The 2021 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place at May 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 54 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Unlike previous drafts, where the selection order was determined by the previous year's standings, this year's draft order was determined by a random draw.

The draft was broadcast live on TSN for the first two rounds. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some commentators broadcast from remote locations as opposed to in-studio. The TSN production was hosted by Rod Smith and featured the CFL on TSN panel which included Farhan Lalji, Duane Forde, and Davis Sanchez. Randy Ambrosie, the CFL commissioner, was in the TSN studios in Toronto to announce the picks for the first two rounds.

Format changes Due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2021 CFL draft underwent several changes. Since there was no previous season and standings, the draft order was a random draw with all nine teams having the same odds of being drawn. Every even-numbered round is in the reverse order of the odd-numbered rounds to balance the randomness of the draft order. The number of rounds in the draft decreased from eight to six due to the large number of rookies that will be present in camps (those from the 2020 CFL draft class). To accommodate that change, and due to U Sports and some NCAA programs not playing in 2020, eligible 2021 draftees were able to defer their draft years to 2022. Following the November 30, 2020 deadline, 132 U Sports players opted out of the 2021 Draft, which substantially reduced the available players this year. This led to speculation that NCAA redshirt juniors could be included in the draft to add more talent available this year which would also balance out the massive influx of players in 2022. This was confirmed when the league released the winter player rankings on January 20, 2021.

Further to those changes, there will be no territorial selections in 2021, after featuring them in the previous two drafts.

Unrelated to COVID-19 changes, beginning with this year's draft, any American or Global player that played football for a minimum of three years at a U Sports institution and graduated with a degree at that institution would qualify as a national player and be eligible for this year's draft.

Top prospects Source: CFL Scouting Bureau rankings.

Springranking Winterranking Fallranking Player Position University Hometown 1 2 4 Josh Palmer Receiver Tennessee Brampton, ON 2 1 1 Alaric Jackson Offensive lineman Iowa Windsor, ON 3 5 – Jevon Holland Defensive back Oregon Coquitlam, BC 4 4 2 Amen Ogbongbemiga Linebacker Oklahoma State Calgary, AB 5 3 – Chuba Hubbard Running back Oklahoma State Sherwood Park, AB 6 11 – Benjamin St-Juste Defensive back Minnesota Montreal, QC 7 10 11 Pier-Olivier Lestage Offensive lineman Montreal Saint-Eustache, QC 8 8 6 Sage Doxtater Offensive lineman New Mexico State Welland, ON 9 15 – Mohamed Diallo Defensive lineman Central Michigan Toronto, ON 10 17 13 Deane Leonard Defensive back Mississippi Calgary, AB 11 13 8 Patrice Rene Defensive back North Carolina Ottawa, ON 12 7 5 Liam Dobson Offensive lineman Maine Ottawa, ON 13 9 7 Daniel Joseph Defensive lineman North Carolina State Toronto, ON 14 12 10 Alonzo Addae Defensive back West Virginia Pickering, ON 15 6 3 Terrell Jana Receiver Virginia Vancouver, BC 16 – 17 Bruno Labelle Tight end Cincinnati Montreal, QC 17 19 14 Nelson Lokombo Defensive back Saskatchewan Abbotsford, BC 18 16 12 Logan Bandy Offensive lineman Calgary Calgary, AB 19 20 – Bryce Bell Offensive lineman Wilfrid Laurier Waterloo, ON 20 14 9 Deshawn Stevens Linebacker Maine Toronto, ON – 18 15 Luiji Vilain Defensive lineman Michigan Ottawa, ON – – 16 Ben Hladik Linebacker British Columbia Vernon, BC – – 18 Tyris Lebeau Linebacker Massachusetts Montreal, QC – – 19 Grant McDonald Linebacker Calgary Tsawwassen, BC – – 20 Nick Cross Linebacker British Columbia Regina, SK

Draft order

Round one Pick # CFL team Player Position University 1 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jake Burt TE Boston College 2 Saskatchewan Roughriders Nelson Lokombo DB Saskatchewan 3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Liam Dobson OL Texas State 4 BC Lions Daniel Joseph DL North Carolina State 5 Edmonton Football Team Cole Nelson DL Alberta 6 Ottawa Redblacks Deshawn Stevens LB Maine 7 Toronto Argonauts Peter Nicastro OL Calgary 8 Calgary Stampeders Amen Ogbongbemiga LB Oklahoma State 9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Montreal) Nick Cross LB British Columbia

Round two Pick # CFL team Player Position University 10 Montreal Alouettes Pier-Olivier Lestage OL Montreal 11 Calgary Stampeders Bryce Bell OL Wilfrid Laurier 12 Toronto Argonauts Sage Doxtater OL New Mexico State 13 Ottawa Redblacks Alonzo Addae DB West Virginia 14 Edmonton Football Team Grant McDonald LB Calgary 15 BC Lions Alaric Jackson OL Iowa 16 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Redha Kramdi DB Montreal 17 Saskatchewan Roughriders Terrell Jana WR Virginia 18 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Deane Leonard DB Mississippi

Round three Pick # CFL team Player Position University 19 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Mohamed Diallo DL Central Michigan 20 Saskatchewan Roughriders Bruno Labelle TE Cincinnati 21 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Patrice Rene DB North Carolina 22 BC Lions Ben Hladik LB British Columbia 23 Edmonton Football Team Deonte Glover RB Shepherd 24 Ottawa Redblacks Connor Berglof OL Saskatchewan 25 Toronto Argonauts Luiji Vilain DL Michigan 26 Calgary Stampeders Charlie Moore LB Calgary 27 Montreal Alouettes Chris Fournier OL Lehigh

Round four Pick # CFL team Player Position University 28 Montreal Alouettes Patrick Davis OL Syracuse 29 Calgary Stampeders Elliot Graham LB British Columbia 30 Toronto Argonauts Tommy Nield WR McMaster 31 Ottawa Redblacks Jake Julien K/P Eastern Michigan 32 Edmonton Football Team Dominic Johnson WR Buffalo 33 Toronto Argonauts (via BC) Trevor Hoyte LB Carleton 34 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Robbie Lowes LB Regina 35 Saskatchewan Roughriders Alain Cimankinda DL Guelph 36 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jarek Richards LB Saint Mary's

Round five Pick # CFL team Player Position University 37 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Felix Garand-Gauthier FB Laval 38 Saskatchewan Roughriders Logan Bandy OL Calgary 39 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Kyle Borsa RB Regina 40 BC Lions Alfred Green DL Wilfrid Laurier 41 Edmonton Football Team Peter Kourtis OL Saint Mary's 42 Ottawa Redblacks Keegan Markgraf LS Utah 43 Calgary Stampeders (via Toronto) Chuba Hubbard RB Oklahoma State 44 Calgary Stampeders Luther Hakunavanhu WR York 45 Montreal Alouettes David Côté K Laval

Round six Pick # CFL team Player Position University 46 Montreal Alouettes Ethan Makonzo DB Montreal 47 Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary) Joshua Hagerty DB Saskatchewan 48 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Toronto) Shae Weekes DB Manitoba 49 Ottawa Redblacks Matthew Derks OL Delaware State 50 Edmonton Football Team Kenan Clarke DB Cornell 51 BC Lions Tyler Packer OL Calgary 52 Toronto Argonauts (via Winnipeg) Benjamin St-Juste DB Minnesota 53 Saskatchewan Roughriders Matt Watson DB Mount Allison 54 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Myles Manalo LB Western

Trades In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.

Round one Montreal → Hamilton (PD). Montreal traded this selection, Jamaal Westerman, Chris Williams, and a first-round pick in the 2020 CFL draft to Hamilton in exchange for Johnny Manziel, Tony Washington, and Landon Rice.

Round four BC → Toronto (PD). BC traded this selection and Davon Coleman to Toronto in exchange for Shawn Lemon.

Round five Toronto → Calgary (PD). Toronto traded this selection and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft to Calgary in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year's draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel.

Round six Winnipeg ←→ Toronto (PD). Winnipeg traded the 52nd overall selection and the playing rights to Cody Speller to Toronto in exchange for the 48th overall selection. Calgary → Toronto (PD). Calgary traded this selection, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft, and the rights to Eric Rogers, Cordarro Law, and Robertson Daniel to Toronto in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this year's draft and a third-round pick in the 2021 CFL global draft.

References Trade references

General references