Complete List of Canadian Players Drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft
As the NFL has become a more global league with foreign players dominating in the league, Canada’s football talent has become more and more apparent in the league with guys like Jevon Holland, Chubba Hubbard and recent selections Chase Brown and Sydney Brown and rookie OL Matthew Bergeron. With this year’s NFL draft concluded, lets take a look at the Canadians drafted to the NFL and how they can impact their teams.
Elic Ayomanor: WR, Stanford, Tennessee Titans
Hailing from Medicine Hat Alberta, Elic Ayonmanor was a standout receiver at Stanford university in his two years. Prior to reaching Stanford, he was a standout football player and track and field runner selected to the 2018 Canada West All Canadian team and was ranked 8th Nationally in U18 200m in 2019.
2023 was Ayonmanor’s first season at Stanford. He recorded 1013 receiving yards and 6 receiving touchdowns on 84.4 receiving yards per game which led his team. His best game in 2023 was a 294 receiving yard and 3 touchdown game against Coach Sanders’ Colorado in which he was the main offensive production for Stanford and willed the team to comeback from a 29-0 deficit at halftime and included an incredible catch over Travis Hunter.
Ayomanor’s second season in 2024 saw a drop in production as Stanford moved from the Pac 12 to the ACC recording 831 receving yards and 6 touchdowns which still led the team in both categories and included a stellar game against Syracuse with a 7 reception 87 yard 1 touchdown game in a win.
Despite individual play, Ayomanor never saw any team success with back to back 3-9 seasons. While in no way his fault, it led to Ayomanor and other Stanford players not receiving the same attention as other prospects with Ayomanor being the first Stanford player selected at 136th overall by the Tennessee Titans.
That said, Ayomanor is in a situation to succeed right away. Tennessee selecting Cam Ward means Ayomanor will be playing with the best QB he has ever played with in his life, and Tennessee’s receiving room is not exactly star studded, other than Calvin Ridley and maybe Tyler Lockett, there isn’t much to write home about which means Ayomanor will have many opprtunities to see the field if he plays well enough. He will be competing with third round receiver Chimere Dike, who has 3 more years of development in NCAA, though his individual seasons don’t match Ayomanor’s production. Ultimately, Elic Ayomanor will have an opportunity to become a quality NFL receiver despite being selected in the 4th round.
Kurtis Rourke: QB, Ohio Indiana, San Francisco 49ners
Along with his brother Nathan Rourke, Kurtis was born in Ontario and played high school football in Holy Trinity in Ontario before being recruited to Ohio. In his first season in 2019 he threw for 2820 yards 20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on a 61% completion percentage. He only played 3 games in 2020 due to injury which prevented him from building upon that season. Rourke’s production declined in 2021 only throwing 11 touchdowns to 7 interceptions but quickly rebounded next season throwing for 3257 yards and 25 touchdowns to 4 interceptions, leading the MAC conference in passer rating, yards per attempt and yards per game. Rourke maintained his production at Ohio before cashing in by transferring to Indiana and moving up to the big 10.
In his only season at Indiana he threw for 3042 yards, 29 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. This included a 263 passing yard 4 touchdown, 47-10 thrashing of the Michigan State Spartans and a 6 touchdown win against Purdue.
Rourke’s lack of good competition in comparison to prospects in the SEC or Big 10 meant he slid into the seventh round of the NFL draft where he was selected by the San Francisco 49ners, at the same time he was selected in the third round of the CFL draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. As of now he is unsigned to an NFL rookie contract and could remain that way given the better opportunity to start and get reps in the CFL. If he decides to stay in the NFL, he will be a backup to Brock Purdy alongside Josh Dobbs, another QB who overcame a low draft position to become one of the best QBs in the NFL. Under head coach Kyle Shanahan, Rourke can develop into a great backup QB to Purdy, a player who has missed games due to injury in his last 2 seasons but has also made a pro bowl and superbowl.
The fact of the matter is that even if Rourke plays well in San Francisco, the team is built around Purdy and will continue to be built around Purdy barring a Carson Wentz level fall off which as of now is unlikely, meaning if Rourke ever wants to start in the NFL for a whole season, it won’t be in San Francisco. However, as seen by QBs like Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith and Sam Darnold last year; Quarterbacks can leave the team that drafted them and still emerge as franchise players, even hall of famers in the case of Drew Brees, who famously left San Diego for New Orleans. But Rourke will have to seize the opportunities given to him before he can prove to be anywhere near the best QBs in the NFL.