Jonathan Denis didn’t know much about Hamilton’s civic pride as a uniquely hard-nosed town, but he got a hint of it when he called himself a “mauler.”
The large crowd assembled for the Ticats’ annual Draft Party at Hamilton Stadium burst into a whoop of appreciation when the club’s first-round draft choice—No. 5 overall—applied that description to his style of play.
“A mauler,” the physically imposing offensive lineman explained to Ticats.ca Tuesday night, “is somebody who moves somebody from Point A to Point B … against their will.”
Good start.
The native of Laval, Quebec, is 6-foot-2 and 316 pounds, has played for some big-time college programs, and “has hoped and prayed to play pro football since I was four years old. I’m just looking forward to being the best teammate I can be and helping the team as much as I can. I’ll be there in four or five days, ready to get to work and get started on making lifetime friendships.”
In their eight draft rounds, the Ticats clearly prioritized depth and breadth across the lines of scrimmage; particularly offensively to make sure they’ve got present and future protection for the team’s most essential player, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Additionally, they went for proven toughness, athletic ability, versatility and psychological steeliness, all of which Denis exemplifies.
He suspected he’d be taken in the first round but didn’t know by whom, so hadn’t yet done any research on his new team, “but I’m going to be all over it tonight. I’ll be on it real quick. I wasn’t aware of Hamilton’s reputation as a tough town… it’s a great fit.”
Denis, who turned 24 on New Year’s Eve, has fought through physical adversity—he had two ACL surgeries but the second was four years ago and has not bothered him since—and a college career path that required dogged mental determination.
He played last season at Louisiana Tech, the same school which produced Hall of Famer Matt Dunigan, who played quarterback like a linebacker. It was also the college home of Smoke Harris, who returned punts and kickoffs in five Ticat games last year and Saskatchewan receiver Samuel Emilus, the Grey Cup’s Most Outstanding Canadian.
He moved from Laval to Miami, Florida with his mother and stepfather when he was young and grew up there but also has a strong supportive network of his father’s family in Quebec and spent last night at a draft party in Montréal with cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles.
“He is a mauler; big, tough and physical and that was a priority in the draft.”
He was heavily recruited by NCAA programs after starring in Florida’s high school hotbed, but had started playing the game as a safety in flag football before moving to tight end then offensive line. By the time he graduated, he was rated the sixth-best high school guard in the nation and No. 1 in Florida. His high school coach nicknamed him Tow Truck, “because a tow truck (on offensive line) removes a car that’s parked where it isn’t supposed to be (on the defensive line). So it just stuck.”
Denis chose Oregon for college but after a couple of years the coaching staff there moved to Miami to take over the Hurricanes so he transferred as well. He spent a couple of years back in Florida but played only a handful of games because of his knee injuries.
“That’s where I grew up and I wanted to be close to my family,” he said. “But with injuries, things didn’t work out so I went to (Division II) Central Missouri to get back on my feet. I wanted to get back to Division 1 so I could get to pro and finished at Louisiana Tech.”
Tom Flaxman, the Ticats’ Director of Canadian Scouting who steered the club’s draft process, said the Cats had targeted Denis for some time, especially after interviewing him at the CFL combine.
“You look at it in terms of pro readiness, his physicality, his play strength and his desire and he’s got a great opportunity to compete,” Flaxman said. “We’ve got to protect Bo, and moving forward he gives us great depth and future. He’s four years off knee surgery so we feel pretty comfortable in that regard.
“He is a mauler; big, tough and physical and that was a priority in the draft.”
Denis can play either centre or guard and that flexibility fits the Ticats’ inner-line profile. They’ve got lots of backup across all five positions on the offensive line, which should provide a vigorous competition at both rookie camp (beginning May 6 at McMaster) and main camp (May 10).
After Denis, the Ticats chose fast and rangy wide receiver Malick Meiga of Coastal Carolina in the second round. He has signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and expects to battle for a position on special teams, at which he excels, so may not be available soon.
The Ticats, though, could afford the gamble of taking a “futures” player who had been so highly ranked but is not immediately available, because they’ve so dramatically fortified their Canadian content through last year’s draft and in-season development, and a solid off-season of free-agency acquisitions.
Even before signing any of last night’s draft class, they have 31 Canadians under contract, 10 more than the minimum per-game roster requirement.
In the third round, the Ticats selected Michigan State defensive back Devynn Cromwell, who also played at University of Guelph. He’s recovering from a meniscus injury, and the Ticats will bring him to town to rehab with their own medical and training staff.
The Cats went back to the offensive line in the fourth round for Brayden Szeman who started at centre for the University of Calgary but also filled in at guard and tackle.
Then it was a pair of USports linebackers, Concordia’s Loik Gagne and Ottawa’s Marc Rondeau in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, followed by defensive tackle Aamarii Notice of Coastal Carolina in the seventh and, finally, defensive end Kyler Laing from Mercyhurst in the eighth.
“We feel like our Canadian talent is in a very good place right now,” Flaxman said. “We didn’t feel we had to have a starter, like we had to last year (Devin Veresuk, now in the NFL). We got guys we think we can develop with our great coaching staff, and we got people who addressed the needs we had on both sides of the ball.
“We make a priority of the line of scrimmage and I feel that this draft reflects that.”
The Global draft is on Wednesday.
Here are Tom Flaxman’s thumbnail sketches of Hamilton’s eight selections from Tuesday’s Canadian Draft.
1st Rd. Jonathan Denis, OL Louisiana Tech, 24, 6-2, 313 pounds. “A mauler. He’s a guy who started games at Miami, then had an opportunity to go down a level and get his confidence again after injuries then played at a great program at Louisiana Tech.”
2nd Rd. Malick Meiga, WR Coastal Carolina, 25, 6-3, 206 pounds. “We loved him at the combine. He brings a ton of energy. He’s a future. An elite special teams player, he’ll make an impact on teams and we wish him in his NFL journey as one of the best gunners in the draft. He was special teams captain at Penn State before Coastal Carolina. Had a productive college career. He has a huge catch radius and 4.44 speed. Very fast.”
3rd Rd. Devynn Cromwell DB, Michigan State, 24 , 6-1, 200 pounds. “He should probably have gone higher but is recovering from surgery. He can play free safety and is an elite athlete.”
4th Rd. Brayden Szeman OL, Calgary, 23, 6-1, 302 pounds. “He continued to climb our board and we think he’s a steal in the fourth round. We feel he can have a long CFL career. Tough, physical, a ton of positional flexibility. Cerebral with a great brain for the game. It’s elite football intelligence.”
5th Rd. Loik Gagne, LB, Concordia, 23, 6-0, 215 pounds. “Passionate about the game of football, high-level athlete who did a great job and had a good combine. Elite special teams player and we love his passion and physicality.”
6th Rd. Marc Rondeau, LB, Ottawa, 24, 6-0, 195 pounds. “Similar to Gagne, passionate, high-level athlete, although they’re different players. He can play WILL and SAM. We targeted these two guys and were surprised both fell in the draft.”
7th Rd. Aamarii Notice, DT, Coastal Carolina, 23, 6-3, 286 pounds. “Played a lot of high level football. Defensive tackle depth is always a focus in building a roster. He’s elite and can push the pocket but he’s also a dominant run defender. We had him higher up in our ranking.”
8th Rd. Kyler Laing, DE, Mercyhurst, 25, 6-1, 224 pounds. “One thing that came across at the combine was his passion. At round 8 you’re looking for guys who will grind it out and he made an impression on us. We want tough, athletic people who want to play and he is all of those.”
