The 2026 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on April 28, 2026. Seventy-four players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA or NAIA.
Format The draft featured eight rounds of selections, with each team receiving one selection per round in reverse standings order from the 2025 CFL season. As per the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, the two teams that had National players featured in the highest percentage of snaps played in the 2025 CFL season (the Edmonton Elks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers) were each awarded an additional second-round pick. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN and streamed on TSN+, while rounds 3 through 8 were streamed solely on TSN+.
Top prospects Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.
Finalranking Januaryranking Augustranking Player Position University Hometown 1 1 1 Akheem Mesidor Miami (FL) Ottawa, ON 2 2 2 Logan Taylor Offensive lineman Boston College Lunenburg, NS 3 4 7 Rene Konga Defensive lineman Louisville Ottawa, ON 4 5 3 Wesley Bailey Defensive lineman Louisville Ottawa, ON 5 3 5 Albert Reese IV Offensive lineman Mississippi State Edmonton, AB 6 10 16 Rohan Jones Tight end Arkansas Montreal, QC 7 – – Kevin Cline Offensive lineman Boston College Boca Raton, FL 8 7 10 Dariel Djabome Linebacker Rutgers Longueuil, QC 9 6 6 Jett Elad Defensive back Rutgers Mississauga, ON 10 9 12 Malcolm Bell Defensive back Michigan State Montreal, QC 11 19 11 Giordano Vaccaro Offensive lineman Purdue Winnipeg, MB 12 8 – Nuer Gatkuoth Defensive lineman Wake Forest Edmonton, AB 13 12 13 Darius Bell Offensive lineman East Carolina Hamilton, ON 14 – – Niklas Henning Offensive lineman Queen's Milton, ON 15 11 4 Nick Cenacle Wide receiver Hawaii Montreal, QC 16 20 – Émeric Boutin Fullback Laval 17 – – Malick Meiga Wide receiver Coastal Carolina Montreal, QC 18 18 – Nate DeMontagnac Wide receiver North Dakota Mississauga, ON 19 15 – Jonathan Denis Offensive lineman Louisiana Tech Homestead, FL 20 13 18 Darius McKenzie Linebacker South Alabama Ottawa, ON – 14 8 Devynn Cromwell Defensive back Michigan State Toronto, ON – 16 19 Aamarii Notice Defensive lineman Coastal Carolina Toronto, ON – 17 9 Nolan Ulm Wide receiver Eastern Washington Kelowna, BC – – 14 Jez Janvier Offensive lineman Southern Mississippi Montreal, QC – – 15 Josh Baka Defensive back Ottawa, ON – – 17 Tyrell Lawrence Offensive lineman Alabama A&M Milton, ON – – 20 Trae Tomlinson Defensive back Louisiana Winnipeg, MB
Draft order Source:
Round one Pick # CFL team Player Position University 1 Ottawa Redblacks Giordano Vaccaro OL Purdue 2 Toronto Argonauts Niklas Henning OL Queen's 3 Edmonton Elks Dariel Djabome LB Rutgers 4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Nuer Gatkuoth DL Wake Forest 5 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jonathan Denis OL Louisiana Tech 6 Calgary Stampeders Eric Rascoe LB Angelo State 7 BC Lions Nate DeMontagnac WR North Dakota 8 Montreal Alouettes Rohan Jones TE Arkansas 9 Saskatchewan Roughriders Malcolm Bell DB Michigan State
Round two Pick # CFL team Player Position University 10 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Ottawa) Dante Daniels TE North Carolina State 11 Toronto Argonauts Isaiah Smith RB Guelph 12 Edmonton Elks Benjamin Sangmuah DB British Columbia 13 Ottawa Redblacks (via Winnipeg) Émeric Boutin FB Laval 14 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Malick Meiga WR Coastal Carolina 15 BC Lions (via Calgary) Jett Elad DB Rutgers 16 Toronto Argonauts (via BC) Ethan John DB Windsor 17 Montreal Alouettes Shakespeare Louis DB Southeastern Louisiana 18 Saskatchewan Roughriders Dylan Djete WR Alabama State Edmonton Elks Wesley Bailey DL Louisville Winnipeg Blue Bombers Kevin Cline OL Boston College
Round three Pick # CFL team Player Position University 21 Edmonton Elks (via Ottawa) Carter Kettyle WR Alberta 22 Toronto Argonauts Louis-Philippe Gauthier DB Montreal 23 Toronto Argonauts (via Ottawa via Edmonton) Darius McKenzie LB South Alabama 24 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Charles-Elliot Bouliane LB Montreal 25 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Devynn Cromwell DB Michigan State 26 Calgary Stampeders Jesulayomi Ojutalayo WR Wilfrid Laurier 27 Calgary Stampeders (via BC) Tristan Marois DL Colorado 28 Montreal Alouettes Nathan Udoh WR Manitoba 29 Saskatchewan Roughriders Darius Bell OL East Carolina
Round four Pick # CFL team Player Position University 30 Toronto Argonauts (via Ottawa) Nolan Ulm WR Eastern Washington 31 Ottawa Redblacks (via Toronto) Charlie Parks DL Saskatchewan 32 Edmonton Elks Spencer Walsh OL Wilfrid Laurier 33 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ethan Stuart DB McMaster 34 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Brayden Szeman OL Calgary 35 Edmonton Elks (via Ottawa via Calgary) Justin Pace LB Queen's 36 BC Lions Pierre Kemeni DB Ohio 37 Montreal Alouettes Liam Talbot RB Windsor 38 Saskatchewan Roughriders Osasere Odemwingie LB Calgary
Round five Pick # CFL team Player Position University 39 Ottawa Redblacks Alassane Diouf OL Montreal 40 Toronto Argonauts Frank Vreugdenhil OL McMaster 41 Ottawa Redblacks (via Edmonton) Benjamin Dobson LB Calgary 42 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Brody Clark LB York 43 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Loik Gagne LB Concordia (QC) 44 Calgary Stampeders Matt Sibley WR Calgary 45 BC Lions Nick Cenacle WR Hawaii 46 Montreal Alouettes Harrison Daley DB Windsor 47 Saskatchewan Roughriders Jez Janvier OL Southern Mississippi
Round six Pick # CFL team Player Position University 48 Ottawa Redblacks Rene Konga DL Louisville 49 Toronto Argonauts Tyriq Quayson WR Windsor 50 Edmonton Elks Chris Pashula OL Calgary 51 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ben Britton WR Calgary 52 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Marc Djonay Rondeu LB Ottawa (ON) 53 Calgary Stampeders Mitchell Schechinger OL Guelph 54 BC Lions Ethan Graham OL Regina 55 Montreal Alouettes Michael Horvat K McMaster 56 Saskatchewan Roughriders Albert Reese IV OL Mississippi State
Round seven Pick # CFL team Player Position University 57 Toronto Argonauts (via Ottawa) Nathan Walker K/P York 58 Edmonton Elks (via Toronto) Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald WR/QB McGill 59 Edmonton Elks Matthew Ljuden OL Alberta 60 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Josh Jack WR Saint Mary's 61 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Aamarii Notice DL Coastal Carolina 62 Calgary Stampeders Steven Kpehe DL Queen's 63 BC Lions Chase Henning DB British Columbia 64 Montreal Alouettes Cyrus McGarrell DB Northern Illinois 65 Saskatchewan Roughriders Sherman McBean WR British Columbia
Round eight Pick # CFL team Player Position University 66 Ottawa Redblacks Josh Connors LB Wilfrid Laurier 67 Toronto Argonauts Weagbe Mombo RB Windsor 68 Toronto Argonauts (via Edmonton) Sebastian Parsalidis FB Wilfrid Laurier 69 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Brady Lidster K Windsor 70 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Kyler Laing LB Mercyhurst 71 Calgary Stampeders Jack Warrack OL Saskatchewan 72 BC Lions Ebenezer Dibula DL Kennesaw State 73 Montreal Alouettes Zachary Houde WR St. Francis Xavier 74 Saskatchewan Roughriders Ryan Speight FB Wilfrid Laurier
Trades In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round two Calgary → BC (PD). Calgary traded a second-round pick in this year's draft and the ninth overall pick and the 29th overall pick in the 2025 CFL draft to BC in exchange for Vernon Adams, a third-round pick in this year's draft, and the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 CFL draft. BC → Toronto (PD). BC traded a second-round pick in this year's draft and Ryder Varga to Toronto in exchange for Dejon Allen. Ottawa ←→ Winnipeg (D). Ottawa traded the 10th overall pick in this year's draft to Winnipeg in exchange for the 13th overall pick in this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2027 CFL draft.
Round three BC → Calgary (PD). BC traded a third-round pick in this year's draft, Vernon Adams, and the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 CFL draft to Calgary in exchange for a second-round pick in this year's draft and the ninth overall pick and the 29th overall in the 2025 CFL draft. Edmonton ←→ Ottawa (PD). Edmonton traded the 23rd overall pick in this year's draft, Nyles Morgan, and a fifth-round pick in this year's draft to Ottawa in exchange for the 21st overall pick and a fourth-round pick in this year's draft. Ottawa → Toronto (PD). Ottawa traded the 23rd overall pick in this year's draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2027 CFL draft to Toronto in exchange for the playing rights to Luiji Vilain and the 31st overall pick in this year's draft.
Round four Calgary → Ottawa (PD). Calgary traded a fourth-round pick in this year's draft to Ottawa in exchange for Lorenzo Mauldin. Ottawa → Edmonton (PD). Ottawa traded the 35th overall pick in this year's draft and a third-round pick in this year's draft to Edmonton in exchange for a third-round pick, Nyles Morgan, and a fifth-round pick in this year's draft. Ottawa → Toronto (PD). Ottawa traded a conditional sixth-round pick in this year's draft and the negotiation rights to Andre Carter to Toronto in exchange for Daniel Adeboboye. This was confirmed to be upgraded to a fourth-round pick upon the release of the draft order. Toronto → Ottawa (PD). Toronto traded the 31st overall pick in this year's draft and the playing rights to Luiji Vilain to Ottawa in exchange for the 23rd overall pick in this year's draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2027 CFL draft.
Round five Edmonton → Ottawa (PD). Edmonton traded the 41st overall pick in this year's draft, Nyles Morgan, and a fifth-round pick in this year's draft to Ottawa in exchange for a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
Round seven Ottawa → Toronto (PD). Ottawa traded a seventh-round pick in this year's draft to Toronto in exchange for Mark Milton. Toronto → Edmonton (PD). Toronto traded a conditional eighth-round pick in this year's draft to Edmonton in exchange for the negotiation rights to Spencer Brown. This was confirmed to be upgraded to a seventh-round pick while the Argonauts received the Elks' eighth-round pick upon the release of the draft order.
Round eight Edmonton → Toronto (PD). Edmonton traded an eighth-round pick in this year's draft and the negotiation rights to Spencer Brown to Toronto in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
References Trade references
General references