2025 CFL draft

Canadian football player selection

2025 CFL draft

General information
Sport| Canadian football
Date(s)| April 29, 2025
Time| 6:00 pm EDT
Location| Toronto, Ontario
Network(s)|

* TSN
* RDS
* TSN+

Overview
72 total selections in 8 rounds
League| Canadian Football League
First selection| Damien Alford, Calgary Stampeders
Most selections (10)|

* Calgary Stampeders

Fewest selections (7)|

* Ottawa Redblacks
* Edmonton Elks
* Saskatchewan Roughriders
* BC Lions

U Sports selections| 49
NCAA selections| 23

<- 2024

2026 ->

The 2025 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that toke place on April 29, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET.[1] Seventy-two players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.[2][3]

## Format

[edit]

As per the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, the two teams that had National players featured in the highest percentage of snaps played in the 2024 CFL season were each awarded an additional second-round pick.[3] The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BC Lions were awarded these selections for the second consecutive year.[4]

## Top prospects

[edit]

Final
ranking[5] | January
ranking[6] | August
ranking[7] | Player  | Position  | University  | Hometown

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 3  | \-  | Elic Ayomanor | Wide receiver | Stanford | Medicine Hat, AB
2  | 1  | 1  | Kurtis Rourke | Quarterback | Indiana | Oakville, ON
3  | 2  | 3  | Paris Shand | Defensive lineman | LSU | Toronto, ON
4  | \-  | \-  | Connor Shay | Linebacker | Wyoming | Danville, CA
5  | 5  | 10  | Keelan White | Wide receiver  | Montana | North Vancouver, BC
6  | \-  | \-  | Tiger Shanks | Offensive lineman | UNLV | Lake Oswego, OR
7  | \-  | 2  | Damien Alford | Wide receiver  | Utah | Montreal, QC
8  | 13  | 19  | Darien Newell | Defensive lineman  | Queen's | Brampton, ON
9  | 9  | \-  | Hayden Harris | Defensive lineman  | Montana  | Mill Creek, WA
10  | 11  | \-  | Christopher Fortin | Offensive lineman  | Connecticut | Saint-René, QC
11  | 12  | \-  | Ali Saad | Defensive lineman  | Bowling Green | Windsor, ON
12  | 4  | 8  | Isaiah Bagnah | Defensive lineman  | BYU | Lethbridge, AB
13  | 8  | 5  | Jackson Findlay | Defensive back | Western | North Vancouver, BC
14  | 20  | \-  | Taylor Elgersma | Quarterback  | Wilfrid Laurier | London, ON
15  | 6  | 20  | Jaylen Smith | Defensive back  | North Texas | Hamilton, ON
16  | 7  | 14  | Jeremiah Ojo | Defensive lineman  | Montreal | Montreal, QC
17  | 17  | \-  | Samuel Carson | Offensive lineman  | Louisiana-Monroe | Calgary, AB
18  | 10  | 17  | Erik Andersen | Offensive lineman  | Western  | London, ON
19  | 15  | 15  | Devin Veresuk | Linebacker  | Windsor | Windsor, ON
20  | 19  | \-  | Nate Beauchemin | Defensive back  | Calgary | Kelowna, BC
\-  | 14  | 16  | Nate Martey | Defensive lineman  | Arkansas State | Ottawa, ON
\-  | 16  | \-  | Ethan Jordan | Wide receiver  | Wilfrid Laurier  | Chatham, ON
\-  | 18  | \-  | Isaiah Knight | Running back | British Columbia | Ottawa, ON
\-  | \-  | 4  | Eric Schon [a] | Offensive lineman  | Duke | Barrie, ON
\-  | \-  | 6  | Nolan Ulm [b] | Wide receiver  | Eastern Washington | Kelowna, BC
\-  | \-  | 7  | Akheem Mesidor [b] | Defensive lineman  | Miami (FL) | Ottawa, ON
\-  | \-  | 9  | Wesley Bailey [b] | Defensive lineman  | Rutgers | Ottawa, ON
\-  | \-  | 11  | Jett Elad [b] | Defensive back  | UNLV  | Mississauga, ON
\-  | \-  | 12  | Rene Konga [b] | Defensive lineman  | Louisville | Ottawa, ON
\-  | \-  | 13  | Devynn Cromwell | Defensive back  | Texas Tech | Toronto, ON
\-  | \-  | 18  | Harold Miessan | Linebacker  | Montreal  | Montreal, QC

1. ^ Schon retired after the 2024 college football season.[6]
2. ^ a b c d e Ulm, Mesidor, Bailey, Elad, and Konga all reclassified to 2026.[6]

## Draft order

[edit]

* Source: [8]

### Round one

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

1 | Calgary Stampeders | Damien Alford | WR | Utah
2 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Devin Veresuk | LB | Windsor
— | Edmonton Elks | Selection forfeited[9]
— | BC Lions | Selection forfeited[4]
3 | Ottawa Redblacks | Keelan White | WR | Montana
4 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Ali Saad | DL | Bowling Green
5 | Montreal Alouettes | Tiger Shanks | OL | UNLV
6 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Connor Shay | LB | Wyoming
7 | Toronto Argonauts | Jeremiah Ojo | DL | Montreal
8 | Calgary Stampeders (via BC forfeiture)[4] | Christopher Fortin | OL | Connecticut

### Round two

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

— | BC Lions (via Calgary)[trade 1] | Selection forfeited[4]
9 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Isaiah Bagnah | DL | BYU
10 | Edmonton Elks | Darien Newell | DL | Queen's
11 | BC Lions | Hayden Harris | DL | Montana
12 | Ottawa Redblacks | Samuel Carson | OL | Louisiana–Monroe
13 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Erik Anderson | OL | Western
14 | Montreal Alouettes | Nate Beauchemin | DB | Calgary
15 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Jaylen Smith | DB | North Texas
16 | BC Lions (via Toronto) | Jackson Findlay | DB | Western
17 | Calgary Stampeders (via BC forfeiture)[4] | Quincy Vaughn | TE | North Dakota
18N | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Taylor Elgersma | QB | Wilfrid Laurier
19N | Toronto Argonauts (via BC) | Paris Shand | DL | LSU

### Round three

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

20 | Calgary Stampeders | Anton Haie | DB | Laval
21 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Arvin Hosseini | OL | British Columbia
22 | Edmonton Elks | Skyler Griffith | TE | British Columbia
23 | Montreal Alouettes (via BC)[trade 2] | Gabriel Lessard | LB | Montreal
24 | Edmonton Elks (via Ottawa)[trade 3] | Isaiah Knight | RB | British Columbia
25 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Kurtis Rourke | QB | Indiana
26 | Montreal Alouettes | Hakeem Harris | WR | Davenport
27 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Ethan Vibert | OL | South Dakota State
28 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Toronto)[trade 4] | Mack Bannatyne | DB | Alberta

### Round four

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

29 | Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary and BC)[trade 1] | Gavin Coakes | OL | British Columbia
30 | Toronto Argonauts (via Hamilton)[trade 4] | Istvan Assibo-Dadzie | DB | Windsor
31 | Edmonton Elks | Silas Hubert | DL | Queen's
32 | Calgary Stampeders (via BC)[trade 1] | Nicky Farinaccio | LB | Montreal
33 | Ottawa Redblacks | Muftah Ageli | DL | Northwestern Oklahoma State
34 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Seth Hundeby | LB | Saskatchewan
35 | Montreal Alouettes | Keanu Yazbeck | RB | Western
36 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Winnipeg)[trade 5] | Ty Anderson | DL | Alberta
37 | BC Lions (via Toronto) | Connor Klassen | OL | Regina

### Round five

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

38 | Calgary Stampeders | Vyshonne Janusas | WR | Guelph
39 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Hamilton)[trade 5] | Joey Corcoran | WR | New Hampshire
40 | Edmonton Elks | Domenico Piazza | OL | McGill
41 | BC Lions | Dre Doiron | OL | Kansas
42 | Ottawa Redblacks | Eric Cumberbatch | DB | Ottawa
43 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Liam Hoskins | LB | Windsor
44 | Montreal Alouettes | Gabriel Maisonneuve | DL | Montreal
45 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Lane Novak | LB | Saskatchewan
46 | Toronto Argonauts | Jaylen Rayam | LB | UTEP

### Round six

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

47 | Calgary Stampeders | Ludovick Choquette | RB | Long Island
48 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Ronan Horrall | DB | British Columbia
49 | Edmonton Elks | Daniel Hocevar | OL | Guelph
50 | BC Lions | Chase Tataryn | LB | Alberta
51 | Ottawa Redblacks | Ethan Jordan | WR | Wilfrid Laurier
52 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Gideon Agyei | DB | Calgary
53 | Montreal Alouettes | Isaac Gaillaretz | WR | Laval
54 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Ethan Ball | DB | Calgary
55 | Toronto Argonauts | Joey Zorn | RB | Windsor

### Round seven

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

56 | Calgary Stampeders | Matthew Stokman | OL | Manitoba
57 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Jake Nitychoruk | DB | Manitoba
58 | Edmonton Elks | Kolby Hurford | WR | Alberta
59 | BC Lions | Alex Berwick | OL | Western
60 | Ottawa Redblacks | Jayden Griffiths | LB | Wilfrid Laurier
61 | Calgary Stampeders (via Saskatchewan)[trade 6] | Max von Muehldorfer | DL | Western
62 | Montreal Alouettes | Jonathan Sénécal | QB | Montreal
63 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Trey Laing | DL | Eastern Michigan
64 | Toronto Argonauts | Ethan Pyle | OL | Guelph

### Round eight

[edit]

Pick # | CFL Team | Player | Position | University

|
|
|
|

65 | Calgary Stampeders | Ashton Miller-Melancon | DB | Queen's
66 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Nate Martey | DL | Arkansas State
— | Edmonton Elks | Selection forfeited[10]
67 | BC Lions | Luka Stoikos | RB | Toronto
68 | Ottawa Redblacks | King Ambers | DB | East Texas A&M
69 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Daniel Wiebe | WR | Saskatchewan
70 | Montreal Alouettes | Riley MacLeod | LB | Western
71 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Iwinosa Uwubanmwen | OL | Alberta
72 | Toronto Argonauts | Deemetrius Masuka | DB | McMaster

## Trades

[edit]

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

### Round two

[edit]

* Calgary → BC (PD). Calgary traded the ninth overall pick and the 29th overall pick in this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft to BC in exchange for Vernon Adams, the 32nd overall pick in this year's draft, and a third-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft.[trade 1]

### Round three

[edit]

* Ottawa → Edmonton (PD). Ottawa traded a third-round pick in this year's draft to Edmonton in exchange for Peter Adjey.[trade 3]
* BC → Montreal (PD). BC traded a third-round pick in this year's draft to Montreal in exchange for Jeshrun Antwi.[trade 2]
* Toronto → Hamilton (PD). Toronto traded a conditional fourth-round pick in this year's draft, Jordan Williams, and the seventh overall selection, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft to Hamilton in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in this year's draft, the fifth overall selection and two third-round picks in the 2024 CFL Draft, and the negotiation rights to Deontay Burnett.[trade 4] The condition was not met and Toronto traded a third-round pick instead.[8]

### Round four

[edit]

* Calgary ←→ BC (PD). Calgary traded the 29th overall pick and the ninth overall pick in this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft to BC in exchange for Vernon Adams, the 32nd overall pick in this year's draft, and a third-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft.[trade 1]
* Hamilton → Toronto (PD). Hamilton traded a conditional third-round pick in this year's draft, the fifth overall selection and two third-round picks in the 2024 CFL Draft, and the negotiation rights to Deontay Burnett to Toronto in exchange for Jordan Williams, the seventh overall selection, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft, and a conditional fourth-round pick in this year's draft.[trade 4] The condition was not met and Hamilton traded a fourth-round pick instead.[8]
* Winnipeg → Hamilton (PD). Winnipeg traded the 36th overall pick in this year's draft, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft, and Kyle Samson to Hamilton in exchange for Matthew Peterson, the 39th overall pick in this year's draft, and the second overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft.[trade 5]

### Round five

[edit]

* Hamilton → Winnipeg (PD). Hamilton traded the 39th overall pick in this year's draft, the second overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft, and Matthew Peterson to Winnipeg in exchange for Kyle Samson, the 36th overall pick in this year's draft, and the eighth overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft.[trade 5]

### Round seven

[edit]

* Saskatchewan → Calgary (PD). Saskatchewan traded an eighth-round pick in this year's draft to Calgary in exchange for Jake Maier.[trade 6] This became a seventh-round pick when Maier re-signed with Saskatchewan on January 9, 2025.[11]

## Forfeitures

[edit]

### Supplemental draft

[edit]

* Edmonton forfeited their first-round pick after selecting Zach Mathis in the 2024 supplemental draft.[9]
* Edmonton forfeited their eighth-round pick after selecting Antonio Alfano in the 2024 supplemental draft.[10]

### Salary cap

[edit]

* BC forfeited the highest of their first-round and second-round picks (third and ninth overall) after exceeding the salary cap by more than $200,000 ($347,889).[4] As the team with the highest priority waiver, Calgary was awarded BC's forfeited selections at the end of the first and second rounds (eighth and 17th overall).[4]

## References

[edit]

Trade references

1. ^ a b c d e "Big Play: Stamps acquire Vernon Adams Jr. in trade with Lions". Canadian Football League. November 26, 2024.
2. ^ a b "Lions acquire RB Jeshrun Antwi in trade with Als". Canadian Football League. October 2, 2024.
3. ^ a b "Redblacks acquire LS Peter Adjey in trade with Elks". Canadian Football League. May 1, 2024.
4. ^ a b c d "Ticats acquire national LB Jordan Williams in trade with Argos". Canadian Football League. January 29, 2024.
5. ^ a b c d "Ticats land DL Kyle Samson in Draft day trade with Bombers". Canadian Football League. April 29, 2026.
6. ^ a b "Roughriders Acquire Jake Maier In Trade With Calgary". Saskatchewan Roughriders. December 23, 2024.

General references

1. ^ "Key 2025 CFL off-season dates you need to know". Canadian Football League. January 21, 2025.
2. ^ "Canadian Football League expands draft to eight rounds". Canadian Football League. May 4, 2016.
3. ^ a b "Details of the CFL's new CBA: salary cap increases, ratio changes, and guaranteed contracts". 3DownNation. May 26, 2022.
4. ^ a b c d e f g "BC, Toronto, Saskatchewan and Ottawa exceeded 2024 salary expenditure cap". Canadian Football League. March 28, 2025.
5. ^ "Elic Ayomanor Vaults to Top Spot in Spring Edition of CFL Scouting Bureau". Canadian Football League. April 28, 2025.
6. ^ a b c "Rourke maintains hold of top spot in winter edition of CFL Scouting Bureau". Canadian Football League. January 22, 2025.
7. ^ "Kurtis Rourke leads the way in CFL Scouting Bureau Fall Rankings". Canadian Football League. August 22, 2024.
8. ^ a b c "2025 Draft Tracker". CFL.ca. Canadian Football League. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
9. ^ a b "Edmonton Elks forfeit 2025 first-round pick to select REC Zach Mathis in supplemental draft". 3DownNation. June 29, 2024.
10. ^ a b "Elks select Antonio Alfano in Supplemental Draft". Canadian Football League. May 21, 2024.
11. ^ "Trading for Jake Maier was "a big decision" — Jeremy O'Day". Saskatchewan Roughriders. December 23, 2024.

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Team first-round picks|

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See also|

* First overall draft picks
* CFL Combine

* v
* t
* e

2025 CFL season by team

« 2024

2026 »

West Division|

* BC
* Calgary
* Edmonton
* Saskatchewan
* Winnipeg

East Division|

* Hamilton
* Montreal
* Ottawa
* Toronto

See also|

* 2025 CFL National Draft
* 2025 CFL Global Draft
* 112th Grey Cup

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