Marking Our Territory

The current version of the territorial selection in the draft only came into play last year but being that Ottawa has such a pick this year, this is a good time to go back and look at the original version of that draft feature.

As of April 2019...:

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.

Since Ottawa found all kinds of innovative ways to suck last year, they get an additional pick at the bottom of the second round.

Last year's press release included some historical info.

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.

How big a deal was this? Well, the Ottawa Rough Riders did quite nicely with it, thank you. Here's a look at some past territorial picks.

1973 - Donn Smith - OL - Played from 1973 to 1980 and was a three-time East all-star. 

1975 - Peter Stenerson - QB - Played multiple positions for Ottawa between 1975 and 1982, including receiver at which he caught 99 passes for 1460 yards and 11 tds. As a defensive back, he recorded five interceptions in 1976. 

 

1975 - Jeff Turcotte - OL - Played in 65 games between 1975 and 1980.  

1976 - Jeff Avery - Receiver - Played from 1976 to 1982, gathering in 169 passes for 2619 yards and 15 scores.  

1977 - Mike Murphy - RB - Ran for 1983 yards and contributed 163 receptions for another 1634 between 1977 and 1980. Murphy scored 10 touchdowns during that time.  

1978 - Bruce Walker - Receiver - Had 120 receptions for 1511 yards and five touchdowns over five seasons but also contributed as a punt returner over that time. 

1979 - Pat Stoqua - Receiver - From 1980 to 1984, caught 92 passes for 1546 yards and scored six times.    

1982 - Mark Seale - DL/OL - Played in Ottawa for three seasons before moving on to Toronto. Had 8.5 sacks in 1983.  

1983 - Roger Cattelan - OL - Played offensive line from 1983 to 1987. 

1983 - Mike Hudson - Receiver - Credited with 102 receptions, 1247 yards and two touchdowns between 1983 and 1988.   

1984 - Michel Bourgeau - DL - Prior to going to Edmonton in 1989, Bourgeau played on the defensive line for five seasons for Ottawa from 1984 to 1988, and recorded 15 sacks in that time.  

That is not a full list by any means and the list above doesn't include all of each individual's accomplishments. But it highlights the main contributors from the territorial pick and hopefully provides some insight as to its potential value.