# 2021 CFL draft

The 2021 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place at May 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 54 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Unlike previous drafts, where the selection order was determined by the previous year's standings, this year's draft order was determined by a random draw.
The draft was broadcast live on TSN for the first two rounds. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some commentators broadcast from remote locations as opposed to in-studio. The TSN production was hosted by Rod Smith and featured the CFL on TSN panel which included Farhan Lalji, Duane Forde, and Davis Sanchez. Randy Ambrosie, the CFL commissioner, was in the TSN studios in Toronto to announce the picks for the first two rounds.

## Format changes

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2021 CFL draft underwent several changes. Since there was no previous season and standings, the draft order was a random draw with all nine teams having the same odds of being drawn. Every even-numbered round is in the reverse order of the odd-numbered rounds to balance the randomness of the draft order. The number of rounds in the draft decreased from eight to six due to the large number of rookies that will be present in camps (those from the 2020 CFL draft class). To accommodate that change, and due to U Sports and some NCAA programs not playing in 2020, eligible 2021 draftees were able to defer their draft years to 2022. Following the November 30, 2020 deadline, 132 U Sports players opted out of the 2021 Draft, which substantially reduced the available players this year. This led to speculation that NCAA redshirt juniors could be included in the draft to add more talent available this year which would also balance out the massive influx of players in 2022. This was confirmed when the league released the winter player rankings on January 20, 2021.
Further to those changes, there will be no territorial selections in 2021, after featuring them in the previous two drafts.
Unrelated to COVID-19 changes, beginning with this year's draft, any American or Global player that played football for a minimum of three years at a U Sports institution and graduated with a degree at that institution would qualify as a national player and be eligible for this year's draft.

## Top prospects

    Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.
| Spring ranking | Winter ranking | Fall ranking | Player | Position | University | Hometown |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Josh Palmer | Receiver | Tennessee | Brampton, ON |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Alaric Jackson | Offensive lineman | Iowa | Windsor, ON |
| 3 | 5 | – | Jevon Holland | Defensive back | Oregon | Coquitlam, BC |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | Amen Ogbongbemiga | Linebacker | Oklahoma State | Calgary, AB |
| 5 | 3 | – | Chuba Hubbard | Running back | Oklahoma State | Sherwood Park, AB |
| 6 | 11 | – | Benjamin St-Juste | Defensive back | Minnesota | Montreal, QC |
| 7 | 10 | 11 | Pier-Olivier Lestage | Offensive lineman | Montreal | Saint-Eustache, QC |
| 8 | 8 | 6 | Sage Doxtater | Offensive lineman | New Mexico State | Welland, ON |
| 9 | 15 | – | Mohamed Diallo | Defensive lineman | Central Michigan | Toronto, ON |
| 10 | 17 | 13 | Deane Leonard | Defensive back | Mississippi | Calgary, AB |
| 11 | 13 | 8 | Patrice Rene | Defensive back | North Carolina | Ottawa, ON |
| 12 | 7 | 5 | Liam Dobson | Offensive lineman | Maine | Ottawa, ON |
| 13 | 9 | 7 | Daniel Joseph | Defensive lineman | North Carolina State | Toronto, ON |
| 14 | 12 | 10 | Alonzo Addae | Defensive back | West Virginia | Pickering, ON |
| 15 | 6 | 3 | Terrell Jana | Receiver | Virginia | Vancouver, BC |
| 16 | – | 17 | Bruno Labelle | Tight end | Cincinnati | Montreal, QC |
| 17 | 19 | 14 | Nelson Lokombo | Defensive back | Saskatchewan | Abbotsford, BC |
| 18 | 16 | 12 | Logan Bandy | Offensive lineman | Calgary | Calgary, AB |
| 19 | 20 | – | Bryce Bell | Offensive lineman | Wilfrid Laurier | Waterloo, ON |
| 20 | 14 | 9 | Deshawn Stevens | Linebacker | Maine | Toronto, ON |
| – | 18 | 15 | Luiji Vilain | Defensive lineman | Michigan | Ottawa, ON |
| – | – | 16 | Ben Hladik | Linebacker | British Columbia | Vernon, BC |
| – | – | 18 | Tyris Lebeau | Linebacker | Massachusetts | Montreal, QC |
| – | – | 19 | Grant McDonald | Linebacker | Calgary | Tsawwassen, BC |
| – | – | 20 | Nick Cross | Linebacker | British Columbia | Regina, SK |

## Draft order
### Round one

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 1 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jake Burt | TE | Boston College |
| 2 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Nelson Lokombo | DB | Saskatchewan |
| 3 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Liam Dobson | OL | Texas State |
| 4 | BC Lions | Daniel Joseph | DL | North Carolina State |
| 5 | Edmonton Football Team | Cole Nelson | DL | Alberta |
| 6 | Ottawa Redblacks | Deshawn Stevens | LB | Maine |
| 7 | Toronto Argonauts | Peter Nicastro | OL | Calgary |
| 8 | Calgary Stampeders | Amen Ogbongbemiga | LB | Oklahoma State |
| 9 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Montreal) | Nick Cross | LB | British Columbia |

### Round two

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 10 | Montreal Alouettes | Pier-Olivier Lestage | OL | Montreal |
| 11 | Calgary Stampeders | Bryce Bell | OL | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 12 | Toronto Argonauts | Sage Doxtater | OL | New Mexico State |
| 13 | Ottawa Redblacks | Alonzo Addae | DB | West Virginia |
| 14 | Edmonton Football Team | Grant McDonald | LB | Calgary |
| 15 | BC Lions | Alaric Jackson | OL | Iowa |
| 16 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Redha Kramdi | DB | Montreal |
| 17 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Terrell Jana | WR | Virginia |
| 18 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Deane Leonard | DB | Mississippi |

### Round three

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 19 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Mohamed Diallo | DL | Central Michigan |
| 20 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Bruno Labelle | TE | Cincinnati |
| 21 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Patrice Rene | DB | North Carolina |
| 22 | BC Lions | Ben Hladik | LB | British Columbia |
| 23 | Edmonton Football Team | Deonte Glover | RB | Shepherd |
| 24 | Ottawa Redblacks | Connor Berglof | OL | Saskatchewan |
| 25 | Toronto Argonauts | Luiji Vilain | DL | Michigan |
| 26 | Calgary Stampeders | Charlie Moore | LB | Calgary |
| 27 | Montreal Alouettes | Chris Fournier | OL | Lehigh |

### Round four

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 28 | Montreal Alouettes | Patrick Davis | OL | Syracuse |
| 29 | Calgary Stampeders | Elliot Graham | LB | British Columbia |
| 30 | Toronto Argonauts | Tommy Nield | WR | McMaster |
| 31 | Ottawa Redblacks | Jake Julien | K/P | Eastern Michigan |
| 32 | Edmonton Football Team | Dominic Johnson | WR | Buffalo |
| 33 | Toronto Argonauts (via BC) | Trevor Hoyte | LB | Carleton |
| 34 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Robbie Lowes | LB | Regina |
| 35 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Alain Cimankinda | DL | Guelph |
| 36 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jarek Richards | LB | Saint Mary's |

### Round five

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 37 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Felix Garand-Gauthier | FB | Laval |
| 38 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Logan Bandy | OL | Calgary |
| 39 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Kyle Borsa | RB | Regina |
| 40 | BC Lions | Alfred Green | DL | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 41 | Edmonton Football Team | Peter Kourtis | OL | Saint Mary's |
| 42 | Ottawa Redblacks | Keegan Markgraf | LS | Utah |
| 43 | Calgary Stampeders (via Toronto) | Chuba Hubbard | RB | Oklahoma State |
| 44 | Calgary Stampeders | Luther Hakunavanhu | WR | York |
| 45 | Montreal Alouettes | David Côté | K | Laval |

### Round six

| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University |
| 46 | Montreal Alouettes | Ethan Makonzo | DB | Montreal |
| 47 | Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary) | Joshua Hagerty | DB | Saskatchewan |
| 48 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Toronto) | Shae Weekes | DB | Manitoba |
| 49 | Ottawa Redblacks | Matthew Derks | OL | Delaware State |
| 50 | Edmonton Football Team | Kenan Clarke | DB | Cornell |
| 51 | BC Lions | Tyler Packer | OL | Calgary |
| 52 | Toronto Argonauts (via Winnipeg) | Benjamin St-Juste | DB | Minnesota |
| 53 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Matt Watson | DB | Mount Allison |
| 54 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Myles Manalo | LB | Western |

## Trades

In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.

### Round one

* Montreal → Hamilton (PD). Montreal traded this selection, Jamaal Westerman, Chris Williams, and a first-round pick in the 2020 CFL draft to Hamilton in exchange for Johnny Manziel, Tony Washington, and Landon Rice.

### Round four

* BC → Toronto (PD). BC traded this selection and Davon Coleman to Toronto in exchange for Shawn Lemon.

### Round five

* Toronto → Calgary (PD). Toronto traded this selection and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft to Calgary in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year's draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel.

### Round six

* Winnipeg ←→ Toronto (PD). Winnipeg traded the 52nd overall selection and the playing rights to Cody Speller to Toronto in exchange for the 48th overall selection.
* Calgary → Toronto (PD). Calgary traded this selection, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel to Toronto in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this year's draft and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft.