Western Mustangs football players Beau Landry, Dylan Ainsworth, Joe Circelli and Brian Marshall are four of the newest members of the Canadian Football League (CFL) after they were all selected in the 2014 CFL Canadian Draft Tuesday evening. Thirty Western players have been selected in the CFL Draft in the past 14 years.
Landry was the first Mustang off the board as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats chose him in the first round, No. 8 overall. The Kitchener, Ont., native was the first Western player to be selected in the first round since former Hec Crighton winner Andy Fantuz was chosen third overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2006.
The linebacker had another outstanding year for the Mustangs defence, earning a spot as a CIS First Team All-Canadian for the second time in three seasons. From Kitchener, Ont., Landry led the team with 46 tackles, including 36 solo stops, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
Shortly after Landry’s name was called, Ainsworth became the second Mustangs player selected, going in the second round, No. 11 overall, to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Both Ainsworth and Landry are the first Mustangs defensive players to be selected since 2011 when Craig Butler, Brendan Dunn, Vaughn Martin and Alexander Robinson all joined the pro ranks.
From Delta, B.C., Ainsworth impressed at the CFL’s national combine in late March, posting the third highest mark overall in the broad jump as well as finishing in the top two among defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, shuttle, and three cone drills. In 2013, the Delta, B.C., native earned CIS Second Team All-Canadian honours after recording 16 tackles, four sacks, and seven tackles for loss this past season as part of a Mustangs defensive line that saw three of its four starters earn OUA All-Star status.
For the third consecutive year a Mustangs offensive lineman was selected as the Calgary Stampeders selected Joe Circelli in the third round, No. 25 overall.
The fourth-year guard and London native earned his first ever OUA all-star nod this past season, earning a spot on the second team after helping the Mustangs offence become the most prolific scoring team in OUA history, posting 458 points during the regular season.
Rounding out the Western players drafted on Tuesday was Marshall who will be joining Circelli as one of the newest members of the Stampeders after being selected in the seventh round, No. 61 overall.
A two-time OUA all-star, Marshall is coming off his best season to date for the Mustangs as he ranked fourth in the CIS with 107.6 receiving yards per game, as well as first in average yards per catch with 22.1 and second in touchdowns with nine. The London native caught 34 passes for 753 yards in 2013-14 en route to his first ever CIS all-Canadian selection, earning a spot on the first team.
The Mustangs players were among 59 CIS players selected on Tuesday, with players from Canadian schools making up 90 per cent of the selections. Western’s four selections rank first in the OUA alongside Queen’s and Toronto, while also tying the purple and white for fourth among all CIS schools.