Duane Forde discusses why the 2015 CFL draft is so full of talent

TSN analyst and CFL draft guru Duane Forde took the time Monday to answer media questions about this year's draft (Tuesday at 8 p.m. on TSN2/RDS2/TSN.ca/TSN Go, with the third round on being streaming only), and he had plenty to say about why this is going to be a memorable one. Some have called this the best draft class ever, and Forde said it's in the conversation with famed drafts like the 2008 draft, which produced three league all-stars and several other good players in the first round alone. He pointed out that this year's crop is particularly good thanks to the 2013 rule change that means NCAA redshirt freshmen are now drafted when their eligibility is exhausted rather than after their junior year. That change led to last year's draft being lighter than normal, but it's stacked this year's draft, as players who normally would have been set for a 2014 draft year are now in the 2015 class.

"The number-one thing that has impacted this draft in many ways is the change in draft rules," Forde said. "For guys in American schools, their draft year now coincides with the completion of their eligibility. Guys were punted from the last draft into this draft."

Forde said last year's change in the national (or non-import) rules to count citizenship rather than years of residency in Canada has also boosted the talent pool.

"You've got a couple of guys who probably wouldn't have qualified as non-imports under the old system," he said.

There's a plethora of available talent at many positions, but Forde said he thinks it's strongest along the offensive line.

"The best guys are offensive linemen for me," he said. "Sukh Chung is a guy who stands out, Danny Groulx, Alex Mateas..."

Forde said Chung would be his pick first overall, but there are a lot of good options from offensive linemen in particular. He said Ottawa may be tempted by Alex Mateas or Danny Groulx, who have ties to nearby areas. Forde said the trend of teams picking local guys has increased lately, but it's not about catering to fans, it's about trying to hang onto those players once their rookie contracts expire.

"It's not about selling tickets or fostering goodwill, those are bonuses," he said. "It's about free agency."

Forde said the wave of players changing teams when they first hit free agency, often to be closer to home, may motivate the CFL to change that system in future collective bargaining agreements.

"I'd be shocked if it wasn't changed to put in some form of restricted free agency or compensation or right to match offers," he said.

Until then, though, picking local guys can be important for CFL teams.

"The guy from Ottawa is more likely, on paper at least, to stay there," Forde said. "It's absolutely a real consideration for teams."

Forde said teams don't often ignore talent differentials to stay local, but local ties can be a tiebreaker amongst players of similar talent, and he thinks Mateas and Groulx would be in the discussion for first overall even if they didn't have local ties.

"Absolutely, especially when you have guys who are very legitimately close to those spots," he said.

With Mateas, Groulx, Chung, Sean McEwen, Jacob Ruby, and Brett Boyko (who has signed in the NFL), there's a good crop of offensive linemen at the top, but Forde said that may lead to a run on the position along the lines of what happened in 2008 (four OL taken in the first round, and another three in a row in the second round).

"I can see a similar thing happening in this draft," Forde said. "There may be a dropoff after the first five or six guys."

Offensive line has often been a focus for CFL teams in the draft, and Forde said that's because there used to be a bigger gap between Canadian and American players at other positions.

"Offensive lines were even more Canadian when I was a kid, so it's been around a long time," he said. "Comparing Canadian and U.S. players, the differences were bigger between skill players."

Forde said that's not so much the case in 2015, though.

"That is less true now," he said. "We're seeing that gap closed at the skill positions."

One particular skill position to watch will be receiver, where there are two top prospects, Lemar Durant and Nic Demski. They come from very different leagues, though; Durant played in NCAA Division II with Simon Fraser University, while Demski played in CIS with the Manitoba Bisons. Forde said there's a wide gap in quality within each of those leagues between their good and bad teams, but there isn't necessarily a big gap between the competition Demski and Durant faced.

"There's a huge range," Forde said. "Overall, I would say it's a relatively fair comparison between the two."

The Durant/Demski debate is interesting from other perspectives, too. Durant's bigger and stronger, but less polished and less used to the Canadian game. Forde said the decision on which to take first may depend on team preferences.

"A lot of it depends on the scout, the GM, the coach and what skills they value," he said.

For Forde, Durant's slightly ahead, but both look like great CFL players.

"I would probably give a little bit of an edge to Lemar Durant thanks to his combination of size, strength and vertical leap," he said. "To me, it's going to be very interesting to see which of these guys goes first. I'm excited to see both in the CFL."

There are other intriguing positions, too. Forde said there's substantial depth at fullback, linebacker and defensive back, with the linebacker group in particular clustering closely together.

"It's been one of the toughest positions to rank," he said.

It should all make for a fascinating draft. Who will go first? Where will the rest of the top linemen end up? Which teams are going to target which skill positions? All these questions and more should be answered during the draft Tuesday night.