Kevin Mital / 2024 Draft Thread

[jerrym]

With the 5th overall draft pick the Argos pick WR Kevin Mital from Laval. Love it. A 2022 Hec Crighton trophy winner and Vanier Cup Champion with great skill set and the potential to be the best WR in the draft. Duane Ford calls him the "most complete receiver in the draft".

[OV Argo]

An excellent receiver talent IMO - big, strong, fast. I think he could push for reps right away in the receiving corps = they could entertain starting 3 Canadians.

[OV Argo]

Wow - now a top notch DE prospect - Hergott (Waterloo) in the 3rd round - awesome IMO.

Next pick Bosse is a big O-lineman - not sure I would have gone there with what was left on the board

Argos also get DB T. Blackburn - DB - Alberta - maybe a very good safety prospect.

Pleased where they have gone with early picks - receiver; D-Line; safety.

[OV Argo]

Now they get DT Sambu in later rounds - NCAA resume and solid DT prospect IMO.

Argos kicking @$$ this draft IMO - impressive.

[Waffle]

Argos draft picks


1st round, 5th pick REC Kevin Mital, Laval
Possibly best receiver in the draft


3rd round, 24th pick DL Tyson Hergott, Waterloo
Was good for Waterloo


3rd round 25th pick, OL John Bossse, Calgary
36.5 inch arms, only started 12 college games ever so is a project


3rd round 27th pick DB Tyshon Blackburn, Alberta
Has size and is apparently quick, maybe best at Safety


5th round 39th pick DB Jerrell Cummings, UBC
Only 5 ft 9 and 188 lbs but was a coaches pick at the Combine


5th round 45th pick DL Ifenna Onyeka, Carleton
Played for Carleton Ravens so must be good


6th round 48th pick OL Anim Dankwah, Howard
6 ft 8 and 353 lbs…NFL undrafted but signed with the Eagles


6th round 54th pick DL Justin Sambu, Baylor
Combine drop out due to injury, played very little in 2023 at Baylor


8th round 72nd pick OL Daniel Shin, Alberta
Unersized

[jerrym]

In the 8th round the Argos pick OL Daniel Shin from University of Alberta.

[Rich]

Great draft for the Argonauts. Mital was a steal at #5, big bodied and versatile possession-style slotback, a more-than-adequate replacement for Gittens who should be ready to start Game One, allowing us to easily start 2 Cdn WR, if not 3!

Love the D-Line depth drafted tonight, cant wait to see all three guys compete, is it finally possible one DL slot will be Canadian?

The one head-scratcher for me was passing up LB Straker — who Jim Barker suggested the Argos might have considered with the #5 pick ?!?! — in favor of DB Tyshon Blackburn at #27, big and athletic but raw. The other DB picked Cummings small but pure natural cover skills. Love the combo of the two types of DB, and now the depth on the back end.

Not as impressed with any of the OL picks but they’re all projects at this point anyway.

[ArgoRavi]

Great draft for the Argonauts. Mital was a steal at #5, big bodied and versatile possession-style slotback, a more-than-adequate replacement for Gittens who should be ready to start Game One, allowing us to easily start 2 Cdn WR, if not 3!

Love the D-Line depth drafted tonight, cant wait to see all three guys compete, is it finally possible one DL slot will be Canadian?

The one head-scratcher for me was passing up LB Straker — who Jim Barker suggested the Argos might have considered with the #5 pick ?!?! — in favor of DB Tyshon Blackburn at #27, big and athletic but raw. The other DB picked Cummings small but pure natural cover skills. Love the combo of the two types of DB, and now the depth on the back end.

Not as impressed with any of the OL picks but they’re all projects at this point anyway.

Everyone passed on Straker until much later in the draft when the Riders took him.

[Rich]

Everyone passed on Straker until much later in the draft when the Riders took him.

Argos took Blackburn at #27, Riders took Straker at #32, we’ll see how that turns out. Funnily enough, we didn’t select a single LB.

[OV Argo]

Argos took Blackburn at #27, Riders took Straker at #32, we’ll see how that turns out. Funnily enough, we didn’t select a single LB.

As I said - the Argos needed more NI LBs like a hole in the head.

Their draft showed good variety to cover lots of positions and potential areas of need. They got about the best receiver, the best DE, and a top rated DT in this draft; they took Blackburn I'm guessing as a safety prospect/project. Cummings is considered a good cover corner who played at Simon Fraser before UBC - he might get converted to safety as well or be an all-around depth DB - explosive jump test #s at CFL Combine The O-line picks are more like long-shots IMO, but still were starters in good college ball programs (Shin has been named all-Canadian at C) and Dankwah has an NFL shot look , (but O-line "depth" is always a CFL GOB area of concern, so to be expected?).

The main disappointment for me was they whiffed at chances to draft two of the top RBs (Peterson & Herzog) in the mid rounds but took a long-shot O-Line project in Bosse instead, when they already have lots of Canadian O-line depth, plus were able to add as good or better O-line prospects later in the same draft anyways.

Overall, the Argos did a great job there IMO; and easily won this draft over the other teams. Ticats came in 2nd likely IMO. And Ego-Jonestown shows why he is a total goof, yet again.

[paulwoods13]

It's gonna be interesting to see how offensive snaps are doled out among the receiving corps. We have four veteran NATs who have shown they can play (Brissette, Nield, Ungerer and Sindani), as well as a top, potentially pro-ready prospect in Mital. I assume we will "start" three INT receivers and two NATs most of the time, but I expect four NATs will get regular or at least semi-regular reps. The question in my mind is who won't be among those four. At this point I'd bet Sindani draws the short straw.

[paulwoods13]

(but O-line "depth" is always a CFL GOB area of concern, so to be expected?).

O-line depth (no quotation marks) is an area of concern at every level of pro football, not just the CFL. Those are hard positions to play, and they take a physical toll on the players. Having reliable guys waiting in the wings matters at all positions, but I would argue o-line is at or near the top of the list of importance. Argos are fortunate to have two experienced NATs who can serve as primary backups (Mackellar and Giffen), but if a starter goes down with an injury, they'll be dressing a rookie or seldom-used prospect. So they better find someone who can play among Vandal, Noll, Paradis and this year's draft class.

[jerrym]

It's gonna be interesting to see how offensive snaps are doled out among the receiving corps. We have four veteran NATs who have shown they can play (Brissette, Nield, Ungerer and Sindani), as well as a top, potentially pro-ready prospect in Mital. I assume we will "start" three INT receivers and two NATs most of the time, but I expect four NATs will get regular or at least semi-regular reps. The question in my mind is who won't be among those four. At this point I'd bet Sindani draws the short straw.

Sindani would be my choice too for the short straw. I've never been a fan of him plus he only had 90 yards in receptions in 2023.

[OV Argo]

O-line depth (no quotation marks) is an area of concern at every level of pro football, not just the CFL. Those are hard positions to play, and they take a physical toll on the players. Having reliable guys waiting in the wings matters at all positions, but I would argue o-line is at or near the top of the list of importance. Argos are fortunate to have two experienced NATs who can serve as primary backups (Mackellar and Giffen), but if a starter goes down with an injury, they'll be dressing a rookie or seldom-used prospect. So they better find someone who can play among Vandal, Noll, Paradis and this year's draft class.

Sure; but ignoring other positions of obvious need, just to load-up on more good ole NI "depth" at a certain position group, is more of a CFL GOB thing. There is little chance that say Vandal & Noll, plus 2 new O-line from this draft are going to be kept on the roster with MacKellar & Giffen already in place as "depth". And if you need more down the road, you just use the next year's draft to address it (IMO there are pretty well always at least 5 or more very good O-line prospects for each CFL draft). And meanwhile - this Argo team has all of one Canadian RBs in Adeboboye, but they ignored the chance to draft one of 2 top notch RB prospects - in mid rounds - to instead take another O-lineman, and when they still added 2 more pretty good O-line prospects later in the draft. This might make GOB good sense to you; just not to me.

Ego_Jones just used his first 2 draft picks, plus a 3rd this draft on interior LB types, and when he had used a top pick on a similar type last year's draft; plus has other interior Canadian LBs on the roster. Over-kill that makes zero sense and when he does not have much for Canadian receivers and of course zero use for Canadian RBs. So typical & myopic stupidity.

[OV Argo]

It's gonna be interesting to see how offensive snaps are doled out among the receiving corps. We have four veteran NATs who have shown they can play (Brissette, Nield, Ungerer and Sindani), as well as a top, potentially pro-ready prospect in Mital. I assume we will "start" three INT receivers and two NATs most of the time, but I expect four NATs will get regular or at least semi-regular reps. The question in my mind is who won't be among those four. At this point I'd bet Sindani draws the short straw.

Mital is a very good receiver prospect IMO, to join the current group of experienced National receivers. There is also a chance that last year's draft pick J. Wayne could run out of NFL opportunity and show-up; what a great 1-2 add that would be.

And just like the Argos added vet Sindani last year when in need, there are often some other quality Canadian receivers (or players in general) out there to be signed, possibly, as FAs. For example, the RedBlacks have let go or not re-signed vet Canadian receivers Nate Behar (a 59 catch, 727 yard season just two years ago) & Tevaun Smith ( a 55 catch, 632 yard season when he first came to the CFL with the EE in 2019 - a player who spent some time on NFL rosters, and who ran a sub 4.4 forty at his Pro Day out of Div. I ball). This is the type of talent that is sometimes available to CFL teams, but they sometimes get written-off (neither of these guys are old by any football standards), cause CFL GMs want to load their TC rosters with as many Americans as they can, and a smaller quota of Canadians will suffice.

[Argo57]

Sure; but ignoring other positions of obvious need, just to load-up on more good ole NI "depth" at a certain position group, is more of a CFL GOB thing. There is little chance that say Vandal & Noll, plus 2 new O-line from this draft are going to be kept on the roster with MacKellar & Giffen already in place as "depth". And if you need more down the road, you just use the next year's draft to address it (IMO there are pretty well always at least 5 or more very good O-line prospects for each CFL draft). And meanwhile - this Argo team has all of one Canadian RBs in Adeboboye, but they ignored the chance to draft one of 2 top notch RB prospects - in mid rounds - to instead take another O-lineman, and when they still added 2 more pretty good O-line prospects later in the draft. This might make GOB good sense to you; just not to me.

Ego_Jones just used his first 2 draft picks, plus a 3rd this draft on interior LB types, and when he had used a top pick on a similar type last year's draft; plus has other interior Canadian LBs on the roster. Over-kill that makes zero sense and when he does not have much for Canadian receivers and of course zero use for Canadian RBs. So typical & myopic stupidity.

I agree wholeheartedly in regards to Chris Jones and his draft strategy, bizarre to say the least.

[OV Argo]

I agree wholeheartedly in regards to Chris Jones and his draft strategy, bizarre to say the least.

I count 8 Canadian inside linebacker types that Jones has drafted or acquired in the past couple of seasons (including 1 in each of the first 3 rounds of the draft yesterday; and last year's 1st rounder was Brodrique).

Now maybe if Jones was deploying 2 NI starters at MLB & OLB, and wanted depth protection behind them and maybe another couple as ST aces dressed as well ? - maybe he could do that ? We shall see.

And in another Jones / Canadian LB note - I see Jonestown just released former 1st rounder E. Makonzo - who played S-OLB (rare for Canadians in the CFL lately) with starts as a rookie 1st round draft pick for Jones. I would love to see the Argos snap up this guy - even though they have a bunch of NI LBs now - to see if he could compete with or back-up Adeleke if they were to try him at S-OLB. Why Jones cuts this former 1st rounder who IMO was quite impressive as a rookie there is a head-scratcher ... ? No wait, scratch that ... maybe the guy insulted or questioned the all-knowing great leader & football genius there.

[jerrym]

Here's the Argos' comments on their draft picks. It's interesting that their first six picks were all from Canadian universities, unlike many other CFL teams.

Round	Pick	Name	Position	College
1	5	Kevin Mital	WR	Laval
3	24	Tyson Hergott	DL	Waterloo
3	25	John Bosse	OL	Calgary
3	27	Tyshon Blackburn	DB	Alberta
5	39	Jerrell Cummings	DB	UBC
5	45	Ifenna Onyeka	DL	Carleton
6	48	Anim Dankwah	OL	Howard
6	54	Justin Sambu	DL	Baylor
8	72	Daniel Shin	OL	Alberta

Mital, 6’1 and 215lbs, was the 2022 USPORTS Hec Creighton Award winner after posting 58 catches for 751 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Laval Rouge et Or, becoming the first receiver to win the award since 2005. The Quebec native recorded eight receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown in the 2022 Vanier Cup, a 30-24 win over The University of Saskatchewan. Last season Mital played four games hauling in 22 receptions for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Mital played eight games in 2021 with 45 catches for 554 yards and seven touchdowns, earning Second-Team All Canadian. He started his collegiate career at Syracuse in 2019 where he redshirted.

Hergott, 6’3 and 246lbs, was a 2023 All-Canadian for the Waterloo Warriors after posting 11 sacks, 38 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and one interception. The Waterloo native was a runner up for the J.P. Metras Trophy, award to the nation’s top defensive lineman. Hergott finished his UW career with 89 total tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, and five forced fumbles in 23 games.

Bosse, 6’4 and 335lbs, suited up along the offensive line for 29 games over four seasons at The University of Calgary (2019-2023). Bosse was part of the Dinos team that won the Vanier Cup in 2019 over The University of Montreal.

Blackburn, 6’2 and 203lbs, spent the last four seasons at The University of Alberta (2019-2023). Last season saw Blackburn play 10 games and record 25 tackles, one interception and three pass deflections. Over 32 career games, the Calgary native tallied 100 tackles, four interceptions and 12 pass deflections for the Golden Bears. The defensive back was named an All-Canadian in 2021.

Cummings, 5’11 and 195lbs, played nine games for The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds last season, tallying 22 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. The Vancouver native played at Simon Fraser University from 2019-2022 and recorded 106 total tackles, four interceptions, 35 pass deflections, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Onyeka, 6’1 and 249lbs, played eight games at Carleton University in 2023 with 33.5 tackles, 5.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Onyeka hails from Brampton, Ontario.

Ankwah, 6’8 and 362lbs, played 12 games at Howard University in 2023. For his career, the Ghana born but Brampton raised Ankwah appeared in 39 games over five seasons along the offensive line for the Bison. He was invited to Philadelphia Eagles minicamp following the NFL Draft this past weekend.

Sambu, 6’2 and 282lbs, played in 12 games at The University of Baylor making two tackles. The Calgary native played four seasons at The University of Maine prior to Baylor, totaling 59 tackles, 10 for loss, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery for the Black Bears.

Shin, 6’3 and 286lbs, played 29 games over four seasons for The University of Alberta Golden Bears (2019-2023). Shin is from Edmonton, Alberta.

https://www.argonauts.ca/2024/05/01/...024-cfl-draft/