North Bay’s Ryan Hunter has vaulted into the #1 spot overall in the Canadian Football League Scouting Bureau’s top 20 ranked prospects eligible for the 2018 CFL Draft, released on Thursday.
Bowling Green Falcons offensive lineman Ryan Hunter overtook David Knevel for the number one spot in the final rankings. Hunter started all 12 games for the Falcons at left tackle that protected a true freshman quarterback Jarret Doege, who posted one of the greatest seasons in program history for a true freshman. The North Bay native was a Mid American Conference (MAC) Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-MAC in his final season.
See related: Hunter's hopes high for taking next step to pro football
The six-foot-four, 310-pound offensive lineman walked off the field for the final time with the Bowling Green State University Falcons in late November of 2017 after four seasons and 51 games of NCAA football. He was part of two MAC conference championship teams and went to three bowl games during his time at the Ohio-based university, but in 2017 was counted on to provide leadership for a young team that finished 2-6 in the conference and 2-10 overall.
“These lists are nice, but it all depends on how you perform at the Pro Day, and the CFL or NFL combine if you are given the opportunity,” said Hunter back in late December when he was ranked #3 for the CFL Draft.
The rankings include: nine offensive linemen, four receivers, three defensive backs, two defensive linemen, a linebacker and a running back.
A total of 16 schools are represented on the list, with only two schools (Calgary and Laurier) having multiple players on the list. Nine U SPORTS schools and seven NCAA schools are represented in the rankings.
The 2018 CFL Draft takes place on May 3rd.
