When Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Jeremy O'Day gave up a fifth-round pick in next year’s CFL Draft to reacquire kicker Brett Lauther on Wednesday, it wasn’t a decision he made lightly.
It's also only the second time the team has traded a fifth under O'Day's leadership. And the last such incidence turned out famously well for the Riders when they acquired Mario Alford.
"We feel very strongly about having Canadian picks, and we like to make our picks, and so they're hard to give up," O'Day said. "I'm not a big fan of giving up draft picks. I think that's a big, important part of building a team is through the draft."
As in most sports, game-changing players are generally tough to find by the fifth round of the CFL Draft. (Using the NHL for comparison’s sake, only about four percent of players on opening-night rosters this year were drafted in the fifth round.)
But, as O’Day and his staff have demonstrated since he was promoted to GM in 2019, there’s still value to be found.
Dabire was here
Defensive lineman Charbel Dabire, drafted in 2019, has so far had the most sustained success of any Riders fifth-rounder under O’Day, though he’s also had the luxury of time to establish himself relative to some more recent picks.
Dabire dressed in 58 games for Saskatchewan over five seasons from 2019 to 2024, registering eight quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and 52 defensive sacks along the way.
His 2024 season was derailed by a season-ending knee injury, shortly after recording his first career multi-sack game, and he missed 2025 due to injury as well.
Dabire returned to the field this year after signing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a free agent in February and recorded his first CFL interception Aug. 29 against the Calgary Stampeders.
Early in O’Day’s tenure the Riders also found offensive lineman Logan Bandy in the fifth round. Bandy, a 2021 draft pick, suited up for 29 games with Saskatchewan over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, starting 15 of those games at centre. Bandy retired in April 2024.
Super Mario
The team’s fifth-round picks in 2020 (DB Vincent Dethier – 1 game played) and 2022 (DB Tristan Fleury – no games played) didn’t enjoy as much CFL success, and Saskatchewan did not have a fifth-rounder in 2023 – though this non-pick may have had the biggest impact on the team of any so far.
The previous summer, the Roughriders gave up a conditional sixth-round pick to acquire kick returner Mario Alford from the Montreal Alouettes. Upon Alford playing nine games with the Riders, the sixth-rounder became a fifth – not that the Riders were likely complaining after Alford finished the season with four return touchdowns in 13 regular-season games.
Recent years
The Riders have continued to add fifth-round depth through the draft in recent years with both offensive lineman Daniel Johnson (2024) and defensive lineman Liam Hoskins (2025) holding down roster spots this season as Saskatchewan chases a second straight Grey Cup championship.
Heading into Friday’s home game against the Calgary Stampeders, Johnson had dressed for 18 regular-season games over two seasons with the Riders and this year even recorded his first CFL reception – a 17-yarder in Week 12 against the B.C. Lions.
Currently on the practice roster, Hoskins has dressed for 11 games with Saskatchewan since debuting earlier this year. He experienced an early-career highlight Aug. 7 when his first CFL sack also forced a fumble and caused a turnover against the Ottawa Redblacks.
This year’s fifth-round pick, offensive lineman Jez Janvier, was released Aug. 22, two weeks after making his CFL debut against Ottawa.
