Brendan Taman breaks down Riders' draft picks

Roughriders' General Manager Brendan Taman said the team won't know how effective this year's draft picks are until next year — but said he's happy with who the team got. 

The CFL draft took place last night in Toronto, and the Riders had picks in the first round and third to seventh. 

Here's Taman's impressions on the seven players the green and white picked up:

Nic Demski - Receiver - University of Manitoba (1st round)

"He was one of the two or three guys we really wanted to get if he was there at six," Taman said. "He's an explosive player ... a really dynamic kid that can probably bring some stuff to our team that we probably don't have in a national kind of a player." 

Rory Connop - Defensive Line - Western (3rd Round)

"Big and physical, Coach Sinclair really likes him, Corey really likes him. They like his girth and his tenacity and his attitude, the way be plays the game," Taman said. 

Matthew Rea - Fullback - Michigan State (4th Round)

"He's going to be fun to watch, Taman said with a smile. "He's going to be a really good special teams player for one because he doesn't have a lot of hold back in his game you could call it, he's a tenacious, fly around, throws his body into the wall and just go at it."

Kwamie Adjei - Defensive Back - Mount Allison (5th Round)

"He's a playmaker ... he's like a strong safety kind of guy that again is a really good, physical football player."

Tyler Langlais - Defensive Line - Calgary (6th Round)

Taman said Langlais didn't get a lot of exposure in Calgary. "The position warranted that pick and we'll see how he does. He had some injury issues a little bit, but he's a big, physical kid." 

Melvin Abankwah - Running Back - Saint Mary's (6th Round)

"At the evaluation camp they couldn't cover him. When we picked him we thought he was a little bit of a running back version of Demski in a way because he's really explosive and we'll see how he does, but he was a guy who really stood out," Taman said, adding before evaluation camp Abankwah wasn't really on his radar.

Abankwah does come to Saskatchewan with a little bit of baggage, however, after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. 

"If he does it again he won't be here," Taman said.

Brandon Tennant - Defensive Line - Laval (7th Round)

"Big, strong, physical guy that at that point, like I said early, we're happy to get at that pick."

Rider training camp starts May 31 in Saskatoon.