Alberta's O'Donnell tops Canada West CFL Prospect Rankings

EDMONTON – Alberta Golden Bears offensive lineman and newly inked Indianapolis Colt Carter O'Donnell is the top-ranked Canada West prospect heading into the Canadian Football League Draft.

O'Donnell sits atop the annual rankings, which were released Wednesday ahead of Thursday night's CFL Draft. The rankings are voted on by Canada West's six head coaches.

The six-foot-six, 315-pound O’Donnell was a first-team All-Canadian in 2019 and participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl in Florida, where he garnered interest from NFL teams. After going undrafted in last week's NFL Draft, O'Donnell immediately signed a deal with Indianapolis.

The fourth-year Education student was the lone CW player in the CFL Scouting Bureau rankings released earlier this month, and was the top-ranked U SPORTS player coming in at No. 3 on the 20-player list.

Lineman dominated the CW rankings, including a trio of Saskatchewan Huskies. Offensive linemen Mattland Riley (No. 2) and Nicholas Summach (No. 5), along with defensive lineman Nicholas Dheilly (No. 4) all earned respect from conference coaches.

Also inside the top five was Manitoba Bisons defensive lineman Brock Gowanlock at No. 3.

A pair of CW all-star receivers slot in at No. 6 and 7 respectively, as Manitoba's Macho Bockru and Saskatchewan's Colton Klassen were part of a logjam in the middle of the rankings which saw four players earn 39 points.

A total of 17 CW players were selected in last year's CFL Draft, including former UBC Thunderbird and current Toronto Argonauts quarterback Michael O'Connor (Round 3 / 20th overall).

The 2020 CFL Draft is set for Thursday, April 30 at 6 p.m. MDT and can be seen live on TSN.

2020 CANADA WEST CFL PROSPECT RANKINGS

NOTE: First-place votes were worth 1-point, second-place 2 points etc. Ties were broken by the greater number of higher-placed votes.