Jason Halstead/CFL
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers made nine selections in the 2019 CFL Draft and one could argue they form the best class in the history of the league.
Before we get into the picks, let’s start with a couple of qualifiers.
For one, some of the best Canadian players in CFL history were never drafted because they entered the league as territorial exemptions. Paul Bennett, Rocky DiPietro, Dan Ferrone, Miles Gorrell, Neil Lumsden, Jim Mills, and Joe Poplawski were just a handful of prospects who didn’t make it to the draft pool because they were claimed ahead of time. Thus, draft classes were generally weaker before territorial exemptions were eliminated in 1985.
It should also be noted that Winnipeg had two first-round picks in 2019 as the result of a trade with the B.C. Lions from the year before. Obviously, having two first-round selections in a deep draft made it considerably easier to have an elite class.
Now let’s get into the picks.
The Blue Bombers took Drew Desjarlais with the fourth overall selection and he became the team’s starting left guard by Week 10. The native of Belle River, Ont. remained in the starting lineup through the playoffs and into the Grey Cup, helping Andrew Harris rush for 134 yards and a touchdown in an upset win that ended the team’s long championship drought.
The University of Windsor product earned an All-West Division selection in 2021 before spending the 2022 season in the NFL with the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints. Desjarlais returned to the CFL in 2023 as a member of the Ottawa Redblacks, becoming one of the league’s highest-paid non-quarterbacks. He’s still considered one of the league’s best guards, earning an All-East Division selection in 2024.
Jonathan Kongbo was picked at fifth overall out of the University of Tennessee, where he’d suffered a torn ACL the previous year. The native of Surrey, B.C. played 12 regular-season games as a rookie in Winnipeg and made one start, recording 12 defensive tackles and a sack.
The six-foot-four, 260-pound defender attended training camp with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, though he was waived with an injury settlement. He returned to the Blue Bombers in 2021 and notched three sacks before returning to the NFL, this time with the Denver Broncos. He played three regular-season games that year and made one tackle.
Kongbo has since had CFL stints with the Lions, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Edmonton Elks, making a career-high four sacks in 2025. He joined the Toronto Argonauts in free agency in February and is pencilled-in as a starter at defensive end.
Only five players taken in the 2019 CFL Draft got NFL shots after playing north of the border, three of whom made so much as a practice. Desjarlais and Kongbo were two of them.
In the second round, the Blue Bombers hit a grand slam when they picked Brady Oliveira.
The bruising ball-carrier missed most of his rookie season due to injury but has since become one of the CFL’s best players, rushing for 5,480 yards, catching 188 passes for 1,830 yards, and scoring 27 touchdowns over 83 regular-season CFL games.
The Winnipeg native has become the face of the franchise and earned two All-CFL selections, won two rushing titles, two Most Outstanding Canadian awards, one Most Outstanding Player award, and two Grey Cups.
Only five Canadian players have ever been named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player. Oliveira is one of them — and the Blue Bombers got him with a second-round pick. At 28, he already feels like a shoo-in for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Photo courtesy: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions
Tui Eli was the team’s fourth-round pick, which seemed like an odd selection considering his status at the time. Once heralded as one of the best centres in all of collegiate football, a serious injury he suffered in 2018 led the six-foot-four, 290-pound blocker to quit football.
The native of Richmond, B.C., who was raised primarily in Alberta and Hawaii, ended up signing with the team and playing five regular-season games in a depth role. Eli has since started six regular-season games at right guard while also featuring heavily into the offence at tight end, even catching a touchdown pass in 2025.
All these years later, the 30-year-old is expected to be Winnipeg’s full-time starter at centre in 2026, replacing veteran Chris Kolankowski.
If Winnipeg’s draft haul had ended here, it would already have been pretty spectacular — two starters, an MOP, and a strong depth player along the offensive line. Instead, with picks No. 61 and 70, respectively, the Blue Bombers took two of the most productive special teams players of their generation: Nick Hallett and Kerfalla Exumé.
Hallett was the only seventh-round pick in the 2019 CFL Draft to make an active roster that year. He ended up playing all 18 regular-season games, recording 13 special teams tackles and one forced fumble. The native of London, Ont. has since made 42 defensive tackles, 80 special teams tackles, four forced fumbles, one sack, one interceptions, and one touchdown over 100 career regular-season games.
Exumé also cracked Winnipeg’s active roster as a rookie and made 25 special teams tackles that season, which tied for second-most league-wide. The 32-year-old has since made nine defensive tackles, 79 special teams tackles, and one forced fumble over 94 career regular-season games with the Blue Bombers, Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, and Saskatchewan Roughriders, winning three Grey Cups.
Winnipeg’s draft class from 2019 wasn’t perfect, as three of the players selected never ended up dressing for a regular-season CFL game.
Connor Griffiths, the team’s third-round pick, spent most of his rookie season on the practice roster. Defensive tackles Steve Richardson, Drake Nevis, and Jake Thomas remained healthy all year, so there was no opportunity for him to play.
At the time, Griffiths was viewed as a long-term CFL player with the potential to start one day. Instead, the UBC standout chose not to return to football after the cancelled 2020 season, ending his professional career.
Malik Richards and Tariq Lachance, the team’s fifth and sixth-round picks, were released at the conclusion of training camp. Richards later had a stint with Edmonton but neither player ever dressed for a regular-season CFL game.
Drafting is far from an exact science in any professional league and most believe the CFL draft is more fickle than most.
Considering the haul the Blue Bombers secured in 2019, it’d be tough to argue there’s another class in league history that’s better.
