Montreal Gets Aggressive led by GM Danny Maciocia

Danny Maciocia takes the success of the Montreal Alouettes very personally. How personally? Maciocia was born in Montreal…in fact, this might even be a direct quote by Danny Maciocia…emphasis on “might”…” You think Montreal is your ally. You’ve merely adopted Montreal. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was a man and by then it was only blinding.”

All jokes aside, the Alouettes swung two very prominent trades to work for the draft board in the 2022 selection process. They went into Tuesday with the 4th, and 13th overall selections, and came away with the 1st overall, 9th overall, and 18th overall selections.

Danny Maciocia…The Poker Player?

The morning kicked off with the 3 round snake-style Global Draft. Montreal also held the first overall selection in the Global draft. They used this pick to select Jonathan Kingsley defensive end from Syracuse University.

Kingsley was eligible for the Global Draft due to his birthplace being in Nigeria. Ju

st 3 days ago Kingsley agreed to a deal with the Buffalo Bills. This came after he went unselected in the NFL Draft Process. However, that was before he found out he was selected first overall in the Global Draft.

This just goes to show the dilemma teams face when selecting players in the draft process. While we talk about the draft as a lottery in the NFL, it is nothing like the risk the CFL teams take knowing they can’t dream of offering contracts that compare to the NFL’s. With that being said Maciocia must be a gambling man.

With their second-round pick in the Global Draft, Danny Maciocia opted to select another man with NFL offers on the table. This time it was Thomas Odukoya tight end from Eastern Michigan University. Odukoya hails from the Netherlands, which is what allowed him to find himself eligible for both the Global Draft and the NFL International Pathways Program. The NFL I.P.P. has placed Odukoya on the Tennessee Titans roster, and it remains to be seen which league he will decide to play in this season.

With their final selection immediately following their 2^nd round pick the

Alouettes decided to spend the selection on an Australian Rules Punter. Kirk Christodoulou was one of seven Australian rules punters selected in the Global Draft, including four that went in the first round alone.

2022 CFL Draft Round 1

The Real fun kicked off at 5 pm mountain time, 7 pm eastern time with the CFL Draft.

Montreal had made moves to acquire two first-round picks with two needs in mind. They used the first overall pick to draft Tyrell Richards which was the worst kept secret in the world after they traded for the top overall pick.

Richards simply put on a show at the combine, and it stood to reason Montreal would g

o after the man everyone wanted in the first round due to his unique ability to play nearly every position on defense well. Montreal gets to pair another premier linebacker with veteran Chris Ackie. This should be fun to watch him adapt to the speed of the game.

With the second of their first-round selections, they grabbed another second. The second Philpot twin to come off of the board that is. With his brother going 5^th overall to Calgary, and Samuel Emilus headed to Saskatchewan at 7^th overall, that left some fresh meat, Tyson, for the taking.

Tyson Philpot is 6’1 185 pounds and regarded as a solid receiver ready to contribute right away. Having played his college ball for the University of Calgary Dinos, he put up solid numbers all three years.

In year one he had 37 receptions for 886 yards and 5 touchdowns averaging nearly 24 y

ards per reception. Averaging just under 90 yards per game. He had a bit of a down year in 2019, but then he and his brother took over the receiver room in 2021. They would combine for 84 receptions for 1,540 yards and 12 touchdowns in just 6 games. Tyson showed he knows how to find the endzone scoring 9 times. He joins a stacked receiver group with Jake Wieneke and Eugene Lewis at the top of the depth chart.

2022 CFL Draft Round 2

In round two the Als didn’t let off the gas. This time they addressed their offensive line drafting a 6’1 285-pound dancing bear. Rodeem Brown is a center coming out of the University of Alberta. He put up a 7.82 3 cone drill at the combine good for third among offensive linemen. He also managed a 5.30 40-yard dash, 19 reps on the bench press, and a 4.90 shuttle. Ranking him second in the 40-yard dash, tied for 3^rd in the bench press, and 5^th in the shuttle. Showing what kind of an athlete he is at the center position.

Somewhere Vernon Adams, and Trevor Harris were jumping for joy when they saw their second and third selections in this draft class, after already gaining some excitement from the tight end selection in the Global Draft as well.

2022 CFL Draft Round 3

In Round Three, with thei

r fourth selection, the Alouettes followed the good old “Zombieland rule” and double-tapped the wide receiver position. This time selecting Vincent Forbes-Mambleau hailing from Laval. At 5’9 193 pounds, he is a smaller receiver who could see more time inside than outside at the CFL level.

However, he displayed immense strength putting up 22 reps in the bench press. This should help him defeat press-man coverage at the next level, and allow him to find success early on. While he didn’t participate in the National combine, in the regional combine he put up impressive numbers, landing in the top or better in every category:

40-yard dash: 4.68 seconds 5^th overall

3 cone drill:6.74 seconds 1^st overall

Bench Press: 22 reps 1

>st overall

Vertical Leap: 36.50 inches 3-way tie for 2^nd overall

Broad Jump: 9 feet 10 inches 4^th overall

Short Shuttle 4.36 5

p>th overall

Rounds four through seven brought more solid depth picks:

Round 4 Pick #33: Tyson-Otis Copeland DB from Montreal 6’1 198 pounds 24 years old

Round 5 Pick #42: Ryth Jean-Giraud RB

from Montreal 6’0 198 pounds 25 years old

Round 6 Pick #51: Peter Kozushka OL from Alberta 6’7 328 pounds 25 years old

Round 7 Pick #60: Yanis Chihat LB from Laval 6’5 220 pounds 23 years old

Round 8 Pick #69: Zach Lindley LB fro

m Western University 6’1 190 pounds 23 years old

Looking at the Philosphy

Ultimately in a move, I expected and pointed out before the draft the Alouettes chose to go very defense-heavy. They were able to retain many key pieces on offense including William Stanback, Jake Wieneke, Eugene Lewis, and Trevor Harris. However, they didn’t spend a lot of money addressing the defense like most fans had hoped.

Instead, they used the draft hoping to build their roster using National players, a smart move for a team that relies heavily on American offensive players. Having spent a total of four players that line up in the front seven, as well as defensive back Copeland, and punter Kirk Christodoulou, it’s clear the Alouettes are not happy with their ability to slow down opposing offenses and know if they can see improvement on defense in 2022 it will go a long way toward claiming victory in a Grey Cup following the 2022 season.

Check out m

y recent articles covering the draft and Montreal:

Montreal Shakes Up the Draft Order

2022 CFL Draft Preview Montreal