Alouettes' top pick Tiger Shanks 'locked in 100 per cent on the CFL'

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Tiger Shanks could have accepted a rookie mini-camp invitation from the Miami Dolphins.

But even before the Alouettes made the hulking offensive tackle their first-round (fifth overall) pick in Tuesday’s Canadian college draft, the Vancouver-born Shanks decided to turn his back on the NFL.

“I’m kind of a loyal guy,” Shanks told The Gazette Tuesday by telephone. “If you’re a team that shows me love, I’m definitely going to reciprocate. I like to be where I’m wanted. I’m locked in 100 per cent on the CFL. I just want to be in a place where I can really contribute, where my presence really matters. I didn’t want to be just another body that they brought in for camp and felt like I had a really good opportunity in the CFL.”

While Alouettes’ general manager Danny Maciocia didn’t say Shanks was always the team’s top priority, he did speak to the player’s agent before selecting him and was made aware his focus was strictly on the CFL.

“He knows what he wants,” Maciocia said. “We knew that invite was there. It was made crystal clear to us he wouldn’t even contemplate going. He was fully on board and fully committed to going to a CFL team and being there Day 1 of training camp. He didn’t want to miss any time. He didn’t want to miss three or four days and fall behind. He wanted to come in and compete from (the beginning). He wanted people to believe that when he got there, he was all in. That was his priority.

“That went a long way with us.”

The 23-year-old Shanks, 6-foot-5 and 311 pounds, spent five seasons at UNLV and tied a school record by starting 51 games, primarily at right tackle. The Rebels went 11-3 last season and received a national ranking for the first time in school history. He became the first UNLV offensive-lineman to be named a first-team, all-conference member twice in his career, accomplishing the feat in consecutive Mountain West seasons.

Shanks was born in Vancouver, but spent the first five years of his life in China before the family relocated to Lake Oswego, Ore. Maciocia said he declared late for the draft.

“The calibre of competition there is relatively high,” Maciocia said. ”This is a guy that starts, has over 3,000 snaps to his name. The production that he has, as far as giving up sacks, pressures and hurries, is limited, very minute compared to the number of snaps that he plays. For a position that he occupies, there’s a certain amount of physicality that’s tied into it. And he was available. He’s a big, physical guy that has a high football IQ.”

Shanks is considered a late bloomer who received a relatively modest five NCAA Division I offers. Counted out many times, he has used those frequent snubs as motivation.

“My best football is definitely ahead of me,” he said. “If I can just develop a little bit more and come into my own, I feel like I have a really good shot of becoming a good player. Throughout high school, I definitely felt like a guy who was maybe slept on a little bit, a little bit under the radar. That has been my motivation pretty much my whole life. I kind of have that chip on my shoulder and like to prove people wrong.

“I think they’re getting a smart football player. Something I take a lot of pride in is being very intelligent on the field, knowing what the defence is doing, knowing what they’re running. I’m a film-room guy.”

The Als had nine picks in total and selected Calgary safety Nate Beauchemin in the second round (14th overall). The 6-foot-2, 204-pound native of Kelowna, B.C., had four interceptions and a forced fumble last season for the Dinos.

Montreal native Damien Alford, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound wide receiver went first overall to Calgary.

Maciocia, who came to the Als after coaching at Université de Montréal, selected three Carabins, including quarterback Jonathan Sénécal in the seventh round. His teammate, defensive-lineman Jeremiah Ojo, went seventh overall to Toronto.

“We got some talent, addressed some needs,” Maciocia said. “We got a little bit deeper with our Canadian content. We got a little bigger and more physical when it comes to special-teams play. We just checked off a few boxes. We were looking for particular body types for special teams that have a component to play on one side of the ball or the other.”

Training camp begins May 11 in St-Jérome.

Alouettes Canadian college draft picks

• 5th: Tiger Shanks (OL), UNLV
• 14th: Nate Beauchemin (DB), Calgary
• 23rd (via B.C.): Gabriel Lessard (LB), Montreal
• 26th: Hakeem Harris (WR), Davenport
• 35th: Keanu Yazbeck (RB), Western
• 44th: Gabriel Maisonneuve (DL), Montreal
• 53rd: Isaac Gaillardetz (WR), Laval
• 62nd: Jonathan Sénécal (QB), Montreal
• 70th: Riley MacLeod (LB), Western