An eight-round test run proceeded at Mock 1 speed.
That was the preferred pace from the perspective of Jeremy O’Day, who had expressed the hope that everything would move as briskly as it assuredly did.
“If you hear the Jeopardy music, make your pick real quick,” the Roughriders’ Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager quipped in the presence of 12 colleagues.
Forty-three minutes later, all 74 selections had been made. Each “team,” as it were, was on the clock for an average of just 43 seconds.
For each mock draft — such as the sessions that are to be held on Monday in the Roughriders’ Football Operations nerve centre at Mosaic Stadium — every CFL team is represented by a designated individual or tandem.
Every draftee is given an outline of his team’s needs, ranked in order of priority. Assistant GM Kyle Carson plays a key role in compiling the wish lists, which are essential to the process.
Once everyone and everything is in place, the eight-round mock draft of Canadian players begins.
“You’re just going through different scenarios, really,” O’Day said after three drafts were conducted on Friday.
“Everyone drafts and says, ‘I need this player here,’ as we go through it, round by round. A lot it (from the Roughriders’ perspective) comes down to, ‘Who do we think will be available when it’s our turn in each round?’ ”
The process is a little trickier this year, considering the lack of a consensus first-overall pick.
The Roughriders choose third overall on Tuesday, behind the Edmonton Elks and Ottawa REDBLACKS, so an important part of the process is to work through all the plausible possibilities that are applicable to the first two selections.
Early on, especially, the Roughriders — with Head Coach Corey Mace integrally involved in the mock-drafting — work their way through various exercises that come down to, “If Edmonton picks A and Ottawa picks B, who do we like as C?”
It therefore becomes necessary to run through a multitude of candidates for A and B, the goal being to have a command of and a comfortability with every conceivable Plan C once it is Saskatchewan’s turn, for real, in Round 1.
In the second round, the Roughriders own the 12th overall pick.
There are infinitely more moving pieces, obviously, but the mock drafts provide insights into the likeliest players to still be on the board after the first 11 choices are made.
The equation is also influenced by the Roughriders’ choice in Round 1. If a void in a certain position group is prioritized with the third-overall pick, how deep is the pool in other groups?
Who is likely to drop?
Who might ascend?
Among the players identified as first-round candidates, who is most likely to still be available early in Round 2?
And who might be snapped up with the greatest urgency after Saskatchewan makes its first-round choice?
These factors, and so many others, are carefully considered by the 13 people who, collectively, represent nine teams.
“It’s just a cool exercise — a lot of fun,” O’Day said. “It gets the whole staff involved and they enjoy it.
“Then they can all critique it after the mock draft is over and talk about what they might have done differently.”
The first step is for O’Day to run through and assess each of the picks, team by team, while inviting feedback from others who are around the table.
The drafters, for example, will outline the reasoning behind specific selections, especially in the first few rounds.
Was a bountifully skilled player bypassed because of actual or possible NFL interest?
What is the degree of risk incurred by choosing someone who might sign with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent?
If the NFL does snap up a player, how long might it be until he is available?
Will he ever be available?
If a team chose a certain player, is there someone else in his position group who might suffice or, in fact, be a superior selection?
How might an NCAA player adjust, or readjust, to three-down football?
What about his special-teams prowess?
How did he perform at the Combine or at his Pro Day? Or, alternatively, why didn’t he perform?
Were there players ahead of him on a college team’s depth chart? If so, how does he project?
It is one thing to draft all the players, a process that is accelerated by everyone’s preparedness. But what does all that mean?
Once the post-mortem is over, it is time to hit “Refresh” and start all over again.
If two people are representing one team, a different draft lead may be appointed for the next trial run. This is done to increase the likelihood of different choices and different scenarios. After all, a Mock 2 that mirrors Mock 1 would be a redundant, unproductive exercise.
With that in mind, the participants are encouraged to go “off the board” — perhaps applying their own draft rankings as opposed to considering the Roughriders’ own ratings, which appear on a video screen at the front of the room — without wandering into the world of the utterly unrealistic.
Again, that creates another scenario and shakes up the picks that follow, leading to more discussions and perhaps unearthing a situation that is worth considering, just in case it materializes.
That is an important component of the mock draft, because a certain amount of guesswork is required when you are trying to read the mind of a rival GM or personnel man.
By the same token, other teams are navigating their way through the same terrain, asking themselves, “Who does Saskatchewan like at Number 3? What about Number 12?” Et cetera.
“There are always variables,” O’Day noted, “because another team might have a guy retiring or someone might not be coming to camp. Those are things you might not know about.”
All of this information, of course, is guarded with scrupulous secrecy. Across the league, nobody is especially eager to tip their hand with the draft looming.
“As a result, other teams might go off the board and you’ll think, ‘I didn’t really see that coming,’ ” O’Day said. “There will always be cases where someone goes much higher or lower than expected.
“But if one of us has a player ranked as a second-rounder and another has him as a sixth- or seventh-rounder, maybe we should all go back and take another look at the player to make sure we have an accurate evaluation.”
A penchant for accuracy is one of the many attributes Carson brings to the table.
On Friday, for example, the testing results of one player — a projected mid- to late-rounder — were fodder for discussion. Without referring to notes, a laptop or a mobile phone, Carson discussed the player at length and in detail, comparing the results to those of other draft hopefuls at his position and tier.
“Kyle is the guy who calls the players’ (college) coaches,” O’Day said. “It can be a tedious job to get all that information, but it’s something he takes a lot of pride in. Once he gets the information, he’s able to recite it back.
“With Kyle and Jordan (Greenly, Football Operations Co-ordinator), it’s a matter of calling all the coaches and asking them questions.
“It can be a little bit tricky, because sometimes a coach will try to sell you on a player (instead of providing an objective assessment). We’ve had coaches swear by a player who didn’t get drafted. Or, sometimes a player will be criticized and he’ll end up going in the first round.
“You never really know, so it’s a lot of work. Kyle’s a great resource and he puts a lot of work into the draft. That’s his baby.”
Suitably, plenty of labour is involved — exhaustive research on the part of everyone.
“A lot goes into it,” O’Day concluded. “Ultimately, you’re just trying to make the best decisions based on the information you have. Everyone has a full file, with reports and testing, and there’s a lot of film to look at as well.
“Once you start getting to within a week of the draft, that’s when it starts to get a little bit more real. You’ll go back in some cases and take another look at a player.”
At the same time, the Roughriders consider the strength of their Canadian talent at each position, the entire reservoir of Americans, and the presence of Global players.
It isn’t always as elementary as “pick this player,” because the ratio or other considerations may influence the choice.
“It’s very unique,” O’Day concluded, “and a lot of fun.”
