The 2025 National Football League Draft took place in Green Bay, Wisconsin the last three days, and two Canadians were chosen. With the fourth round pick, 136th overall, the Tennessee Titans selected wide receiver Elic Ayomanor of Medicine Hat, Alberta. With the seventh round pick, 227th overall, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Kurtis Rourke of Kitchener, Ontario.
Ayomanor had spent the last two seasons with the Stanford Cardinal. This past season, he caught 63 passes for 831 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Ayomanor also had a strong 2023 College Football season, as he won the Jon Cornish Trophy presented to the top Canadian football player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Ayomanor had 62 catches for 1013 yards and six touchdowns.
Kurtis Rourke, is the younger brother of British Columbia Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke of Victoria, British Columbia. This past season Kurtis Rourke played for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten after five seasons with the Ohio University Bobcats. While playing for Indiana, he completed 222 passes in 320 attempts, for 3042 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and five interceptions, and won the 2024 Jon Cornish Trophy. There is a probability that Rourke would have been drafted higher had he not struggled against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. Yes, his statistical line was not bad (completed 20 of 33 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns), but most of his success was in garbage time with the game out of Indiana’s reach.
One may think that Kurtis Rourke may not get much of a chance with the 49ers because he was drafted so low. One must remember the 49ers drafted current number one quarterback Brock Purdy in the seventh round, 262nd overall, in the 2022 NFL Draft.
