# 2019 CFL draft

The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the United States on NCAA or NAIA teams.
The draft was broadcast live on TSN and RDS for two hours and then switched to digital platforms on TSN.ca and TSN GO. Randy Ambrosie, the CFL commissioner, was at the TSN studios in Toronto to announce the first twenty picks.

## Top prospects

    Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.
| Final Ranking | December Ranking | August Ranking | Player | Position | University | Hometown |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Mathieu Betts | Defensive lineman | Laval | Montreal, QC |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Shane Richards | Offensive lineman | Oklahoma State | Calgary, AB |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Justin McInnis | Receiver | Arkansas State | Pierrefonds, QC |
| 4 | 17 | 8 | Zach Wilkinson | Offensive lineman | Northern Colorado | Vancouver, BC |
| 5 | 6 | 3 | Hergy Mayala | Receiver | UConn | Montreal, QC |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | Jonathan Kongbo | Defensive lineman | Tennessee | Surrey, BC |
| 7 | - | - | Drew Desjarlais | Offensive lineman | Windsor | Belle River, ON |
| 8 | 8 | 11 | Maleek Irons | Running back | Ohio | Chilliwack, BC |
| 9 | 13 | 14 | Kaion Julien-Grant | Receiver | St. Francis Xavier | Toronto, ON |
| 10 | 5 | 9 | Alex Fontana | Offensive lineman | Kansas | Toronto, ON |
| 11 | - | - | Brayden Lenius | Receiver | New Mexico | North Vancouver, BC |
| 12 | 16 | 12 | Samuel Thomassin | Offensive lineman | Laval | Quebec, QC |
| 13 | 11 | 18 | Maurice Simba | Offensive lineman | Concordia | Laval, QC |
| 14 | - | - | Jesse Gibbon | Offensive lineman | Waterloo | Hamilton, ON |
| 15 | 12 | 15 | Robbie Smith | Defensive lineman | Wilfrid Laurier | Brampton, ON |
| 16 | 9 | 13 | Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. | Receiver | Wilfrid Laurier | Ottawa, ON |
| 17 | 19 | 20 | Michael O'Connor | Quarterback | British Columbia | Orleans, ON |
| 18 | 10 | 7 | Brady Oliveira | Running back | North Dakota | Winnipeg, MB |
| 19 | - | - | Malcolm Lee | Defensive back | British Columbia | Surrey, BC |
| 20 | 7 | 10 | Alexandre Savard | Receiver | Laval | Quebec, QC |
| - | 14 | 19 | Fraser Sopik | Linebacker | Western | Toronto, ON |
| - | 15 | 17 | Jamie Harry | Defensive back | Ottawa | Lachine, QC |
| - | 18 | - | Trivel Pinto | Receiver | British Columbia | Toronto, ON |
| - | 20 | - | Nate Anderson | Defensive lineman | Missouri | Toronto, ON |
| - | - | 6 | Dejon Brissett | Receiver | Richmond | Mississauga, ON |
| - | - | 16 | Jamel Lyles | Running back | Manitoba | Surrey, BC |

## Trades

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

### Round one

* BC → Winnipeg (PD). BC traded this selection and a second-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft to Winnipeg in exchange for a first-round pick and a second-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft.

### Round two

* Montreal → Hamilton (PD). Montreal traded this selection and the first, 31st, and 44th overall selections in the 2018 CFL Draft to Hamilton in exchange for the second, 34th, and 56th overall picks in the 2018 CFL Draft, Ryan Bomben, and Jamal Robinson.
* BC → Montreal (PD). BC traded this selection to Montreal in exchange for Tyrell Sutton and a third-round pick in this year's draft.
* Ottawa → Montreal (PD). Ottawa traded this selection to Montreal in exchange for Chris Ackie.

### Round three

* Saskatchewan → Montreal (PD). Saskatchewan traded this selection, Tevaughn Campbell, and a third-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft to Montreal for Vernon Adams and a fifth-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft.
* Edmonton → Toronto (PD). Edmonton traded this selection to Toronto in exchange for Martese Jackson and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2020 CFL Draft.
* Montreal → BC (PD). Montreal traded this selection and Tyrell Sutton to BC in exchange for a second-round pick in this year's draft.
* BC → Hamilton (PD). BC traded this selection to Hamilton in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year's draft and Davon Coleman. This was originally a fourth-round pick, but was revealed to be a third-round pick when the official draft order was released.

### Round four

* Hamilton → Calgary (PD). Hamilton traded this selection and fourth-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft to Calgary in exchange for Charleston Hughes and the 34th overall pick (fourth round) in the 2018 CFL Draft.

### Round five

* Hamilton → Edmonton (PD). Hamilton traded this selection and a seventh-round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft to Edmonton in exchange for Shamawd Chambers.

### Round six

* Hamilton → BC (PD). Hamilton traded this selection and Davon Coleman to BC in exchange for a fourth-round pick in this year's draft.

### Round seven

* Saskatchewan → Toronto (PD). Saskatchewan traded this selection to Toronto in exchange for Brian Jones.

### Round eight

* Toronto → Hamilton (PD). Toronto traded this selection to Hamilton in exchange for Abdul Kanneh.

### Conditional trades

* Montreal → Winnipeg (PD). Montreal traded a conditional eighth-round selection to Winnipeg in exchange for Adarius Bowman. This condition was not fulfilled and Montreal kept the selection.

## Territorial exemptions

Beginning in 2019, the CFL announced the two teams with the highest waiver priority will each get to make one Territorial Draft Pick (to be used to select a player born within their territorial limits at the end of the second round). The two teams that qualified for the 2019 Draft were Montreal and Toronto and these picks were made with the 17th and 18th overall picks.
This was the first time since 1984 that the league’s draft will feature territorial selections. From 1972 to 1982, each club had the right to pre-select two players from its region who would be exempted from the draft. That limit was reduced to one Draft exemption selection in 1983 and 1984, and then the practice was terminated altogether prior to the 1985 Canadian Draft.

## Forfeitures

* Montreal forfeited their first round pick after selecting Tyler Johnstone in the 2018 Supplemental Draft.

## Draft order
### Round one

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 1 | Toronto Argonauts | Shane Richards | OL | Oklahoma State |
| – | Montreal Alouettes | Selection forfeited | Selection forfeited | Selection forfeited |
| 2 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jesse Gibbon | OL | Waterloo |
| 3 | Edmonton Eskimos | Mathieu Betts | DL | Laval |
| 4 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via BC) | Drew Desjarlais | OL | Windsor |
| 5 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Jonathan Kongbo | DL | Tennessee |
| 6 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Justin McInnis | WR | Arkansas State |
| 7 | Ottawa Redblacks | Alex Fontana | OL | Kansas |
| 8 | Calgary Stampeders | Hergy Mayala | WR | UConn |

### Round two

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 9 | Toronto Argonauts | Robbie Smith | DL | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 10 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Montreal) | Nikola Kalinic | WR | York |
| 11 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | David Ungerer | WR | Idaho |
| 12 | Edmonton Eskimos | Kyle Saxelid | OL | Nevada, Las Vegas |
| 13 | Montreal Alouettes (via BC) | Kaion Julien-Grant | WR | St. Francis Xavier |
| 14 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Brady Oliveira | RB | North Dakota |
| 15 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Brayden Lenius | WR | New Mexico |
| 16 | Montreal Alouettes (via Ottawa) | Nate Anderson | DL | Missouri |
| 17 | Calgary Stampeders | Vincent Desjardins | DL | Laval |
| 18 | Toronto Argonauts | Matthew Boateng | DB | Fresno State |
| 19 | Montreal Alouettes | Samuel Thomassin | OL | Laval |

### Round three

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 20 | Toronto Argonauts | Michael O'Connor | QB | British Columbia |
| 21 | Montreal Alouettes | Zach Wilkinson | OL | Northern Colorado |
| 22 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Maleek Irons | RB | Ohio |
| 23 | Toronto Argonauts (via Edmonton) | Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. | WR | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 24 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via BC) | Sheridan Lawley | DL | British Columbia |
| 25 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Connor Griffiths | DL | British Columbia |
| 26 | BC Lions (via Montreal via Saskatchewan) | Noah Robinson | LB | Missouri |
| 27 | Ottawa Redblacks | Gabriel Polan | RB | Sherbrooke |
| 28 | Calgary Stampeders | Zack Williams | OL | Manitoba |

### Round four

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 29 | Toronto Argonauts | Maurice Simba | OL | Concordia |
| 30 | Montreal Alouettes | Chris Osei-Kusi | WR | Queen's |
| 31 | Calgary Stampeders (via Hamilton) | Fraser Sopik | LB | Western |
| 32 | Edmonton Eskimos | Peter Cender | FB | Grand Valley State |
| 33 | BC Lions | Hakeem Johnson | DB | Western |
| 34 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Tavita Eli | OL | Hawai'i |
| 35 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Jacob Janke | LB | York |
| 36 | Ottawa Redblacks | Thomas Grant | DL | Acadia |
| 37 | Calgary Stampeders | Jaylan Guthrie | OL | Guelph |

### Round five

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 38 | Toronto Argonauts | Jamie Harry | DB | Ottawa |
| 39 | Montreal Alouettes | Michael Sanelli | DT | Concordia |
| 40 | Edmonton Eskimos (via Hamilton) | Shai Ross | WR | Manitoba |
| 41 | Edmonton Eskimos | Evan Machibroda | DL | Saskatchewan |
| 42 | BC Lions | Jonathan Harke | OL | Alberta |
| 43 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Malik Richards | WR | Mount Allison |
| 44 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Charbel Dabire | DL | Wagner |
| 45 | Ottawa Redblacks | Wesley Lewis | WR | Houston Baptist |
| 46 | Calgary Stampeders | Malcolm Lee | DB | British Columbia |

### Round six

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 47 | Toronto Argonauts | Joe Spaziani | LS | Virginia |
| 48 | Montreal Alouettes | Jeshrun Antwi | RB | Calgary |
| 49 | BC Lions (via Hamilton) | Charles Nwoye | DE | British Columbia |
| 50 | Edmonton Eskimos | Scott Hutter | DB | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 51 | BC Lions | Mario Villamizar | FB | Wilfrid Laurier |
| 52 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Tariq Lachance | DL | Manitoba |
| 53 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Vincent Roy | OL | Sherbrooke |
| 54 | Ottawa Redblacks | Chris Larsen | DL | Manitoba |
| 55 | Calgary Stampeders | Nicholas Statz | DB | Calgary |

### Round seven

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 56 | Toronto Argonauts | Phil Iloki | WR | Carleton |
| 57 | Montreal Alouettes | Benjamin Whiting | LB | Saskatchewan |
| 58 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Derek Dufault | DL | Manitoba |
| 59 | Edmonton Eskimos | Hunter Karl | WR | Calgary |
| 60 | BC Lions | Brad Lyons | DL | Simon Fraser |
| 61 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Nick Hallett | DB | Toronto |
| 62 | Toronto Argonauts (via Saskatchewan) | Eric Starczala | OL | Guelph |
| 63 | Ottawa Redblacks | Samson Abbott | DL | Manitoba |
| 64 | Calgary Stampeders | Job Reinhart | LB | Guelph |

### Round eight

| Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University |
| 65 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Toronto) | Malcolm Campbell | DL | Toronto |
| 66 | Montreal Alouettes | Cody Cranston | DB | Ottawa |
| 67 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Gordon Whyte | LB | St. Francis Xavier |
| 68 | Edmonton Eskimos | Eric Blake | DB | McMaster |
| 69 | BC Lions | Jamel Lyles | RB | Manitoba |
| 70 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Kerfalla Emmanuel Exumé | DB | Montreal |
| 71 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Christopher Judge | DL | Cal Poly |
| 72 | Ottawa Redblacks | Clement Lebreux | DL | Laval |
| 73 | Calgary Stampeders | Colton Hunchak | WR | York |
* 1 2 Territorial draft pick