With just two trades and a few hours the Montreal Alouettes shake up entire first round draft order.
Montreal Moves Up From Round Two
The Montreal Alouettes must see someone they love in this year’s CFL Draft. Originally slated to pick fourth, the Alouettes made two moves to completely shake up the draft order in round one. Ultimately landing the first overall, and ninth overall picks in the first round of the 2022 CFL Draft.
The first trade occurred around 9 am ET, with Winnipeg agreeing to give up their 9th and 18th overall picks. In exchange, the Montreal Alouettes sent the Blue Bombers the 13th overall selection and young defensive tackle Cameron Lawson who played in just 4 games as a rookie for the Alouettes in 2021.
Winnipeg needed to add some more Canadian depth to their defensive front seven, and they achieve this goal by acquiring Lawson who could develop into a role player in 2022. On the flip side, the Alouettes trade down in the 2nd round just five spots and give up a second-year player in exchange for a second first-round pick.
Going For Broke
This left Montreal with the fourth overall selection in the first round, as well as the ninth overall selection. Most teams, especially with the level of talent the Als have on the offensive side of the ball, would be happy with this. However, in a move that can only be described as going all in for 2022, the Alouettes have acquired the first overall pick from the Edmonton Elks as well.
To acquire the first overall pick, Montreal had to give up their fourth overall pick, and the rights to current Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Carter O’Donnell. O’Donnell is a Canadian native and University of Alberta alum. O’Donnell is a former third-round pick by the Alouettes who took a flyer on the NFL prospect who signed with the Colts after going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Motivating Factors Both Teams
The speculation quickly turns to LB Tyrell Richards who is widely expected to be the first overall pick in the CFL draft. Richards is the kind of versatile do-it-all player that can play just about any position outside of Cornerback for a defense. He has taken snaps at defensive line, linebacker, and safety. He is as versatile as they come and showed the requisite athletic ability to be a star in the Canadian game on the wider field.
On the Edmonton side, I believe they see a prospect here that they think they can still get at the fourth overall spot. I have speculated with the way they approached the quarterback position this offseason that they were going to target Tre Ford with the top overall pick. However, it may even be more realistic now that they have traded down.
If they wanted Tre to begin with, and truly believe he will fall to fourth overall why not get the value this trade brings, and still get your guy? I spoke to Victor Cui on Monday evening less than 12 hours before this trade broke, and his exact words were: “Hahahahaha wait until you see what we’re planning.” Well, Victor, I see now, and you certainly weren’t foreshadowing for nothing.
Final Words
In just two trades the Montreal Alouettes changed one-third of the first round’s original order in a matter of hours. Will these be the only big-time trades we see in the 2022 CFL Draft? Which team will take a flyer on Jesse Luketa who was a 7th-round pick in the NFL? Tune in tonight to find out!
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