Tyler Holmes and the CFL draft

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Eli
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Tyler Holmes and the CFL draft

Post by Eli »

I was just looking for some info on UFA practice squad player Tyler Holmes. He played left tackle for Tulsa and was drafted 7th overall in the 2011 draft by the Toronto Argonauts, prior to his senior year.

http://www.tulsahurricane.com/sports/m- ... ler00.html

http://www.argonauts.ca/article/first-pick-2011-draft
Toronto moved into the first round by sending the 12th and 27th picks to Saskatchewan for the Roughriders' No. 7 spot. But Argos head coach and GM Jim Barker, who led the CFL club back into the playoffs last season, looked to the future by taking Ottawa native Tyler Holmes, a six-foot-four, 305-pound offensive lineman who is returning to Tulsa this fall and expected to garner NFL interest next season.
http://www.argonauts.ca/article/2011-dr ... ild-as-any

How crazy is all that? The CFL draft is after the NFL draft, so draft boards are changing all over the place as NFL teams pick Canadian players or give them contracts as undrafted free agents. Then apparently teams are able to draft for the future by selecting players returning to college. And to top it all off, the Argonauts gave up two high draft picks to move up and take the guy.

I'm kind of intrigued by Holmes now. I'm not sure I saw him play in the preseason, but I guess the Vikings consider him a worthwhile project.
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vikesfan87
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Re: Tyler Holmes and the CFL draft

Post by vikesfan87 »

I am an Argonauts fan myself and have followed Holmes' progress. This is primarily because our offensive line isn't particularly strong this year. The CFL draft is an interesting phenomenon for the reasons you discussed in your post. You have so many players some of whom are in the NCAA and some who are in the Canadian College system. The Argonauts have usually looked to the NCAA for their draft picks, but the risk is run that these guys will either be (i) drafted by the NFL or (ii) signed as a free agent as you said. That has been something that has happened to the Argos over the years as guys like Nick Kaczur (NE), Clifton Dawson (IND) and Cory Greenwood (KC) have all went to the NFL. Some teams will simply try to draft a guy who will not be going to the NFL and will come to the CFL right away. It's a source of frustration for some Argo fans who view that our personnel staff is viewing the draft as a joke.
Eli
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Re: Tyler Holmes and the CFL draft

Post by Eli »

Did you see that Tyler Holmes was released by the Vikings on Thursday to make room for Allen Reisner on the practice squad?
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vikesfan87
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Re: Tyler Holmes and the CFL draft

Post by vikesfan87 »

I saw that--he'll probably wait and see if another NFL team will take him, if not, hopefully he'll make his way up to Toronto.