The Argos hold eight picks in this year’s draft, overall picks 7, 16, 30, 37, 46, 55, 64, and 72. Argonauts.ca looked back through the archives and put together a list of the players chosen with similar picks since the territorial protection era ended in 1984.
Some have provided the team with starters on championship teams, while others have been big swings and misses.
7: The Argos have selected here three times in the last 40 years, with two of the picks becoming starters on Grey Cup-winning teams.
Peter Nicastro was the seventh pick in 2021. The University of Calgary Dino became Toronto’s Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman that year, as well as being selected the East’s All-Star center. He’d miss the entire 2022 season with an injury, move to guard in 2023, then return to center for the team’s Grey Cup win in 2024.
Tyler Holmes was the Argos pick in the seventh spot in 2011. It was assumed the University of Tulsa product would play in the NFL, which he did for two seasons before heading to Toronto. The son of former Argo running back Richard Holmes would play seven seasons in Double Blue, getting two all-star nods and winning a Grey Cup in 2017 as the team’s starting left guard.
Other selection: J.F. Tremblay (2004).
16: There’s still a chance one of just two Argos picked in this slot will contribute at some point.
Fullback Jerrold Johnson from Azusa Pacific was the 1993 pick, but he never played a game for the Argos. Thirty years later, the Argos used the same spot in the draft to select receiver Jared Wayne from Pitt, who has also never played in Toronto.
The Peterborough native signed with the Houston Texans after going undrafted in the ’23 NFL Draft and last season played in three regular season and one playoff game. He is still on their roster.
Other selections: None.
30: Since 1984, the Argos have used the 30th pick on eight occasions, with the most recent choice being the most successful.
Tommy Nield was selected in 2021 and played here for four seasons before being released this off-season. The McMaster product won two Grey Cups in his four-year tenure with Toronto, catching 63 passes for 776 yards.
Fullback/tight end Steve Schmidt from San Diego State played the 2008 and 2009 seasons with the Argos, Guelph receiver Dave Irwin played the 1994 season, Western defensive back Alexis Sanschagrin played one year in 2002, while York defensive lineman Frank Hoffman played one game in 2004.
Other selections: Mike Cote (1989), Steven “Afterburner” Turner (2010), and Matt Norzil (2015).
37: The bar has not been set very high with this pick. They’ve made just four selections in this slot, with none of the players chosen ever playing a down with the Argos.
If the 2008 selection Richard Zulys, an offensive lineman from Western, had played even one game, he would have supplanted Morris Zubkewych as the last name on the Argos alphabetical all-time roster.
Other selections: Mike Lindley (1991), Jamie Bennett (1994), and Sean Sims (2007).
46: This pick was most notably used by the Argos on a player that never played in Toronto, while a pick in the same slot was used by another team to select an incredibly prominent Boatman.
In 1996 the Argos rolled the dice and selected a running back from Montreal who became a star at the University of Michigan. Tshimanga Biakabatuka, better known as “Touchdown Tim,” set the Wolverines single-season rushing record, once piling up 313 yards in a game against archrival Ohio State. He was a first-round NFL pick by Carolina and never played a down in the CFL.
Eleven years before that, the Ottawa Rough Riders selected a kicker from the University of Toronto with the 46th pick. Lance Chomyc never played a game for the Riders, as they had Dean Dorsey, another outstanding U of T product, on their roster. Chomyc was released by Ottawa and eventually signed with the Argos, where he still holds the team record for career points and was a member of the 1991 Grey Cup champs.
Other selection: Roger Dietrick (1989).
55: The Argos have only selected four times in the 55th slot, with only one of those players making the team. The most recent selection was Kevin Bradfield, a receiver from the University of Toronto who was selected in 2015 and played the 2016 season with the Boatmen.
Other selections: Frank Paradiso (1988), Craig Poole (1996), and Travis Matlock (2002 supplemental pick).
64: There was a long stretch where the draft ended before this pick. The Argos have made just one selection in this spot, Hugh Lawson, a defensive lineman from Laurier who was chosen in 1992. The three-time OUA all-star and key component of the 1991 Vanier Cup champs played two games for Toronto in the ’93 season.
Other Selections: None.
72: The Argos have only made this selection twice, and both players are on the current roster.
Anthony Vandal was selected with the final pick of the 2023 draft. After returning to the University of Sherbrooke for a season, he not only cracked the Argos roster last year but also played all 18 games, starting 10 games at right guard. He manned the same starting spot for all three post-season contests, including the Grey Cup win over Winnipeg.
Trying to follow Vandal’s example is Daniel Shin, who was selected last year from the University of Alberta. He’s a three-time Canada West All-Star and the 2023 All-Canadian center.
