When it comes to this year’s draft, the CFL has been forced to call an audible.

Due to current COVID-19 protocols, teams will be making their selections in isolation, with everything done online or by phone.

“It’s going to be unique,” said Stampeders Director of Player Personnel Brendan Mahoney.

“We’ve had virtual meetings since almost St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ve had a lot of practice with it. The CFL has been very accommodating … we had a test draft today and we got to test out some internal communications and the conference call, so it may come with some hiccups but I think we’re well prepared and we’re confident in our technical staff. Communication is the most important thing but I think with the practice that we’ve had, we’re good to go.

“But it will be interesting to do the draft from my house.”

For the first time in recent memory, the teams were unable to complete a large portion of their scouting process due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of having coaches and scouts descend upon the regional and national combines to watch the top prospects compete in testing and interviews, they were forced to rely solely on virtual meetings with players, virtual ‘pro-day’ videos, and the tape.

For the Calgary management staff, it’s certainly been unusual.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult, it’s been more unique and presented a different set of challenges,” said Mahoney. “Sometimes with people’s internet connection, we’ve gone through the entire gambit of various technological issues, but our staff is pretty well-versed in terms of computers and things like that. Ross Folan, our director of video, does an excellent job in terms of getting us set up and making sure that we have all that we need to get work done and get quality work done as well. Being set up to speak with players, have meetings, watch film together; it’s things like that that have made this transition into the house that much easier. The players and their agents have been good as well, in terms of being made available for interviews and then providing us with any videos that we need in the evaluation process. It’s been challenging, but I wouldn’t say that it’s been totally negative.”

The scouting process, of course, doesn’t begin at the combine, and the team has been hard at work since not long after the 2019 draft.

While everyone in the front office contributes to the process, one man has been heavily involved.

“Dwayne Cameron, our Director of Canadian Scouting, has done a lot of the leg work on these players so we had a really good idea, a good base of knowledge coming in,” Mahoney explained. “And we were able to enhance that with our own evaluation and speaking with the players, which is very important. We’re very happy we got a lot of interviews done this year.

“It’s our work coming to fruition. Dwayne Cameron who took over as our Director of Canadian Scouting from Kyle Carson, he’s had to jump in midway through the process once Kyle left and he’s done a great job of providing the information that everyone needs and making sure no stone is left unturned. The nerves are there until you make your final pick of the draft and then you can take a couple moments to sit back and be proud of the work that you’ve done. The most satisfying thing is seeing what your roster looks like going into training camp – whenever that takes place.”

Through all of their hard work, the team has carefully identified each player and determined their slotting on the draft board.

With a strong understanding of the prospect landscape, the team is excited by the gluttony of talent.

“I would say that there is definitely some high-end talent at the top of the draft, so we’re in a fortunate position to draft number one,” Mahoney said. “I think at almost every position on the field, I could see a team using a first-round draft pick on. Obviously, it’s a unique draft in terms of not having a combine or anything like that, but we’ve done our due diligence to identify the players that we like and slot them where we think they would be fit our team. Overall, it is a talented draft, but there may be a few extra question marks that might not have been there in previous years.

“It is exciting to know that you can take any player that you like.”