MONTREAL – Three products of the McGill University football program -- each of them natives of France -- were selected in the Canadian Football League's first-ever European Draft, held via a conference call on Thursday.
 
Valentin Gnahoua from Le Mans, was picked first overall by the Hamilton Tiger Cats, while Maxime Rouyer of Troyes, went fourth overall to Edmonton and Benjamin Plu, also from Le Mans, was drafted seventh by the B.C. Lions.

Gnahoua is a 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker while Plu is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound wide receiver. Both played for McGill in 2016.

Rouyer has suited up in each of the past four years with the team. In six games last season, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker registered 13 solo tackles -- including two quarterback sacks -- and nine assisted tackles. Since being recruited from Collège de Jonquière in 2015, the 24-year-old physical education senior has tallied 79 total tackles in 21 regular season contests for McGill, including 59 solos and 3.5 quarterback sacks, along with a pair of knockdowns.
 
Four of the nine players selected were from France, while Germany was also well-represented with three picks. This marks the second draft the CFL has conducted in 2019 involving 'global' players, the first taking place in Mexico on Jan. 14.

Thursday's draft gives teams exclusive rights to their respective selections. The draw resulted in nine of 18 draft-eligible prospects chosen in the only round, from a list composed of all global players who participated in last month's combine evaluation camp in Toronto. The selection order was determined by a weighted lottery.

The 2019 CFL Draft is scheduled for May 2, followed by training camps which are set to open on May 19. The 2019 season begins on June 13 when Saskatchewan plays Hamilton. The Alouettes open their schedule the following day in Edmonton. Montreal's regular season home opener at Percival Molson Stadium will be against Hamilton on July 4.

The complete list of selections from the European Draft is posted below. To review the 'global' player testing result from the CFL combine camp, click here.


2019 CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE EUROPEAN DRAFT
 

No.	TEAM	PLAYER	POS	UNIV. TEAM	LAST TEAM	LEAGUE	HOMETOWN
1	Hamilton	Valentin Gnahoua	DL	McGill	Berlin Rebels	German Football League	Le Mans, France
2	Winnipeg	Thiadric Hansen	LB	(none)	Potsdam Royals	German Football League	Flensburg, Germany
3	Montreal	Asnnel Robo	RB	Montreal	Montreal Carabins	Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec	Cayenne, France
4	Edmonton	Maxime Rouyer	LB	McGill	McGill Redmen	Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec	Troyes, France
5	Toronto	Marc Anthony Hor	DL	(none)	Frankfurt Universe	German Football League	Mannheim, Germany
6	Saskatchewan	Max Earvin Zimmermann	WR	(none)	Potsdam Royals	German Football League	Berlin, Germany
7	BC Lions	Benjamin Plu	WR	McGill	Thonon-les-Bains Black Panthers	Ligue Élite de Football Américain	Le Mans, France
8	Ottawa	Jordan Bouah	WR	Saddleback College	Saddleback Gauchos	Southern California Football Association	Rome, Italy
9	Calgary	Roni Salonen	LB	(none)	New Yorker Lions	German Football League	Vantaa, Finland

Country Breakdown:

4 – France
3 – Germany
1 – Italy and Finland

Positional Breakdown:

3 – Receivers and Linebackers
2 – Defensive Linemen
1 – Running Back