Riders take offensive lineman and linebacker with first picks in 2024 CFL Draft

The Saskatchewan Roughriders selected offensive lineman, Kyle Hergel, with their third overall pick in the first round of the 2024 Canadian Football League (CFL) draft Tuesday night.

“I think it’s a great legacy, great program to be part of. I’m really looking forward to it,” Hergel said of the Riders following his selection.

The former Boston College Eagle also spent time at Texas State and North Dakota.

“He’s got some flexibility to play all spots of the interior offensive lineman, physical player and someone that started a little bit lower in division one football and just kept getting bigger opportunities,” Jeremy O’Day, Saskatchewan Roughriders’ general manager and vice president of football operations said.

Hergel, who hails from Toronto, is signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and that comes with the risk he does not play in the CFL anytime soon, if at all.

“There is some risk involved that you have to be willing to accept and we feel like the reward will pay for that, if we get the opportunity to get him,” O’Day said.

“I’m just kind of doing what I’ve done my whole career. Be prepared for any opportunity. I’m looking forward to getting down to New Orleans and any opportunity is a great opportunity. I’m just thankful. All you can do is compete and I’m an ultimate competitor,” Hergel said.

Despite his NFL opportunities, Hergel was quick to give the CFL some love and even has some league connections. He and the second overall pick, Nick Mardner, played for well known CFL coach and manager Adam Rita in high school.

• Download the CTV News app for Sask. breaking news alerts on your smartphone

“I remember going out to a bunch of games around our local area. Going to Hamilton games, just down the street. So kind of being bred in that CFL environment. Nick and I were also coached by Larry Jusdanis too. So we kind of grew up in that CFL system,” Hergel said.

The Roughriders second round pick had an even closer connection to home as they selected Nick Wiebe of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

The linebacker hails from Calgary, but has spent three seasons with the Huskies.

“It’s always nice [when they’re local] but it’s not the underlying thing. We’ve kind of trusted our draft board and he was the next guy,” O’Day said following the pick.

Wiebe is dealing with an injury right now that will delay his opportunity to play in the league.

“Someone we will have to wait a little while on but we saw the benefit of him coming back from injury and we’re excited to get him. We’ve done enough work on his medical background and how it’s going with his injury so we’re excited to get him,” O’Day said.

O’Day said he was not phased that the Riders’ first two picks would not pay off in the short term.

“We felt after hiring a new staff and going through our roster you see their thoughts and seeing if we had holes that we need to bring in guys immediately to compete. Coming out of it we weren’t scared to take some risks going into it. We feel like we’re in a decent position. We have some flexibility there. There’s a lot of different routes we can go with our (Canadian) ratio right now,” O’Day said.

A full list of this year’s draft picks can be found here.