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The key decisionmakers were the same, but for the Toronto Argonauts, the 2015 draft would have a different feel than the one held the year before.

For the second consecutive year, the team offered TSN.ca full access to the team's 'War Room' for the annual player selection process. The only restrictions were that players the Argonauts discussed, but did not draft, would not be named. Also, discussion of potential trades could not be specified. Everything else was fair game.

The most obvious difference this year was the venue. Instead of being held in the crowded boardroom of the Argos business office in downtown Toronto, this year's get-together was held at the team's new facility in Downsview in the northwest portion of the city.

What was not easily seen, but readily felt, was a far different atmosphere in the building. There was a tension and a sense of urgency that didn't exist in 2014. The reason why would be made clear after a discussion with general manager Jim Barker.

One year earlier, the Argos also had the third-overall pick, but had traded up for the right to select in that spot. They wanted Anthony Coombs, the running back out of the University of Manitoba. They would eventually get their man, but there was a great deal of anxiety to see if he would be chosen with one of the top two picks.

He wasn't and became an Argo that night.

Barker would sit down with TSN.ca at roughly 6:30pm et, 90 minutes before the draft was scheduled to commence. He would mention that while the phone had been ringing like crazy and that he had spoken to every team in the league about the potential of moving up or down in the draft, no deal seemed to be worth making.

He would also spell out why there was virtually no drama with the team's first-round selection, but that the rest of the draft was completely up in the air, leading to the rather hectic pace at the facility.

Barker said that he and his staff were almost certain that the first three picks in the draft would be all be offensive linemen with Alex Mateas going to Ottawa and Sukh Chungh heading to Winnipeg, meaning University of Calgary centre Sean McEwen would become a Toronto Argonaut with the third pick in the draft.

The GM continued by saying that all bets were off after that. He confessed that his club had targeted two players they hoped would drop to the third pick in the second round, of which the higher-ranked of the pair was Western defensive lineman Daryl Waud.

They had their fingers crossed that a player they liked as much as any in the draft, Guelph defensive lineman Cam Walker, would still be available in the third round. If all went well, an injury-prone receiver from Laval, Matt Norzil, would be there for the taking in the fourth.

Barker mentioned two other players he hoped would be available in rounds five and six.

He had no idea how well his night was about to go.

Between that conversation and the beginning of the draft, the staff sat around the conference table discussing what might happen and what the alternative plans would be if players they had targeted were not available.

Barker mentioned he thought they could trade down in a couple of situations to acquire multiple picks if need be.

At the end of the rectangular room, just behind where Barker would be seated, was a television with TSN on the big screen. The eyes of those around the table were drawn to the program, TSN's Top 10 CFL Characters. There was a great deal of confusion when former Argo Adriano Belli appeared in the Number Eight spot on the list. To a man, they couldn't believe he'd be much closer to the Number One slot.

At 7:56 pm, with Barker, head coach Scott Milanovich, his coaching staff, the team's top scouts, executive chairman and CEO Chris Rudge, some support staff and a reporter from TSN.ca in the room, a voice came over the speaker phone in the middle of the conference table.

The CFL's director of football operations, Ryan Janzen was on the other end of the line and was taking a roll call to make sure every CFL team was on the conference call. He would go over the rules of the draft. At 8pm, the TSN broadcast began. Three minutes later, Janzen said the words everyone had waited for, "Ottawa, you're on the clock."

The choreography of the night was simple. In the first two rounds, a pick would be made via the conference call. The next pick would be made seven minutes later to give the broadcast team time to break down the selection and also talk about the next team's needs.

At 8:09pm, Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins announced the worst-kept secret of the night, that Alex Mateas was the first-overall selection in the draft. Three minutes later, new CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge let the viewing public know what the 'War Rooms' across the country already knew.

Like clockwork, seven minutes after Ottawa made its pick, Janzen asked the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for their selection. As the Argos mock draft had indicated, Chungh was headed to Manitoba.

After that pick was finalized, Barker and Milanovich left the room to phone McEwen, to let him know he was about to become an Argo. At 8:23pm, Janzen asked the Argos for their pick. Toronto's Canadian scouting coordinator, Vince Magri, would make the selection, including the player's number from the master list of eligible draftees.

"With the third pick of the first round, the Toronto Argonauts select player number 350, Sean McEwen, offensive lineman, Calgary."

In an odd twist, the team's most important pick would be its least dramatic. The next question became, would Waud be available with the 12th pick?

It's almost a rite of passage among pro sports teams; a team will conduct its draft and inevitably the GM will say with a straight face, "We couldn't believe our guy was still on the board."

Barker was about to be able to say those words, often, and TSN.ca can confirm he would be completely honest when saying them.

As mentioned, the player he hoped would fall to the Argos was Waud. There was another player listed by the Argos just after the Western product, both of whom were in the Argos top 10, and that they were praying one of them, specifically Waud, would fall to the No. 12 overall spot.

But, what if both were selected? The decision had been made to accept an offer, if it was still on the table, that would see the team trade down and receive two lower picks for the 12th selection. Pick by pick, names were called, none of which was Waud's. Could the Argos get their man in the second round?

The answer would come in the affirmative when the Bombers selected Regina receiver Addison Richards. There were fist pumps in the air with exclamations of "yes!" and "all right!" coming from those around the table.

Others just smiled and exhaled. Now thoughts would turn to the third round, and the player many thought was the gem of the entire draft.

Cam Walker was the player that seemed to make everyone smile when his name was mentioned. A groin injury meant that he didn't compete in the combine speed and agility drills and there is still a chance he won't be ready when the season opens.

But the Argo management team sitting around the table did nothing but speak glowingly about the Guelph product.

There was discussion of taking him in the second round if both Waud and their secondary consideration were gone. The thought process was that if Waud was not available, then the Argos could trade down and still select Walker, gaining an extra pick in the process.

They already had Waud, now the next waiting game began.

The Argos were recording selections on a giant white board on a side wall of the office. Pick by pick, magnetized player profile cards were coming off the list of yet undrafted prospects and being placed on a giant grid laid out on the board. Team logos were listed on the left side from top to bottom in the draft order, the rounds were listed across the top, the magnetic player cards were in three rows at the right side of the white board.

When a player was chosen, his card would be moved into the corresponding square on the giant board.

There, on the right side of the board, in the 11th spot, was Walker, his picture looking out at the assembled Argo brass from his magnetic card, almost begging them to choose him.

After Waud was chosen, there would be six second-round selections before the draft would adjourn until 10pm, giving teams a 12-minute break to regroup.

The Argos were still worried that Walker would be chosen with one of the first two picks in the third round.

He wasn't.

They had placed a higher value on Walker than any other CFL team and were still able to land him in the third round. The Boatmen were 3-for-3 with their picks.

They were now hoping that Matt Norzil would still be on the board. If he was, he'd be the Argos 'reach' pick of the evening. He missed most of the last two seasons with injuries.

Then there was the PED thing.

A week ago, Norzil was suspended by the CIS after he tested positive for SARM-22, an anabolic agent, in a sample taken at the CFL Combine.

Before the draft began, Barker told TSN.ca that Norzil was perhaps the most athletic receiver in the draft and would be worthy of a second-round selection if healthy. With the positive PED test and the injury problem, the Argos were hoping that he would fall to the fourth round, which is exactly what happened.

The Argos were 4-for-4.

They would go on to select three more players; last year's CIS rushing leader Dillon Campbell from Laurier, receiver Kevin Bradfield from Toronto, and Dan MacDonald, a long snapper from Guelph.

That's right, seven selections and every player coming from the CIS, with five of them being from the OUA.

At the conclusion of the draft Barker thanked his staff and congratulated them on what had been a near-perfect evening in his eyes. He then retired to his office for a post-draft discussion with TSN.ca where he stated the obvious.

"Things turned out good for us," said the smiling GM. "We were surprised that Daryl (Waud) dropped to the second round. A lot of times when that happens, when a guy is projected to go in the first round, he comes in (to camp) and is going to show the world that there was a mistake made".

As for taking McEwen and his possible return to Calgary for another year of school?

"We understand there's a risk," confessed Barker. "But we got what we felt was the best player on our board at the time and he's a guy that could have been taken first overall."

And how do they try to get their prized pick to Toronto for training camp in a couple of weeks?

"I'm on a flight to Calgary (Wednesday) and I'll go out with him and his family," said Barker. "I want him to make the right decision for him and that's what's important. We're very comfortable either way."

He went on to talk about the others, but was most excited about getting Walker in the third round. Why was the group so pumped about landing the Gryphon?

"When I watched the film he reminded me of Clay Matthews," said Barker, referring to the 19-year NFL linebacker who roomed with the Argos GM when the two were students at USC. "He's going to be exciting to watch. He's a little bit nicked right now and injured, but we're hoping that a week or so into camp that he'll be at a hundred percent."

As for the controversial selection in the fourth round?

"Norzil is a bit of a stretch," Barker admitted. "He's a phenomenal athlete, probably the most athletic of the wide receivers (in the draft), but he's an injury guy and I don't like injury guys."

The team just couldn't pass on what they perceive to be a potential value pick at that stage in the draft.

The GM was asked how happy he was with the result of the evening on a scale of 1 to 10.

"An eight and a half," laughed Barker, adding "I'll take an eight and a half."

Head coach Scott Milanovich was a little higher on that scale when asked the same question.

"A 10," said a beaming coach. "You never know how it's going to go, but we had a number of players pegged for our draft, we hit all of them maybe but one."

Both Milanovich and Barker were hoping one player would last until the fifth round. He didn't.

If the main story line of the evening was the way that players were falling into the Argos lap, the subplot was the night the CIS played in the Double Blue's evening. Fifteen years ago, a team going through a full draft without taking a player from the NCAA would be a rarity. TSN.ca asked the coach what has changed.

"I can't speak to what was going on in the past," said Milanovich, who first arrived in Canada in 2003 as a quarterback for Calgary. "In my opinion, over the years I've been here, I believe the coaching has gotten better."

"I believe that football in Canada, at the grassroots and from there up, has improved," opined the coach. "You're seeing the talent level improve in the CIS and there's been a number of times, not necessarily with guys we've been able to draft, where we had CIS guys rated higher than NCAA guys.

"We don't look at it that way. We don't care (where they're from) but we evaluate them objectively and if we feel the CIS player is better than the NCAA (player), we don't have a problem going that route and obviously that was the case for us tonight."

It was after midnight when those in the building were finally able to leave. Most were heading out of town to spend a few more days with their families before heading back to Toronto for the opening of training camp. It will be the first indication of how these draft picks play against the pros.

It's not June yet, but it's getting pretty damn close.