Ricky White is no longer the only UNLV Rebel from last season who heard his name called on draft day.
On Tuesday night, former UNLV offensive lineman Tiger Shanks was selected fifth overall in the Canadian Football League draft by the Montreal Alouettes. Shanks becomes the highest selection a UNLV player has ever gotten since former offensive lineman Brett Boyko was selected in the second round in 2015.
Despite spending most of his life in China and the United States, Shanks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, making him eligible to be selected in the CFL Draft.
A four-year starter for the Rebels, Shanks has 51 starts under his belt, primarily at both left and right tackle. He is the only offensive lineman in UNLV history to earn first-team all-conference honors twice, being named to the All-Mountain West team in 2023 and 2024 at left tackle. According to Pro Football Focus, Shanks allowed only 11 pressures and one sack on 410 pass-blocking snaps.
Those numbers would indicate Shanks had a potential NFL future, but the time between the end of UNLV’s season and the draft was a little rougher than expected.
A nagging hamstring injury resulted in Shanks being unable to do the speed and agility testing portions of UNLV’s Pro Day. Shanks was already a longshot to be drafted, but those variables and his highly-touted status as a CFL product resulted in teams not signing him as an undrafted free agent. However, the tape on him suggests he can remain at offensive tackle during his professional career.
Shanks may be heading back up north, but he will always have UNLV fans cheering him on stateside.
