Music: {allcanada} BARKER WORKING ON TRADING INTO FIRST ROUND OF CFL DRAFT

Thursday, May 5, 2011

{allcanada} BARKER WORKING ON TRADING INTO FIRST ROUND OF CFL DRAFT

With the NFL Draft having just been completed, it's now the CFL's turn to talk picks and prospects. The CFL will hold its annual Canadian Entry Draft on Sunday.

You can catch the draft Sunday on TSN starting at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt.

Toronto Argonauts head coach Jim Barker says it should be just as intriguing and exciting as the NFL Draft.

"The Canadian Draft is so different. It's not like the NHL draft, it's not like the NFL Draft," said Barker. "It's just not the same draft because of all the futures."

The 'futures' Barker was referring to are draft-eligible players such as Vaughn Martin, who currently plays for the NFL's San Diego Chargers. Martin, a Jamaican-born Canadian who spent time with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, was drafted by the Chargers in the fourth round in 2009, but could conceivably return to play in Canada some time in the future.

As where NFL teams know they are all but guaranteed the players they draft will play for them, CFL teams aren't always so sure.

Players such as Martin are risks to never play in the CFL and Barker said that teams must determine at which point in the draft they are willing to take a chance on those risks.

Another example of the dangers CFL teams take is the case of offensive lineman Danny Watkins of Kelowna. Last year, the BC Lions drafted Watkins as an underclassman with the fourth-overall selection. A year later however, Watkins was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Barker said there are a number of players in this year's draft class that could turn out to be the next Danny Watkins.

"All the different scenarios that come up, don't come up in any other draft in the world. That's what makes this draft so unique and so intriguing."

Another factor Barker said teams must consider when setting their draft boards is the league's ratio rule, and how every team employs it. The CFL mandates that every team must keep 20 non-imports – excluding quarterbacks – on their roster and start seven non-imports.

"There are just a lot of different things in this draft. You can't just look at it and say 'This is the best guy'. Everybody plays their ratio different; that goes into it. If you're playing [Canadian] linebackers or wide receivers, maybe those guys move up a little bit."

"And you can't just say 'Well, maybe that guy's not good enough to be taken there' because you don't understand how a team's particular ratio works. And we try to get in and study that, and try to figure out from a ratio standpoint which players might move up."

When asked about the Argos' draft plans, Barker, who traded his first-round pick to Winnipeg for quarterback Steven Jyles and won't pick until 12th overall, was sure not to give up any secrets, but didn't rule out the possibility of trading back into the first round.

"You're never okay at 12. I'd like to be one or two. You're always working on that; you throw feelers out and you try to see what it's going to take," said Barker.

"You just never know. We've been able to move up in drafts, we've moved down in drafts; anything can happen. I don't want to stand here and tell you we're not looking to move up and then end up moving up. Anything can happen and right now we're looking at every scenario and looking at the players we're looking for and where we need to be to get those players."

Barker went on to say that this year's draft class doesn't have any talents that leap off the page as in some previous year's drafts, but rather a big, solid group of players that can contribute to any team.

"Drafting in the second round in this draft is not as big of a concern. I look at players 1 through 15 and there are not those standouts. There are some risks you take in terms of guys who are futures."

"You have to make those decisions, which is what makes this draft so intriguing."