ALL22 Global analyzes 2026 CFL Global Draft: New international talent joins the league

The 2026 CFL Global Draft took place on Wednesday, April 29, with 18 players from 12 different countries earning professional football opportunities.

Seven seasons into the experiment, and the CFL Global program is at a crossroads. It has produced all-star specialists and starting-calibre position players, but restrictions that cap the maximum number of Globals on an active roster at two have left teams with little flexibility or room for growth. As a result, the program as a whole may not be long for this world.

Nonetheless, ALL22 Global, an industry leader in international scouting, has worked diligently all offseason to evaluate every player eligible for the draft. Our team, which includes myself, Brett Morgan, Samit Bariana, Lorenz Leinweber, Alexander Durazo, Zeljko Novak, Guglielmo Perasole, Josh French, and Henry Yuan, collaborated to rank the top available position players and specialists.

Now that the dust has settled, we’re sharing our assessment of the picks and the decision-making behind them.

While talent trumps all, interest level, physical measurables, positional fit, NFL opportunities, and overall roster construction all play a role in what is the most unpredictable draft in sports. Without further ado, let’s cut through the noise to evaluate each and every selection.

Round 1

1) Ottawa Redblacks — PT Aidan Laros, Kentucky (South Africa)

As has become commonplace, the first overall selection in the Global Draft was reserved for a punter, but at least this time it wasn’t an Aussie. Laros, who hails from Cape Town, was ALL22’s second-graded specialist for a reason, and his elite leg strength landed him an undrafted free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, meaning Ottawa may have to wait for his services. If he does come north, the six-foot-two, 220-pounder could be among the league’s elite and offers something that the Redblacks have been desperately seeking: kickoff value. The team recently axed franchise legend Lewis Ward to pump their numbers up in that area, and Laros was one of the NCAA’s best at booming them into the end zone.

2) Toronto Argonauts — IOL Jordan Spasojevic-Moko, California (Australia)

Because of the requirement that they replace an American player on the field as part of the CFL’s ratio, Global guards have never been valued as more than practice roster additions. The Argos bucked that trend by selecting Spasojevic-Moko so highly, reaching for ALL22’s 14th-ranked position player. As physical as he is, the six-foot-five, 324-pound Aussie’s athletic measurables do not suggest that a move to tackle is feasible for him, making you question how he will ever see the field. He also has some red flags off the field stemming from an arrest in 2023, and will need to undergo a psychological assessment and commissioner review before he is allowed to sign a CFL contract. That makes this pick a head-scratcher all around.

3) Edmonton Elks — PK Jesus Gomez, Arizona State (Mexico)

The Elks are one of the few teams with experience using a Global kicker thanks to the short-lived Dean Faithfull experiment, and it appears they will push in that direction again with this pick. Incumbent Canadian Vincent Blanchar is vulnerable to being unseated, and Gomez has hit eight career field goals from outside of 50 yards, a skill which will become increasingly valuable with the goalposts moving to the back of the end zone in 2027. However, his 76 percent career accuracy is a major concern, and there were much more consistent kickers available at this point in the draft than our 11th-ranked specialist.

4) Winnipeg Blue Bombers — IDL Edward Vesterinen, West Virginia (Finland)

Vesterinen was the fourth-ranked position player on the ALL22 board, and he got selected fourth overall — safe to say we like this pick. The Helsinki native lacks NFL-calibre size and measurables, but possesses impressive lateral agility for an interior player and makes others around him better with his motor on stunts and twists. He should vie for rotational playing time along the Bombers’ defensive line right away, as last year’s third overall pick, Kemari Munier-Bailey, is the only other Global position player on the roster and doesn’t have his spot sewn up.

5) Hamilton Tiger-Cats — PT Nick Haberer, Vanderbilt (Australia)

Haberer was our ninth-rated specialist, but that had less to do with his talent than with the pure volume of top-tier punters available. The Commodores star has a howitzer of a leg that averaged 46.9 yards per punt last season, and he should immediately compete for Hamilton’s starting job, as they look to replace Nik Constantinou after he made the jump to the NFL.

6) Calgary Stampeders — PK Jude McAtamney, Rutgers (Northern Ireland)

The Stampeders still have future Hall of Famer Rene Paredes kicking for them for one last season, which makes McAtamney an interesting developmental project after he flamed out with the New York Giants. The former Gaelic footballer has a booming leg on kickoffs and has flashed promise as a field goal kicker, but has had issues consistently making the gimmes, which is why he was our 13th-rated specialist. Calgary will have time to get the best out of him.

7) B.C. Lions — PT Brett Thorson, Georgia (Australia)

The Lions are very satisfied with their incumbent punter, South African rugby convert Carl Meyer, and have no intention of rocking the boat. As they have done in the past, this is a futures pick on a player that some felt was the best punter in the 2026 NFL Draft and has since signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings. B.C. probably won’t see ALL22’s top-ranked specialist for several years, and they want it that way due to the Global program’s current roster constraints.

8) Montreal Alouettes — IOL Mark Petry, Syracuse (Germany)

Petry missed all of last season with a torn ACL, but his tape from the 2023 and 2024 seasons landed him at number eight in our position player rankings. While most NFL teams evaluated him as a guard, the six-foot-four, 298-pounder is athletic enough to play tackle in the CFL and should provide Montreal with valuable versatility. Even if he can’t cut it on the outside, the Alouettes are projected to play an American at right guard, which means there is still a path to the field for the German.

9) Saskatchewan Roughriders — LB/EDGE Mapalo Mwansa, Loughborough (England)

The Riders got tremendous value by picking up ALL22’s second-ranked position player at the end of the first round, even if they will have to wait for him. Mwansa is entering his second season as an IPP player with the Carolina Panthers and has massive developmental upside, given that he has only been playing football for a few years. The six-foot-two, 230-pounder has the frame and length to convert to defensive end if he plays in the CFL and projects as a demon on special teams, a skillset that is better than gold in the three-down league.

Round 2

1) Ottawa Redblacks — SP Paul Geelen, Southern Illinois (Netherlands)

Double-dipping on specialists certainly isn’t sexy, but Ottawa’s strategy makes a ton of sense. With defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado becoming the highest-paid Global in league history, he’s guaranteed a starting roster spot, and you still have former first overall pick Blessman Ta’ala hanging around as insurance. No other position player can feasibly make your roster, but you can provide competition for new Global punter James Burnip and potentially shore up a suspect kicking game. Geelen has the unique ability to handle all three jobs — place-kicking, punting, and kickoffs — which made him the fourth-ranked specialist on our board. If he can continue to do that at the next level, it provides valuable roster flexibility elsewhere.

2) Toronto Argonauts — OT Fa’alili Fa’amoe, Wake Forest (American Samoa)

With their second selection on the offensive line, Toronto snags the player that ALL22 named as our top position player. Fa’amoe is an NFL-calibre prospect, attending both the Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine this year, but was flagged for medical reasons and subsequently went unsigned. The six-foot-five, 314-pounder still would have been worth signing for a CFL team if he were American and projects as a potential starter at right tackle, with upside as an elite guard if you are willing to kick him inside.

3) Edmonton Elks — IDL Jeffrey M’Ba, Southern Methodist (France)

While futures picks are a normal strategy in the CFL Draft, and M’Ba did offer solid value at this stage in the draft as our sixth overall position player, it feels like the newest member of the Washington Commanders wasn’t the most effective way this pick could have been used. The six-foot-five, 310-pound nose tackle is a much better fit for the American game than the Canadian one, and you’ll have to wait for him. Wilfried Pene — who was more productive in college, is a better CFL scheme fit, and will be available right away — somehow went undrafted and could have been a more impactful selection.

4) Winnipeg Blue Bombers — PT Keegan Andrews, Massachusetts (Australia)

Another big-legged punter who sat seventh on our specialist board, Andrews should be available for training camp and will be able to push incumbent Jamieson Sheahan for the top job in Winnipeg. For a team that was lagging behind in the Aussie arms race, this pick could markedly improve their punting game.

5) Hamilton Tiger-Cats — PT Mitch McCarthy, Indiana (Australia)

As above, so below. The Ticats double down on punters here with McCarthy, who was our eighth-ranked specialist after he was crowned the winner of the CFL Specialist Showcase in San Diego this February, but they have good reason for it. No one will replace Jamaican tight end Jevoni Robinson’s unique role in their offence, and they are setting up a legitimate training camp battle at punter. Expect McCarthy, Haberer, and Fraser Masin, the first overall pick in the 2025 Global Draft, to go to war with only one survivor.

6) Calgary Stampeders — DL Jireh Ojata, Purdue (Nigeria)

At six-foot-three and 268 pounds, Ojata offers legitimate versatility to rush from inside or outside alignments in the CFL game — a highly valued trait. The former Division III standout for Franklin College flashed in limited reps after transferring to Purdue, and his ten-yard split of 1.61 seconds indicates some special get-off. The seventh-ranked position player on ALL22’s board could press to fit into a Calgary defensive rotation in need of bodies.

7) B.C. Lions — TE Seydou Traore, Mississippi State (England)

Traore was not included as part of ALL22’s official rankings, but only because he is too talented. As a fifth-round pick of the Miami Dolphins with freakish athletic measurables, the likelihood that the British product ever comes to the CFL is incredibly slim. With that said, B.C. is set at their two Global spots with impact players in Meyer and defensive tackle Tibo Debaillie, so they are just buying lottery tickets at this stage. Traore would be like winning the Mega Ball jackpot, as he is faster and more explosive than most CFL slotbacks at six-foot-four and 244 pounds.

8) Montreal Alouettes — PT Jack Burgess, Texas Tech (Australia)

Another solid punter prospect, Burgess landed at number 10 on our specialist board. He’ll be the man asked to push incumbent Joseph Zema, though it would seem likely that he lands on the practice roster.

9) Saskatchewan Roughriders — PK Kansei Matsuzawa, Hawaii (Japan)

The Riders are having an open kicking competition in training camp this year, though, sadly, Matsuzawa won’t be a part of it after signing with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent. The man known as the ‘Tokyo Toe’ was the most accurate placekicker in college football last season, and though he doesn’t have the biggest leg, our third-ranked specialist is certainly a worthwhile flyer to take with the final pick.

Notable omissions…

As previously mentioned, Pene was the most notable player to go undrafted. The Virginia Tech defensive tackle from France was third on our board, but may have had lingering concerns over the Visa issue that prevented him from getting an NFL shot last year and reportedly rubbed some teams the wrong way in interviews at the CFL Combine. Also left unpicked was German offensive tackle Paul Rubelt, our fifth-ranked player, even after the six-foot-10 — yes, you read that right — signed a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Capable punters Jack Bouwmeester and James Rendell, the fifth and sixth specialists on our list, both dropped out despite each having NFL opportunities. And teams across the international football landscape should be on the hunt for Panamanian running back Brandon Belgrave and Swiss quarterback Bay Harvey, both of whom were productive at small schools and possess high-level traits that fell just shy of the CFL’s benchmarks.

ALL22 is scheduled to host six camps across five continents in 2026 to help identify the next generation of athletes for NCAA football and beyond. Please refer to the ALL22Camps.com for more information regarding when we might be in your area.

Anyone interested in learning more about our Scouting department and future opportunities with ALL22 is encouraged to visit the Scout Certification page. Please contact Brett Morgan at: [email protected] for details on our upcoming semester of scouting courses.