Courtesy Calgary Herald:

It took John Hufnagel about 15 minutes to put a tick beside the top item on his Canadian Football League draft-day to-do list.

And it took only another 10 minutes to put another tick beside the same item.

A day earlier, the Calgary Stampeders coach and general manager had made it clear he wanted players who were ready to contribute immediately, instead of waiting a year to complete their college commitments. And it was no secret he was looking for more depth on the offensive line.

So Wednesday morning, he accomplished those goals, twice over.

He made an early trade, sending veteran offensive lineman John Comiskey, rookie receiver Kevin Challenger and their second- and third-round picks to the Edmonton Eskimos to snag the No. 2 overall pick along with the Eskimos’ second-round slot, and selected Weber State guard Dimitri Tsoumpas.

Moments later, Hufnagel added a second prime cut of O-line beef, taking Louisiana-Lafayette tackle Jesse Newman with the third pick overall.

“I think a lot of people made the observation that one of our pressing needs was offensive line, so I believe we’ve selected the two best players, in our rating system, in the draft,” said a satisfied Hufnagel. “We were hoping to get at least one of the two players, so to be in position to acquire both of them we felt was something that we just couldn’t pass up.”

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats opened the draft by surprising no one and taking University of Saskatchewan safety Dylan Barker, whom many project as a future linebacker, and it was considered a lock the Eskimos would take Tsoumpas, who played his high school ball in Edmonton.

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