Whoever their new, Canadian rookie teammates are going to be, a quartet of Tiger-Cats know exactly how they’re feeling in these anxious hours leading into Tuesday night’s CFL Draft.
The draft—the first two rounds of the eight-round draft are televised live (6 p.m. TSN)—is for players who qualify by league drafts rules as National, a.k.a. Canadian.
Ticats starting safety Stavros Katsantonis, all-star left guard Brandon Revenberg, guard-switching-to-starting-centre Coulter Woodmansey, and new starting right guard Liam Dobson all came into the CFL, and pro football for that matter, via the Canadian draft. Katsantonis, Revenberg and Woodmansey directly to the Ticats, and Dobson to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before he signed as a free agent here this winter. All of them know how perspective draftees are feeling on the cusp of the draft.
“Of course, you’re super-nervous because you could end up anywhere in the country,” recalls Woodmansey, a Toronto native, who was taken in the shortened 2020 draft, the same one which saw Katsantonis selected in the fourth round. He went in the first round, fifth overall, after playing four seasons for the Guelph Gryphons.
“It’s a big transition period but there’s also that underlying excitement that you’re going to fulfill a dream that you’ve been working hard your whole life for.
“Everyone has the question somewhere inside them; Am I good enough to be there? It’s in every profession, especially in a physical one. But, yes, everyone is better up here and yes everyone is professional, and yes they’ve been working their whole life at football. But at the end of the day you have to believe in what you’ve done and what you’re going to do.”
Revenberg, Katsantonis, Woodmansey and Dobson are all clubhouse leaders of the 2025 Ticats but their circumstances varied, heading into their draft year.
Revenberg grew up in Windsor and played college at an NCAA Division 2 school, Grand Valley State. Ottawa native Dobson, like Revenberg, was also taken third overall in his 2021 draft year but did not report to the Blue Bombers that season because he had promised his mother he’d finish his undergraduate degree at Texas State before turning pro. Katsantonis grew up in Bakersfield, California but qualified as a Canadian because his father Jim is Canadian, winning a Vanier Cup with the University of Calgary in 1988 before moving back to Bakersfield with his wife Becky. Their son, Stavros, starred in high school then came to Canada to play for UBC where he was a three-time all-Canadian. He didn’t know about the CFL until he was watching the 2014 Grey Cup in his father’s sports bar because Speedy Banks, then a Ticat star, had played his junior college in Bakersfield. At the time he had no inkling that he’d eventually be Banks’ teammate.
Revenberg was Hamilton’s first pick, third overall, in the 2016 draft and has played more CFL games (138) than any other player in that draft class.
He would watch the Grey Cup game but was simply enjoying his college experience at Grand Valley and for much of his time there wasn’t even thinking about a pro football career. But former Ticats assistant GM Drew Allemang began scouting him.
“And it popped onto my radar that I could go play after college,” he says. “I knew there was some interest and I didn’t know what level the interest was at. I didn’t go to the combine, because I was coming off a knee injury and (trainers) didn’t want me to go.
“When draft day comes you’re anxious because you have no idea where you’re going and you don’t have any say in it. You have a rough idea who likes you but ultimately didn’t know where you’ll be.
“There was a lot of excitement and when my name was called by Hamilton and I couldn’t have been happier. Then Kent Austin called and when I got here (Mike) Filer, (Ryan) Bomben and (Peter) Dyaskowski all took me under their wing.”
He was a starter by the end of the season and two years later won his first of three, so far, East Division Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman awards.
Katsantonis was selected by the Ticats in the fourth round (36th overall) of the 2020 draft, the season which was cancelled because of the pandemic. He knows what players will be feeling Tuesday night if their number doesn’t come up during the first two rounds.
“At that point I’m just hoping to hear my name get called. I was a little bit nervous. I had a bit of a draft party with just my close family. I had family watching it on TSN on YouTube and by the third round I’m streaming it on CFL.ca
“Then I saw my name on the screen and it said ‘Ticats’ and maybe a minute later Coach O (Steinauer) called, then my defensive coordinator (Mark) Washington called, and my position coach (Craig) Butler called, all to congratulate me. That’s when it officially set in: ‘You’re going to be a Tiger-Cat and you’re going to be a pro!’
“Then you realize you have to earn that respect all over again, going from all-star at high school and college and now you’re just the rookie and you have to make one of the rosters. It was eye-opening.”
Dobson grew up in Ottawa and was courted by several NCAA Division I programs before settling on the Maine Black Bears. He entered the transfer portal when their 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic and committed to Texas State where he was an all-star honourable mention. CFL teams knew he would be heading there for the 2021 season.
“A couple of people were telling I would be drafted very late or wouldn’t get drafted at all just for that very reason,” he said. “So I wasn’t really expecting anything.”
But Winnipeg the reigning Cup champions, drafted him third overall and the following season he was worked gradually into the offensive line rotation, and by last year was a starter, making his first West all-star team. Before he came back north, though, he went to two NFL mini-camps and explored the USFL.
“But I ended up in a phenomenal league and some great organizations,” he says. “When I saw my name chosen by the team who won the Grey Cup I got super excited.”
A common element experience among all drafted players is that no matter what their previous allegiances, they become instant fans of their new CFL team.
“I did not think it was going to be Hamilton who chose me,” Woodmansey recalls.
“It was surreal. It was announced on TV and at the same time I got a call from my agent. Honestly, the moment went so fast it was just a blur. I was with my whole family and it was such an exciting time.
“My family immediately went nuts and starting screaming, “Hamilton!” and “Oskee Wee Wee!”
MILTY’S DRAFT NOTES:
- The Ticats have three draft picks in the first 21 slots: second overall in Round 1, first in Round 2 (9th overall) and second in Round 3 (21st overall). They also have another pick in the third round (28th overall) because of a trade with Toronto last year for Jordan Williams who eventually retired.
- This is only the second time in the past 15 years that the Ticats have had the second overall pick. They took guard Jesse Gibbon, now with Montreal, second in 2019.
- After their first four picks, the Ticats don’t have a fourth-round choice, because they traded it to Toronto last spring in a swap of draft slots as part of the Jordan Williams trade. They’ll choose second in each of Rouns 5,6, 7 and 8.
- Last year the Ticats’ draft choices were: guard-centre Nate Dumoulin Duguay (1st Round, 7th overall); defensive end Luke Brubacher (2nd ,16th); defensive back Daniel Bell (4th, 34th); running back Matthew Peterson (4th, 36th); linebacker Ryan Baker (5th, 43rd); DB Jonathan Giustini (6th, 52nd), offensive lineman John Kourtis (7th, 61st) and linebacker Mitchell Townsend (8th, 70th). Dumouline Duguay, Brubacher, Bell and Baker with the team all year.
- From 1997-2012 the draft was only six rounds deep. One more round was added for 2013-15 and for the last 10 seasons, including this one, it has been eight rounds long. The one exception was the post-pandemic 2021 draft which had only six rounds because there was a double cohort of rookies due to the cancelled 2020 season. in 2021 the Ticats had two choices in the top nine, taking now-retired Jake Burt 1st overall and UBC linebacker Nic Cross at No. 9. Cross is the only Ticat from the draft still with the team.
- Since the draft was introduced in 1952 Western leads in No. 1 overall picks with seven, followed by Queen’s, Simon Fraser and U of T, with five each.
