Bombers draft WR Watson
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected Concordia wide receiver Cory Watson with the ninth overall pick in the CFL draft on Sunday.
They also added an intriguing fifth quarterback to their stable.
The Bombers originally had the sixth overall pick, but they traded it to the Edmonton Eskimos for the ninth and 22nd selections. Winnipeg needed to add picks, as they had only three choices going into the day.
The ninth pick was Winnipeg’s to begin with, but they traded it to Edmonton for Stefan LeFors last 16 months ago.
Winnipeg then traded the 22nd pick to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the 28th selection and the rights to quarterback Alex Brink, who has agreed to a contract with the Blue and Gold.
Brink, who played at Washington State, is the third-leading passer in Pac-10 history and was a seventh-round pick of the NFL’s Houston Texans in 2008. Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice said the 6-foot-2, 208-pound Brink brings a lot of talent to the table that already has Buck Pierce, Steven Jyles, Ricky Santos and Adam DiMichele sitting around it.
“We like what we’ve heard about him, what we’ve seen on film and what we’ve evaluated,” LaPolice said. “We’ve liked what we’ve seen.”
The Bombers took Queen’s linebacker Christopher Smith at No. 28 and then Calgary running back Anthony Woodson Jr. one pick later. The Blue and Gold also have the 45th pick.
With their final pick of the day, the Bombers took Western Ontario defensive lineman Chris Greaves, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound Toronto native.
Winnipeg native and Manitoba Bisons defensive back Eddie Steele was the first Manitoban taken, as the Tiger-Cats used the 22nd pick to grab the former Kelvin Clipper.
Watson is a 6-foot-2, 204-pound native of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., who was born in Jamaica. He made 52 catches for 821 yards and six touchdowns in eight games to lead the Stingers last fall. He was named to the CIS’s second all-star team, and he was second in the country in both receptions and receiving yards.
He also led Concordia in receiving in 2008 and had a feeling he was going to end up in Blue and Gold after getting hints from family friend and current Bomber receiver Jabari Arthur that it could happen.
“I’m excited to be a Blue Bomber,” Watson said. “I was hearing through Jabari that I was going to be his teammate, so I was waiting for the moment. I’m excited.”
Watson was ranked sixth on the CFL Scouting Bureau’s list of prospects in December, but he dropped to 15th on the final list released last month after reportedly having a marginal evaluation camp performance in March.
The 26-year-old was an NCAA Division I prospect coming out of high school, but he was unable to head south for academic reasons. He is seen as a solid route runner with good hands and excellent speed. It’s his strong physical play that sets him apart, according to scouts.
Watson joins a Bomber receiving corps that currently has five Canadians under contract: Brock Ralph, Aaron Hargreaves, Jabari Arthur, Scott McHenry and Josh Svec.
