Christian Covington, son of Hamilton Tiger-Cat legend Grover Covington, is the top prospect available for the CFL draft, based on the final rankings from the league’s experts.

The CFL Scouting Bureau — comprised of scouts, player personnel directors and GMs from the league’s nine teams — ranks the top 20 Canadians who are playing either in this country or the U.S. and eligible for the draft May 12.

Brandon Bridge, the Mississauga native who played quarterback at South Alabama, is seen as a late-round pick in the NFL draft but the 6-foot-4, 229-pound Bridge came in at No. 19 on the CFL list. He is the first quarterback ever ranked in the CFL’s top 20.

Covington, the Rice University defensive tackle, made the leap to No. 1 when he decided to forgo his senior year and declare himself eligible for the NFL draft on April 29.

Covington’s father played from 1981 to 1991 with the Ticats, leading the league in sacks in 1988. A defensive lineman, he was inducted in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

Christian Covington is bigger than his father at 6-foot-3 and 289 pounds; Grover Covington was listed at 6-foot-2, 235 pounds.

Christian Covington is ranked among the top defensive tackles heading into the NFL draft, and depending where he lands — he’s projected to go anywhere from the third to fifth round — CFL teams may avoid him, or push him down the list when it comes time to pick Canadian talent.

The Toronto Argonauts have the third pick in the CFL draft, after the Ottawa Redblacks and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The first two rounds will be broadcast live in prime time on TSN at 8 p.m. ET, with subsequent rounds streamed live on TSN.ca.

The scouting bureau also puts together a fall and winter list. In the bureau’s winter rankings, the top prospect was judged to be Brett Boyko of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He bounced to the second slot in the final rankings.

Boyko is a 6-foot-7, 310-pounder from Saskatchewan who once dreamed of playing for the Roughriders.

Behind Boyko is Ottawa’s Alex Mateas, an offensive lineman with the University of Connecticut Huskies.

Fourth on the list is Yale running back Tyler Varga, of Kitchener, Ont., while Laval’s Danny Groulx occupies the No. 5 hole after moving up from the eighth position.

Slipping out of the top five is Manitoba Bisons receiver Nic Demski, who fell from fifth to ninth.

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University of Western Ontario defensive lineman Darryl Waud also saw his stock fall. The Hamilton native was listed at third in the winter rankings, but slipped to seventh in the latest installment.

CFL teams will take their cue at the draft table from what happens in the NFL draft. Four Canadians are expected to be selected by NFL teams: Covington, Varga, Bridge and Boyko.