A Unicorn in the CFL

By Chris Lawton

One thing that is clear about the CFL Global Draft is that the CFL teams use it more than anything else as a place to find kickers. Especially punters, and all the more especially Australian punters.

Let’s take a look at the numbers. The first Global Draft was held in 2021. That year 36 players were taken over 4 rounds. Seven of them were punters, and six of those seven were Aussies. Including Jake Ford who went first overall and three others in the first round. Including Cody Grace who was taken 7th by the Calgary Stampeders. He would stay on in Calgary from 2021-2024 picking up divisional all-star status in 2021 & 2022 and overall CFL all-star status in 2022. He has now moved on to the Edmonton Elks whilst the Stamps looked to replace him by going to the Aussie punter well and selecting two Australian punters in this year’s global portion of the draft.

In the 2022 Global Draft 27 players were taken over three rounds. This time 8 punters were taken. Of those eight punters, seven were Australians. The most successful of them is probably John Haggerty who was taken by the Toronto Argonauts where he has become a two-time Grey Cup champion (2022 & 2024) with six punts for s 49.2 yard average in his first championship game, and five punts for a 54.8 yard average in the latest.

By the 2023 Global Draft the CFL teams were picking 18 global players over 2 rounds. This time 5 punters were taken and 4 of them were Australians. That pattern was pretty much repeated in the 2024 Global Draft where 6 punters were taken out of the 18 selections. This time all of them were Aussies. Would that pattern repeat this year? Absolutely it would! As mentioned above the Stamps took two Australian punters with their two picks. In fact, in all 10 punters (or players listed as kicker/punter) were taken, and 7 of them were Australians. Obviously learning early with an Aussie rules footy ball helps with punting technique!

At this point you are probably wondering where is the unicorn in all of this? It looks pretty clear that the CFL Global Draft is a pipeline of Aussie kicking talent. However, sat amongst those kickers is another Australian who has carved out a place for himself in the CFL. That player is Bailey Devine- Scott. This Australian was selected 25th out of 27 players in the 2022 Global Draft and is no kicker. In fact, the Calgary Stampeders picked him up as a defensive back.

Since then, Devine-Scott has had quite the ups and downs with the Stamps. In 2022 he played in three games making 2 tackles and 2 special teams tackles. In 2023 he was released in training camp but brought back on to the practice roster. He would go on to appear in seven games making 2 defensive tackles and 8 special teams tackles. He also added a special teams tackle in the Stamps playoff appearance against the BC Lions. Last year was his best year as he made the active roster in camp and went on to play in 17 games. He finished with 14 defensive tackles, 2 for a loss, 1 sack, 1 knockdown and a team high 16 special teams’ tackles. The sack he recorded came in Week 19 and was actually a safety against Edmonton.

Devine-Scott is currently still on the Stamps roster and is a unicorn, an example that you can pick an Australian to your CFL team without him being a punter and have some success.

The global drafts were very much the idea of former CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie and it remains to be seen what new commissioner  Stewart Johnston will decide to do when it comes to the global initiatives. Some teams have done better than others with their global selections and some players have really made a mark. The ‘unicorn’ Bailey Devine-Scott is one such player.

CHRIS LAWTON

CFL ANALYST

Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK

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