Jeremy O’Day hopes to derive long-term benefits from a quick process.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager emerged from Tuesday morning’s CFL Global Draft — a brisk, two-round event — with two players who boast impressive NCAA credentials.
In the first round (third overall), the Roughriders selected Samoa-born defensive tackle Tyrone Taleni, who spent the past two seasons with the USC Trojans.
Saskatchewan then claimed Australian-born punter Jordy Sandy — from the TCU Horned Frogs — in the second round (12th overall).
“I think it was a pretty good Draft,” O’Day said. “It kind of played out the way we had hoped, because we were actually wondering if we should take Sandy with the third pick.”
The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Taleni spent two seasons with the Kansas State Wildcats before transferring to USC.
Taleni played in 22 games over two seasons with the Trojans, registering 36 defensive tackles (including eight for a loss), six sacks and a forced fumble. In 2022, he was a second-team PAC-12 All-Star.
“He’s someone who you would consider signing even if he was an American,” O’Day noted. “We’re excited to pick him.”
Sandy averaged 40.7 yards per punt over 61 games at Texas Christian University.
Of his 261 punts, 91 landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He boomed 35 punts for distances of 50 yards or more.
Last season, only two of his 37 punts went for a touchback, and only 11 were returned.
He earned second-team all-Big 12 recognition in 2020 and received all-conference honourable-mention laurels in 2022 and 2023.
The selection of Sandy landed the Roughriders an Australian-born punter for the second successive year.
Adam Korsak, who was chosen third overall in the 2023 Global Draft, was named a West Division All-Star and the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Special Teams Player after averaging 47.9 yards per punt — the second-best figure in franchise history.
In last year’s second round, Saskatchewan picked defensive lineman Habakkuk Baldonado, from Italy, 12th overall.
Baldonado signed with the Roughriders on Sept. 18 after registering one sack over three NFL pre-season games with the New York Giants. He went on to play in five CFL games.
“We didn’t think we’d get him (in 2023), but he ended up wanting to play and he was on the roster at the end of the year,” O’Day recalled. “We had a good Global draft last year.”
