Canadian Football Player Drafts on CFLdb Statistics

Canadian Football Player Drafts

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Draft Formats and History

In 1952, the IRFU held the first Canadian Football Amateur entry draft. The Big Four teams selected Canadian players from five Eastern Canadian universities — McGill, McMaster, Queen's, Toronto and Western Ontario. The draft evolved with the development of Canadian football and the formation of the CFL, eventually expanding to additional Canadian universities and finally to national (non-import) players who attended US colleges.

Entry drafts for Mexico's Liga de Futbol Americano (LFA) and European players were added in 2019, followed by a single global entry draft starting in 2020.

Territorial protections allowed teams to protect first two players (1973-1982), then one player (1983-1984) from their territory prior to the draft. Territory protections were reintroduced in 2019 with the two teams with the lowest priority order granted territory selections of one player each from their territory after the second round. The suspension of territorial protections, plus other changes were made for the 2021 draft due to conditions caused by the global pandemic.

Supplemental drafts provide a way for players who do not make the eligibility deadline for the main draft to be selected before the next draft. In addition, the CFL has held expansion drafts to stock expansion teams, equalization drafts as a competitive balance measure, and dispersal drafts.

Canadian Amateur Entry Drafts
Includes Territorial Exemption Selections (1973–1984, 2019-Present)

Years Held

Supplemental Entry Drafts

Years Held

Global Entry Drafts

Years Held

Expansion Drafts

Years Held

Equalization Drafts

Years Held

Dispersal Drafts

Years Held

Amateur Draft Team Breakdown

Team	Played / Picks (%)	League GP	Team GP
League Total	1,661 / 3,924 (42.33%)	97,216	52,472 (53.97%)
Ottawa Renegades	13 / 26 (50.00%)	1,000	184 (18.40%)
Edmonton Eskimos	201 / 412 (48.79%)	11,672	5,870 (50.29%)
Calgary Stampeders	230 / 479 (48.02%)	13,257	7,956 (60.01%)
Ottawa RedBlacks	27 / 57 (47.37%)	941	836 (88.84%)
BC Lions	200 / 423 (47.28%)	13,716	7,252 (52.87%)
Toronto Argonauts	198 / 457 (43.33%)	10,072	5,550 (55.10%)
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	166 / 391 (42.46%)	9,471	5,676 (59.93%)
Saskatchewan Roughriders	167 / 404 (41.34%)	11,100	6,082 (54.79%)
Montreal Alouettes	178 / 433 (41.11%)	11,073	6,036 (54.51%)
Montreal Concordes	10 / 26 (38.46%)	851	118 (13.87%)
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	179 / 490 (36.53%)	9,302	4,930 (53.00%)
Ottawa Rough Riders	92 / 317 (29.02%)	4,761	1,982 (41.63%)
Edmonton Football Team	0 / 9 (0.00%)	0	0 (0.00%)

Amateur Draft Position and College Breakdown

Breakdown by College/Program

270 — Western Ontario
243 — Toronto
219 — Simon Fraser
198 — Queen's
170 — British Columbia (UBC)
160 — McMaster
159 — Alberta
157 — Calgary
141 — McGill
138 — Manitoba
129 — Saskatchewan
125 — Wilfrid Laurier
123 — Ottawa
106 — Guelph
86 — Saint Mary's
81 — Bishop's
76 — Carleton
70 — Laval
67 — Concordia
65 — Waterloo
62 — St. Francis Xavier
57 — Windsor
56 — Acadia
53 — York
38 — Montreal
36 — Mount Allison
35 — Regina
34 — Waterloo Lutheran
29 — Weber State
26 — North Dakota
22 — Boise State
20 — Eastern Michigan
19 — Loyola, New Brunswick, Washington State
16 — Sherbrooke
15 — Minot State, Utah
14 — Michigan State
13 — Dalhousie
12 — Syracuse, Utah State
10 — Brigham Young, Northern Illinois, Richmond
9 — Bowling Green, Connecticut, Kent State, Royal Military College, Toledo
8 — Boston College, Buffalo, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, Tulsa, Western Michigan, Whitworth
7 — Akron, Cincinnati, Dickinson State, Drake, Idaho, Idaho State, New Hampshire, Oregon, Purdue, San Jose State, Western Kentucky
6 — Central Michigan, Colgate, Cornell, Laurentian, Miami, Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), Otterbein
5 — Arizona, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Indiana, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Montana State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rice, San Diego State, Stanford, Virginia
4 — California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Eastern Illinois, Florida, Grand Valley State, Harvard, Henderson State, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Liberty, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota State, Portland State, Rocky Mountain, Slippery Rock, Tennessee, U.S. International, Wagner College, Wake Forest, Washington, Wyoming, Youngstown State
3 — Brandon, California-Berkeley, Central Florida, Columbia, Eastern Oregon, Edinboro, Iowa State, Livingston, Macdonald, Mansfield, Maryland, Memphis, Murray State, Nevada-Reno, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northeast Missouri State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Notre Dame, Pacific, Penn State, Prince Edward Island, Princeton, South Carolina, West Virginia, Western Illinois, Western Montana, Wooster
2 — Augsburg, Baylor, Bemidji State, Boston, California (PA), California Poly-Pomona, Canisius, Central Washington, Charleston Southern, Delaware State, Evangel, Fairmont State, Fordham, Georgia State, Howard, Humboldt State, Indianapolis, Kansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Maine, Marshall, Massachusetts, Miami (OH), Northwestern, Northwood, Occidental, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Puget Sound, Sheridan, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, St. Patrick's, Tennessee-Martin, Texas Tech, Tulane, Valley City State, Virginia Tech, Washburn, Wayne State, Western Oregon, Western Washington, Winona State, Wisconsin State-La Crosse
1 — Adams State, Air Force, Alabama, Angelo State, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Augustana, Azusa Pacific, Bethune-Cookman, Bridgeport, Brown, Bucknell, Cal State-Fullerton, California Lutheran, California-Santa Barbara, Cape Breton, Carroll (WI), Carson-Newman, Central (IA), Dartmouth, Delta State, Duke, East Carolina, East Central, East Stroudsburg, Eastern Kentucky, Ferris State, Florida A&M, Fort Hays State, Fort Lewis, Fresno CC, Gannon, Gavilan JC, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Glenville State, Graceland, Grambling State, Harding, Hastings, Hayward, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Houston Baptist, Illinois State, Indiana (PA), Indiana State, Ithaca, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Jamestown, Kutztown, Lafayette, Lehigh, Long Beach State, Long Island-Post, Louisiana State, Mary, Mayville State, McNeese State, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Missouri Southern State, Missouri Western State, Montana Tech, Morgan State, Morningside, New Haven, Northeastern, Northern Iowa, Northern State, Northwestern State (LA), Oklahoma State, Pacific Lutheran, Panhandle State, Pittsburg State, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Ryerson, Saginaw Valley State, Saint Dunstan's, Sainte-Marie de Montréal, Salisbury State, Sam Houston State, San Diego, Seneca, South Alabama, South Dakota, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern, Southern Arkansas, Southern Oregon, Southwest Minnesota State, Springfield College (MA), St. Cloud State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas Southern, Texas-El Paso, Thunder Bay Giants Jr., Tiffin, Towson, Tusculum, Villanova, Western Connecticut, Willamette, William Jewell, William and Mary, Wisconsin, Wofford, Yale

Breakdown by Position