the first heard when the draft opens this weekend.

Mack did say it was unlikely the first-overall selection would be available for trade, but that the fourth pick overall — acquired in the Steven Jyles trade with Toronto — could be a valuable asset the team deals for more picks later in the first round and into the second.

“We’ve had a number of offers for both (picks),” Mack said. “The way we have it mapped out right now, we think the two or three players we like best are maybe on a different plateau (than the rest) so I really doubt that we would trade the No. 1 pick.

“The No. 4 pick, we’ve had a lot of interest in that, and we’re listening to offers.”

Although they would not confirm as much, the Bombers have made several phone calls to the top prospects this week, including Rice O-lineman Scott Mitchell, Calgary slotback Anthony Parker and St. Francis Xavier linebacker Henoc Muamba — ranked first, second and third, respectively, by the CFL Scouting Bureau — as well as receiver Nathan Coehoorn, Parker’s teammate with the Dinos, who is ranked seventh.

“We’ve had discussions with the top three people (on their list),” said Mack. “They probably have an awareness and are probably very anxious and excited. We’ll probably let them know within the next day or two (whether they would be selected first).”

Rounding out the CFL Scouting Bureau’s Top 10 are: OL Phillip Blake (Baylor, ranked fourth); OL Tyler Holmes (Tulsa, fifth); DL Vaughn Martin (San Diego Chargers, sixth); K Hugh O’Neill (Alberta, eighth); WR Marco Iannuzzi (Harvard, ninth) and OL Moe Petrus (Connecticut, 10th).

Blake, Holmes and Petrus are all heading back to their schools this football season.

The Bombers are hoping to use their two early picks — if they don’t move the fourth overall — to stock up their overall Canadian talent.

“You’re always looking for talent across the board, import or non-import,” Mack said. “I think we have to be conscious of the fact we have to get some younger Canadian talents in here. We have to continue to get some young Canadian offensive linemen in the pipeline. We have Chris Greaves and (Chris) Kowalczuk we think will be good players for us, but we have to continue to upgrade there with regards to our young talent.

“And on the defensive side of the ball, Doug Brown’s played for us but obviously Doug’s 36 or 37 so we have to be conscious of that.”

The Bombers, like the rest of the CFL, are also hoping for an answer before Sunday’s draft as to whether Central Michigan receiver Kito Poblah will be in the supplemental draft — for players who didn’t have their eligibility confirmed before the deadline for the main draft — to be held later this month.

Poblah is an elite receiver some believe is as good if not better than the talent in the main draft. The supplemental draft works by waiver priority, meaning the Bombers would have the right to match any offer for a player by surrendering a pick in next year’s main draft.

Whether Poblah is available for the supplemental draft would have a dramatic impact on the Bomber strategy for this Sunday’s main selection.

BLUE NOTES: U of Calgary RB Anthony Woodson, drafted by the Bombers last year, was named Wednesday to Football Canada’s senior men’s national team, which will compete in the world championship in Austria this July. The Bombers, however, hope he is in training camp instead this June and pushing to make their team.

“I’ve put a call into Anthony,” said Mack. “We’re hoping he’ll be at camp. We’ll be disappointed if he isn’t because we really think he has a chance to contribute.”… Mack was at the Dinos’ spring camp on the weekend watching Woodson as well as other draft prospects, including OL Paul Swiston.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

PROSPECT WATCH

Free Press football writer Ed Tait will provide a brief synopsis of some of the top Canadian players daily leading up to Sunday’s CFL draft. Today, we focus on Anthony Parker:

ANTHONY PARKER

POSITION: receiver

SCHOOL: University of Calgary

HT.: 6-foot-2; Wt.: 215

BORN: Nov. 21, 1989, Okotoks, Alta.

CFL SCOUTING BUREAU RANKING: second.

CREDENTIALS: Had 22 catches for 367 yards and two TDs in just five games last year after hurting arm… Still named to Canada West all-star team for second straight year… Finished third in the nation with 816 receiving yards in 2009 and was named a second-team CIS All-Canadian… His father, Anthony Sr., played for the Stampeders in 1990.

E-CAMP TEST RESULTS FROM MARCH: Bench: 18 (second-best among receivers at the camp); 40-yard dash: 4.54 seconds (second overall); vertical jump: 43 inches (1st overall); broad jump: 10 feet, seven inches (second overall); shuttle: 4.09 seconds (third overall); three-cone drill: 6.75 seconds (tied for second overall).

VIDEO PROFILE COURTESY CFL.CA:

http://www.cfl.ca/video/index?sub_channel=369#show_video

TSN.CA PROFILE: http://watch.tsn.ca/cfl-news-and-highlights/#clip460862

WHY HE’D BE A GOOD FIT FOR THE BOMBERS: The Bombers have been searching for stud Canadian receivers for eons — Gerald Wilcox was the last homegrown pass catcher to finish with 1,000 yards in a season and that was way back in 1995. The club has some intriguing names still listed on its roster in Cory Watson, Aaron Hargreaves, Brock Ralph, Josh Bishop, Markus Howell, Scott McHenry and David McKoy, but whether Kito Poblah is available in the supplemental draft may affect whether they would use picks No. 1 or No. 4 on a receiver. Whispers are the club likes receiver Nathan Coehoorn, Parker’s teammate with the Dinos, more than Parker.