| 2021 CFL Draft | |
| Logosize: | 250px |
| Logoalt: | 2021 CFL draft logo |
| Sport: | Canadian football |
| Location: | Toronto |
| Date: | May 4, 2021 |
| Time: | 7:00 pm EDT |
| Network: | TSN/RDS |
| Overall: | 54 |
| Rounds: | 6 |
| League: | CFL |
| First: | Jake Burt, TE, |
| Fewest: | Montreal Alouettes BC Lions |
| Fewnum: | 5 |
| Most: | Hamilton Tiger-Cats Toronto Argonauts |
| Mostnum: | 7 |
| U Sports: | 31 |
| Ncaa: | 23 |
| Prev: | 2020 |
| Next: | 2022 |
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.[1] 54 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.[2] 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.[3] [4]
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.
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.[3] [5] Every even-numbered round is in the reverse order of the odd-numbered rounds to balance the randomness of the draft order.[3] 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).[3] [5] 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.[3] [5] [6] Following the November 30, 2020 deadline, 132 U Sports players opted out of the 2021 Draft, which substantially reduced the available players this year.[6] 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.[6] 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.[3] [7]
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.[8]
Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.[9]
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston College | |||||||
| 2 | Saskatchewan | |||||||
| 3 | Texas State | |||||||
| 4 | North Carolina State | |||||||
| 5 | Alberta | |||||||
| 6 | Maine | |||||||
| 7 | Calgary | |||||||
| 8 | Oklahoma State | |||||||
| 9 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Montreal) | British Columbia |
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Montreal Alouettes | Montreal | ||||||
| 11 | Calgary Stampeders | Wilfrid Laurier | ||||||
| 12 | Toronto Argonauts | New Mexico State | ||||||
| 13 | Ottawa Redblacks | West Virginia | ||||||
| 14 | Edmonton Football Team | Calgary | ||||||
| 15 | BC Lions | Iowa | ||||||
| 16 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Montreal | ||||||
| 17 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Virginia | ||||||
| 18 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Mississippi |
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Central Michigan | ||||||
| 20 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Cincinnati | ||||||
| 21 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | North Carolina | ||||||
| 22 | BC Lions | British Columbia | ||||||
| 23 | Edmonton Football Team | Shepherd | ||||||
| 24 | Ottawa Redblacks | Saskatchewan | ||||||
| 25 | Toronto Argonauts | Michigan | ||||||
| 26 | Calgary Stampeders | Calgary | ||||||
| 27 | Montreal Alouettes | Lehigh |
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Montreal Alouettes | Syracuse | ||||||
| 29 | Calgary Stampeders | British Columbia | ||||||
| 30 | Toronto Argonauts | McMaster | ||||||
| 31 | Ottawa Redblacks | Eastern Michigan | ||||||
| 32 | Edmonton Football Team | Buffalo | ||||||
| 33 | Toronto Argonauts (via BC) | Carleton | ||||||
| 34 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Regina | ||||||
| 35 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Guelph | ||||||
| 36 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Saint Mary's |
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Laval | ||||||
| 38 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Calgary | ||||||
| 39 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Regina | ||||||
| 40 | BC Lions | Wilfrid Laurier | ||||||
| 41 | Edmonton Football Team | Saint Mary's | ||||||
| 42 | Ottawa Redblacks | Utah | ||||||
| 43 | Calgary Stampeders (via Toronto) | Oklahoma State | ||||||
| 44 | Calgary Stampeders | York | ||||||
| 45 | Montreal Alouettes | Laval |
| Pick # | width=40% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | CFL Team ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Player ! | width=8% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | Position ! | width=20% style="background:#E5E5E5;" | University |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Montreal Alouettes | Montreal | ||||||
| 47 | Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary) | Saskatchewan | ||||||
| 48 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Toronto) | Manitoba | ||||||
| 49 | Ottawa Redblacks | Delaware State | ||||||
| 50 | Edmonton Football Team | Cornell | ||||||
| 51 | BC Lions | Calgary | ||||||
| 52 | Toronto Argonauts (via Winnipeg) | Minnesota | ||||||
| 53 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Mount Allison | ||||||
| 54 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Western |
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Trade references
General references