Riders Jeremy O’Day ready to rock with 2025 CFL draft

Jeremy O’Day knows the CFL Draft presents its own unique type of wrinkles — including how early picks could easily be a hit or a miss.

“If you look at the first round in whole, the first round is a little bit of a crapshoot to be honest with you,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ general manager said at Mosaic Stadium.

“If you look back in the history of first-round draft picks, it’s just the nature of our league. You’re picking guys that are coming in and competing against the small number of guys who are starters on the roster.”

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“A lot of times, those first-round picks when they get to their second contract, they are off to another team, so they aren’t always a guarantee they are going to work out.”

Last year in the first round, the Riders elected to go with offensive lineman Kyle Hergel with the third overall choice. It was a pick the Riders’ management knew they would have to wait on, as Hergel had an NFL opportunity with the New Orleans Saints.

“It’s based on risk and reward. If you’re looking at a player and feel he is going to be a starter and feel he’s going to play for a long time, that weighs into your decision,” O’Day said. “A lot of variables go into it.”

The 2025 CFL Draft takes place on Tuesday, with the Riders holding the fourth-overall pick. The draft will start at 4 p.m.

Saskatchewan made it to the CFL West Final last season but has a top-five pick. This is due to the B.C. Lions losing their first-round pick due to salary cap violations and the Edmonton Elks forfeited their first-round pick to select receiver Zach Mathis in the supplemental draft.

“I’m not upset about it. I think anytime you can move up in the draft and still finish decent in the year, that’s a bonus.” O’Day said. “It gets you a little bit closer to getting a guy you really like.”

The NFL draft took place over the past weekend, which can change how CFL general managers approach their own draft boards depending on who gets selected where.

“It definitely changes. I don’t know if it blows the whole board up or anything like that. Most of the time, going into the NFL Draft, you kind of have an idea where guys were going to go or what rounds or if they were going to be free agents. After that, you’re just trying to see who is going to get into minicamps and if any of the undrafted guys got a certain amount of money, those are a bit of the indicators,” O’Day said.

“It may change your draft board a little bit. It definitely has an impact, a little bit, but I wouldn’t say you’re coming out of there and it’s mind-blowing and you’re super surprised by it.”

For O’Day, he said the best part of draft day is the excitement after you make the pick.

“We’re going to pick the guys we want because that’s why we pick them. Just making those calls to the players and letting them know they are going to become professional football players. That’s pretty cool to be able to do it,” O’Day said.

“These kids have always dreamed about playing pro football and they are going to get a call from a pro team that they got drafted, which means they really liked them.”

O’Day on Armstead and Reid

While O’Day is focusing on the CFL draft, a few other former Riders have had their status change with their clubs.

On Friday, the team announced it had released running back Ryquell Armstead. Armstead offered a burst of energy for the Riders when they signed him in September and went off for 207 rushing yards in his team debut.

But he was injured and then rarely used in the playoffs with AJ Ouellette getting healthy and taking the bulk of the carries.

“When we look at the running back room with what we have done in free agency and A.J. coming back hopefully healthy and comparing running styles and what we want … Also, how are we going to fit them on the roster? Are we going to have two American running backs like we did at the end of the year? You saw situations where it was great and we had a one-two punch, but if the game wasn’t going your way, then you were just using up a roster spot because you’re not running the ball as much,” O’Day said.

“Tough decisions are made. Two good players, but ultimately we felt like we were going to go with AJ and some of the younger guys and take a look at those guys.”

Offensive lineman Trevor Reid was waived by the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings due to a non-football-related injury. He was the Riders’ starting left tackle last season.

“After they saw the injury, they decided to release him. We have had contact with him, but right now he is injured. I don’t anticipate him coming back for training camp or anything like that,” O’Day said.