Ali Saad (Canadian football)
 Saad with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2025 | |
| No. 96 – Saskatchewan Roughriders | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive lineman |
| Roster status | Active |
| CFL status | National |
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 22, 2002 Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 280 lb (127 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Dearborn High |
| College | Bowling Green |
| CFL draft | 2025: 1st round, 4th overall pick |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Stats at CFL.ca | |
Ali Saad (born September 22, 2002) is a Canadian professional football defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
College career
Saad enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 2020 to play for the Golden Gophers, but he used a redshirt season and did not appear in any games.[1] He then transferred to Bowling Green State University where he played for the Bowling Green Falcons from 2021 to 2024.[1][2] He played in 44 games where he had 78 tackles, including 14 tackles for a loss, six sacks, four forced fumbles, and one blocked kick.[1][2]
Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | TD | PD | ||
| 2020 | Minnesota |  Redshirt | |||||||||||||
| 2021 | Bowling Green | 10 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Bowling Green | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Bowling Green | 13 | 13 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Bowling Green | 13 | 13 | 40 | 19 | 21 | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 44 | 26 | 78 | 40 | 38 | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+3⁄4 in (1.87 m) | 282 lb (128 kg) | 32+1⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 6 ft 5+1⁄4 in (1.96 m) | 5.23 s | 1.78 s | 2.91 s | 4.59 s | 7.50 s | 30.5 in (0.77 m) | 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) | |
| All values from Pro Day[3] | ||||||||||||
In the final Canadian Football League's Amateur Scouting Bureau rankings for players eligible for the 2025 CFL draft, Saad was listed as the 11th-best player available.[4] He was then selected in the first round, fourth overall, in the draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and signed with the team on May 12, 2025.[5] He made the team's opening day roster in 2025 and played in his first professional game on June 6, 2025, against the Ottawa Redblacks, where he had one defensive tackle.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "Ali Saad". Bowling Green Falcons. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Ali Saad". Saskatchewan Roughriders. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
- ↑ "Ali Saad College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Elic Ayomanor Vaults to Top Spot in Spring Edition of CFL Scouting Bureau". Canadian Football League. April 28, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
- ↑ "Riders 1st round selection Ali Saad arrives in Riderville". Saskatchewan Roughriders. May 12, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2026.