Eskimo

From being snubbed by the Canadian Football League’s draft-prospect evaluation camp to being a second-round draft pick and a potential rookie starter — it’s been quite a spring for Saleem Borhot.

The Calgarian was nabbed in Sunday’s CFL draft, going 12th overall to the Edmonton Eskimos, and with the retirement of Eskimo veteran safety Scott Gordon on Sunday, the Saint Mary’s Huskies safety is in a terrific position heading into his first training camp.

“It’s a dream come true,” Borhot said from Halifax. “I really couldn’t ask for anything more, getting selected 12th overall, the first DB to go — I never would have thought I was going to get that kind of love. I put in the work, so it just feels good for it to pay off.”

Borhot, 24, didn’t get an invite to the evaluation camp in March, but worked out at a draft-prospect camp put together by TSN’s Duane Forde, and his performance there, followed by a private workout in Edmonton, convinced the Eskimos to pull the trigger on the six-foot-two, 200-pounder.

“Saleem is the top-rated free safety coming out of the CIS and there is a very strong possibility he can come to camp and start for us,” said Eskimos general manager Danny Maciocia. “We’ve known for the last little while that Scott Gordon would be retiring, so we needed to make sure we kept the ratio intact at the safety position. . . . We think (he) will play there for many, many years.”