Wide receiver Elic Ayomanor during Stanford football Pro Day event in Stanford, Calif., Wednesday, March 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jeff Chiu

Elic Ayomanor's patience was rewarded Saturday by the Tennessee Titans.

Tennessee selected the Canadian receiver from Stanford in the fourth round, No. 136 overall, in the NFL draft. It capped a long wait for Ayomanor, who'd received a second-round grade by some draft prognosticators but was the sixth receiver taken in the fourth and 20th overall.

"It was a long wait, definitely had some emotions going through all of it," Ayomanor said during a conference call. "But me and my agent and my family always say: 'Fit over pick.'

"And, I really do think this is a good spot to be at … I am really excited to be here and prove my worth."

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, of Oakville, Ont., was taken in the seventh round, No. 227 overall, by the San Francisco 49ers. Rourke, the younger brother of CFL star Nathan Rourke, becomes the first Canadian quarterback taken in the NFL draft since '01 when the New York Giants took Jesse Palmer in the fourth round.

At least one Canadian has been taken in the draft since 2011.

Tennessee made a deal with the Baltimore Ravens to move up five spots to take Ayomanor.

"I think I am a dynamic playmaker but more than that I think my biggest strength is in my mind," Ayomanor said. "I think I am a really gritty, and I think I am willing to do whatever it takes.

"I am willing to block in the run game. I am always working to improve to get better."

At least Ayomanor, 21, didn't have to wait as long to be drafted as Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Projected as a first-round pick, Sanders fell to the fifth round before being taken No. 144 overall by the Cleveland Browns.

Tennessee (3-14) finished last in the AFC South last season to secure the first overall selection. The Titans took Miami quarterback Cam Ward with that pick, then in the fourth drafted receiver Chimere Dike and tight end Gunnar Helm before taking Ayomanor.

"He's tall, he's long, he can go get it," NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah said of Ayomanor, who was ranked No. 121 on Jeremiah's top-150 prospects. "A vertical wide receiver.

"I don't think you want him stopping and starting quite as much but get him on the move and it gives Cam Ward some shots down the field."

The six-foot-two, 210-pound Ayomanor, from Medicine Hat, Alta., was the lone Canadian to work out at the NFL combine. Rourke was also invited but didn't participate in on-field activities due to off-season knee surgery although he met with teams.

Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma, the '24 Hec Crighton Trophy winner as Canadian university football's top player, wasn't selected.

Ayomanor had 63 receptions for 831 yards and six touchdowns, earning second-team All-ACC honours as a redshirt sophomore. He registered 62 catches in 2023 for 1,013 yards and six TDs to earn the Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian playing American college football.

Ayomanor registered 125 receptions for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns in 24 games at Stanford — he didn't play in 2022 as a true freshman due to a serious knee injury. But he made headlines across North America on Oct. 13, 2023, when he recorded 13 catches for a school-record 294 yards and three TDs in rallying the Cardinal to a stunning 46-43 overtime win over the Colorado Buffaloes.

Stanford erased a 29-0 halftime deficit with the biggest comeback in school history. Ayomanor did all of his damage in the second half and overtime and while two of his TD catches covered 97 and 60 yards, it was a 30-yard scoring grab that drew the most attention.

With Stanford trailing 43-36 in the first overtime, Ayomanor reached around Colorado's Travis Hunter and pinned the ball against Hunter's helmet while running backwards into the end zone for a game-tying score. Hunter, the Buffaloes' two-way star, was the '24 Heisman Trophy winner as U.S. college football's top player and was taken second overall by Jacksonville on Thursday night.

"This is a fun one here because you see 294 yards against Colorado in 2023," Jeremiah said. "A lot of that damage was done against a guy he's going to see inside his own division twice a year in Travis Hunter.

"Really, the only bad tape that Travis Hunter has had in those years in Colorado."

The six-foot-five, 223-pound Rourke threw for 3,042 yards and 29 TDs with five interceptions in leading Indiana to an 11-2 record and College Football Playoff berth in his first season there. Rourke earned second-team All-Big Ten honours and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting while playing the entire season with torn ACL.

Rourke did miss a regular-season game with a thumb injury that required surgery. But Rourke expects his knee to be fully recovered come the start of 49ers training camp, where he'll compete against Mac Jones — a '21 first-round pick of the New England Patriots — for backup duties behind incumbent Brock Purdy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025