The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed their first-round pick from the 2022 CFL Draft, Canadian receiver Samuel Emilus.
The six-foot-one, 200-pound receiver joins the Roughriders after recently attending rookie mini-camp with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
Collegiately, Emilus spent his senior season at Louisiana Tech University, playing eight games for the Bulldogs. The Montreal, Quebec native recorded 17 receptions for 257 yards and three touchdowns and returned three kickoffs for 66 yards in his lone season at Louisiana Tech.
Previously, Emilus spent three collegiate seasons (2018-2020) at the University of Massachusetts, playing in 22 games as a receiver and a returner. During his time with the Minutemen, Emilus registered 59 receptions for 653 yards and seven touchdowns and returned six kicks for 114 yards while adding four punt returns for 57 yards.
In 2020, Emilus was named to the Phil Steele All-Independent first team as a punt returner.
The Riders made Emilus the second receiver selected in the 2022 CFL Draft behind only the University of Calgary’s Jalen Philpot, who was chosen fifth overall by the Calgary Stampeders.
Emilus joins a Canadian receiving group in Saskatchewan that includes Jake Harty, Justin McInnis and second-year man Kian Schaffer-Baker, whose 47-catch, 563-yard, two-touchdown rookie campaign in 2021 saw him be nominated as the Riders’ Most Outstanding Rookie.
With Emilus signed, the Riders now have their entire 2022 CFL Draft class under contract.
