2022 Drafts

This post will be updated frequently as information is made available.

1 (02) - OL Zack Pelehos - uOttawa

Graphic from Gee-Gees Football Twitter account 

cfl.ca: "The six-foot-six, 296-pound lineman was a 2021 OUA first-team selection...Pelehos played in all 370 of the GeeGees offensive plays in 2021 and was named the team’s MVP. He made his way to the CFL Draft via the Ontario Regional Combine.

As a freshman in 2018, Pelehos was an OUA second-team all-star, a member of the OUA all-rookie team and the team’s o-lineman of the year."

Ottawa Sports Pages article from December 2021.

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke: “Zack’s progression was evident through the combine, and what he brought to his program. He’s nasty, he’s going to be physical, and he brings the type of football we want to play.”

Redblacks Press Release: Pelehos starred at the 2022 Regional Combine. The 6’6 300lbs tackle finished first among offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash (5.34), three-cone drill (7.92), short shuttle (4.69), vertical jump (29.50in), and broad jump (8’ 9 ¾“), as well as tying for first place in the bench press (16 reps).

2 (11) - OL Cyrille Hogan-Saindon - Laval

Graphic from Laval Football Twitter account

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “Talking about our DNA, our physicality, there’s a big arrow up on (Hogan-Saindon). He’s a one-year starter. A lot of guys that come out of Laval and Montreal are a bit older because of the CGEP program, but he’s a little younger in age. He’ll take some time to develop, but he’s got huge upside. He’s extremely intelligent, an academic all-Canadian. He’ll come in and bring an edge to that position. To get him with that pick, we’re extremely excited.”

2 (20, Terr.) - LB Jesse Luketa - Penn State

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “You look at it and when you can get a player of that calibre with what you would maybe call an additional pick – we hope not to have that pick anymore in the future – but let’s take advantage of it. We looked at a couple other local kids. I think it’s important to acknowledge what Jesse’s doing for this community and football and to have him associated with the Redblacks brand and give hope and inspiration to our football community means a lot. I called Jesse right after and congratulated him. I said, ‘There aren’t too many guys that can say they were drafted twice in one week.’ He was jacked to be drafted by his hometown team. We talked about, ‘Hey, we don’t expect you here. We want you to make it as far as you can. But we want you to be an ambassador for not only the City of Ottawa, but our country and the sport we all love.’ ”

3 (22) - WR Keaton Bruggeling - Carleton 

Graphic from the Carleton Football Twitter account

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “You look at him and he’s 6-foot 3, 220 pounds. He’s got the body for this. You see the speed on the field when you watch his film. It’s still coming together for him. He took a big jump this season where he became more of your go-to guy. He’s still got some teaching to come along. Coach LaPolice and (receivers) coach (Alex) Suber, they’ll get him there. He’s guy who’s passionate about football. And he’s excited to get in our building as well.”

4 (31) - DB Daniel Valente - Western Ontario

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He’s a guy that just kept rising and rising as we got through the draft process. It was always, ‘What about that Valente kid, what about that Valente kid?’ He was just a guy we kept talking about and we knew there was a certain point in the draft where it was like, ‘We’ve got to take this guy.’ ”

5 (40) - LB Woodly Appolon - Tuskegee

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He started at Northern Illinois, and then made his way down (to Tuskegee) with his (twin) brother (Wesly). He’s something different. You don’t see 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 225-pound guys, that type of size. You’re always looking for size and athleticism. And he brings it. It’s something we don’t have in that group right now. He’s not going to be here this year, he’s going back to school. But he seems genuinely excited for the opportunity and we’ll track him for the year.”

6 (49) - LB Subomi Oyesoro - Calgary

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He’s definitely a special teams guy, but he has some potential which I don’t think he’s reached yet. (University of) Calgary went through a bit of a difficult season; usually they’ve been a powerhouse and they fell back a little. It’ll be exciting to see how he reacts to the pro camp and what he learns from that. But in terms of athleticism, he’s a body type we’re looking for. We thought we were a little lacking in that.”

7 (58) - SB Connor Ross - St. Francis Xavier

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “Connor is a fullback but he’s also got some long-snapping skills. When we looked at our roster, we obviously have L.P. (Louis-Philippe Bourassa) who is great at what he does, but Maxime (Latour) got picked up by Toronto late last year and we thought we were a little light there. He’ll likely get a chance to go back to school. (Special teams co-ordinator) Jim Daley’s (at St. FX) and he’s a great special teams coach.”

8 (67) - RB Luca Perrier - Laval

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “When we looked at special teams rankings, he just kept rising. He plays big — 210, 5-foot 11, and comes from a winning program. We do have two great special teamers as Canadians at running back – Gilly (Brendan Gillanders) and Jackson Bennett. Over the course of a season, you’re always going to have some ups and downs injury-wise and I believe (Perrier) gives us a chance that if he was sitting there available and ready to play, we wouldn’t see a huge fall off.”

Earlier in the day, Ottawa selected the following players in the global draft. 

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS made three picks during today’s 2022 CFL Global Draft, selecting offensive lineman Hector Zepeda (Round 1), defensive back Edris Jean-Alphonse (Round 2), and kicker Gabriel Ballinas (Round 3).

Zepada, 24, hails from Ensenada, Baja California, and was the only Mexican of the 13 international prospects to be selected into the 2022 NFL International Player Pathway program. The 6’4 290lbs offensive lineman spent his college career with Tecnólogico de Monterrey.

Graphic from mexfba IG account

Jean-Alphonse, 25, is a product of the Laval Rouge et Or. Born in Bobigny, France, the defensive back impressed at the CFL Global Combine, where he recorded the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.55), fastest short shuttle time (4.18), and placed fifth in the broad jump (9’ 11/12”).

Ballinas, 23, played his college football at Albany State, where he earned All-Conference First Team kicker/punter honours, and was also named HBCU All American, as well as HBCU Special Teams Player of the Year. Ballinas is a native of Guadalupe, Mexico.

The Redblacks did well in this draft last year with the selection of linebacker Tyron Vrede from the Netherlands. He was third on the team with 10 special teams tackles and added another five defensively.