Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are positioned to reap the rewards of a busy offseason when the CFL Canadian draft begins today.

Through a series of offseason trades, Riders general manager Eric Tillman was able to acquire the fourth and 10th overall picks. The Riders’ other draft spots are 20th and 40th overall. A total of 48 players over six rounds are to be selected in today’s draft by the eight CFL teams.

The draft is to be webcast live on cfl.ca and tsn.ca starting at 10 a.m. How the Riders use those picks will be seen over today’s draft. Tillman is happy the defending Grey Cup champions have positioned themselves to take advantage of the talent in one of the deepest drafts in recent history.

“Sometimes even the first round of any draft can be a crapshoot,” said Tillman. “What we like about this draft is there will multiple players in Rounds 2 and 3 who will become CFL starters. This draft is that deep.”

Despite the depth, the Riders made a number of efforts Tuesday to move up in the draft to acquire the first overall pick, which belongs to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Riders were believed to have offered a player and their first-round pick in the 2009 draft for the rights to the selection.

The Leader-Post has learned that the Riders attempted to complete a three-way transaction with the Montreal Alouettes and Tiger-Cats with Barker coming to the Roughriders. That transaction also fell through.

The Tiger-Cats will retain the pick and will likely use it to select Dylan Barker, a safety from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Barker, a native of Moose Jaw, is a physical player who many expect to fill a starting role in his rookie season.

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