VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds had a banner night Tuesday with seven players selected in the 2024 Canadian Football League Draft.
Leading the Canada West and tied with Laval for the most selections from any school, the T-Birds had three players taken in the second round alone, led by offensive lineman
Theo Benedet who went 15
th overall to the BC Lions.
The two-time J.P. Metras Trophy winner and All-Canadian now has multiple professional opportunities having signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent following the NFL draft's conclusion on Saturday.
Just moments after Benedet got the T-Birds' party started, tight end
Brad Hladik heard his name called by the Edmonton Elks with the 18
th overall pick.
Defensive lineman
Kyle Samson was chosen by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with the final pick of the second round, 20
th overall.
Defensive back
Jerrell Cummings (5
th round – Toronto), linebacker
Ryan Baker (5
th round – Hamilton), offensive lineman
Giovanni Manu (5
th round – Winnipeg), and linebacker
Mitchell Townsend (8
th round – Hamilton) were also selected Tuesday.
Hladik becomes the second member of his family to be drafted into the CFL from UBC, following in the footsteps of older brother Ben, now a standout linebacker with the BC Lions.
The busy second round for the T-Birds was capped off with Samson's selection by Winnipeg who took the 6-foot-3, 290 pound Hamilton native following his second straight year as an All-Canadian. Starting every game in each of the last three seasons, Samson added 22 total defensive tackles in 2023 along with three pass break-ups and a sack.
Cummings heads to Toronto after his only season with UBC but one in which he made an outstanding impact. Named a conference All-Star, the Vancouver product had 21.5 total tackles in nine games.
Another Canada West All-Star, Baker finished the regular season with 37.5 total tackles, third highest on the team. Named an All-Canadian in 2022, Baker has a penchant for coming up with big plays when they're needed most – something the Tiger-Cats no doubt are expecting to continue. Case in point was his 2023 playoff performance where his game-leading seven solo tackles and a scoop and score against the Golden Bears helped UBC secure their first Hardy Cup title in eight years.
No UBC Thunderbird has had a bigger past few days than
Giovanni Manu. Just three days ago the left tackle from Pitt Meadows became the first T-Bird in history to be drafted into the NFL when the Detroit Lions traded up to select him in the fourth round. Had he not been USA bound, Manu was a sure-fire first round CFL pick, but, like Benedet, fell deeper as a result. Banking on a potential to secure one of the finest offensive line talents this country has produced, the Blue Bombers took Manu with the 46
th overall pick.
Capping off the biggest T-Bird contingent to be drafted in well over a decade, Townsend was selected with the Ti-Cats' final pick, 70
th overall. The 6-foot-4, 235 pound defensive lineman led all T-Birds with 43 total tackles this past regular season. The North Vancouver product added another 17 in the post-season along with a sack each in the Mitchell Bowl and the Vanier Cup.
The seven total selections in the 2024 CFL Draft now brings the grand total to 35 under
Blake Nill's nine seasons with the T-Birds and 190 in the proud history of UBC Football since the first such pick in 1956.
