For a couple weeks I have been working on ways to approach the 2014 CFL Combine to give a new perspective to readers. As one of the major events of the CFL off-season, it definitely deserves attention by any website that claims to be a comprehensive reporter on the CFL. With this in mind, I had a few ideas on what I could do.
My first idea was to follow up my blog from last year where I ranked the offensive and defensive linemen based mostly on YouTube videos of the one on one drills with the same kind of format. I emailed and sent twitter messages to the poster of these 2013 videos, in hopes that he would post them again. He did not, which leads me to think the CFL frowned on the initiative he took last year. To my dismay, no one posted raw one-on-one videos this year which means I need to find another angle at which to write.
The second way I was going to approach the CFL Combine was by looking at the numbers the players produced at the fitness testing, and then comparing them with what players achieved who were drafted in the first three rounds over the past five years. It was a pretty big study, and I worked through pretty thoroughly for a couple positions, but when I tried to see some similarities in the guys picked, there was very little that jumped out. I could finish this study, and if you are interested, let me know, but right now I am not planning on it.
In addition to not having statistical consistencies jump out of the fitness testing numbers, I had the good fortune of talking about my blog with John Hufnagel at a Stampeders VIP luncheon, and he really downplayed the fitness testing by calling it the Olympics. He made it clear that the numbers a player obtained could make the difference in a situation where two players were in a tied at the end of their evaluation, but he really bases his evaluation on their ability to play football. Listening to many of the videos taken of CFL executives on CFL.ca from this year’s combine pretty much verified the same feeling across several teams, so I decided to abandon the statistical analysis from the fitness testing.
So, what is left when the one-on-one videos aren’t available and the fitness testing is a relegated to minor component of the evaluation? I decided to look at the top 15 ranked eligible players heading into the combine and look at what the media reported about each of them. I looked at CFL.ca and TSN.ca, who are the major providers of CFL stories. I also looked at the major newspapers from every CFL team to see what could be found as well as looking at the twitter feeds for major CFL writers. I thought that one report that combined all the reports from all the sources would be of value to the hard core CFL follower. This way the reader can get a clear indication of who is rising and who is falling.
This is the top 15 players as reported by CFL.ca in January, their last update, and the comments (or lack thereof) of the various CFL media sources:
1) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif OL – status: falling
He choose not to participate in the CFL Combine and has considerable NFL interest. He will have a pro-day in the upcoming weeks so he can be poked and prodded by the respective pro leagues. It sounds like he will not be a high CFL draft pick because he is so highly regarded by the NFL. In addition, he is a medicine student, and it is quite likely that he will follow that future rather than earning $60,000 as a rookie CFLer with his body on the line. His falling status has nothing to do with his abilities, but more with the likelihood he will ever play in the CFL.
2) Pierre Lavertu OL – maintained/rising
3) David Foucault OL – slight fall
5) Matthias Goosen OL – maintained/rising
- Coming into the draft, these three had the best opportunity at going #1 overall. They are offensive linemen, which is a position of need for every CFL team because half of all Canadian starters come from that spot. Every team needs to continually add to their talent pool. Many comments were made with regards to all three, so I will report them together.
- Drew Edwards (http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/) Suggests that OL Pierre Lavertu and David Foucault did nothing to hurt their status as #2 and #3 prospects, but goes on to highlight Matthias Goossen as someone who the Tiger Cats may be interested in because he “may still be around at #9”, when they have their first pick. It sounds like Edwards liked Lavertu and Foucault more than Goossen.
- Jason Dunk, in his video on http://www.cfl.ca/video/index#, said that these “three had all eyeballs on them, David Foucault from Montreal, Pierre Lavertu from Laval, and Matthias Goossen from Simon Fraser, and all three solidified their status as potential #1 draft picks.”
In highlight videos of the one on ones, Pierre Lavertu wins one rep and loses another by Quinn Smith. In his self-evaluation, he says “I think it was half and half. I won some, lost some, but overall I’m satisfied.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly-ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
- Matthias Goosen loses a one-on-one matchup to Smith as well.
- “Their footwork and hand placement are very good, it’s clear they’re well coached,” Gorrell said. “You see guys like Pierre Lavertu, David Foucault and Matthias Goossen stepping up to the plate and being able to prove to the coaches and scouts they’re ready to take the next step.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly- ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
- Foucault was on the wrong end of the combine’s highlight reel when he gets bull rushed and run over by Ainsworth. Jeff Krever’s article suggests that Foucault had been battling the flu bug. Foucault himself explained the situation by saying: “He just played my weakness and I was too high in my stance. He tried the bull-rush and he kicked my ass. It’s okay, I just need to step up. I think my results today were very good, just the one-on-ones I’m a little sad about them because the guys in front of me, some of them were strong and I took a lot of reps with those guys and I’ll need to step up.” You have to watch very closely the video highlights to see that he lost at least two other reps to Ainsworth, one being a beautiful swim move to the inside, and another being a rip to the outside, both which can been seen on Ainsworth videos on CFL.ca. Though Miles Gorrell suggested otherwise in an interview, I would have to think that this domination by a 15th ranked player may drop Foucault’s draft status. He likely will still get picked early in the draft because Canadian offensive linemen are gold in the CFL, but he could fall to the third offensive lineman chosen, but likely remaining a first round pick.
4) Devon Bailey WR- maintained his position
- In a video by Shamawd Chambers and Don Landry on CFL.ca, Chambers suggests that Baily “met the pressure” and “did great”. “He proved he is the #1 receiver. He was aggressive and was the best.” - In the visible one on ones, he decisively beats Black and Pruneau, but also loses to Pruneau. He rates his performance as avergae, “I can do better.”
6) Evan Gill DL – dropping
- He was ranked the top defensive lineman headed into the weekend, but I don’t think he ended it this way, despite a very likeable interview.
- This is what Dan Ralph has to say in his round up column, “Manitoba’s Evan Gill, the scouting bureau’s top ranked defensive lineman at No. 6, displayed impressive brute strength Sunday. However, not having been in pads since the end of the season took its toll on the six-foot-three 300-pound Winnipeg native. ‘It was tough knocking the rust off,’ he said. ‘You’re getting a lot of reps at once and you’re getting gassed out there, it’s tough moving at that fast pace.’”
- At the end of the one on ones, coaches were asked what pairing they wanted to see. The consensus was to see Gill lineup against the surprising Quinn Smith at guard. Smith handled him easily.
- Duane Forde said that, “Smith is now the #1 rated d-lineman ahead of Gill now.”
- In summary, Gill is still highly rated but his status has fallen a bit. It did not look as though he would be ready to step in and help a team as a starter for next year, but would take some additional development.
7) Beau Landry LB – dropping
- I could not find his name mentioned in any publication. Upon looking at the fitness testing, he did participate in the running drills, but not the bench press. It is possible that he was not healthy enough to participate in the one-on-ones.
- Either he was not written about due to being unable to participate (injury) or perhaps he did take part in the one-on-ones and did poorly. It seems like the media goes by the saying, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Either way, I’d think he stock dropped.
8) Andrew Lue DB - maintained
- Drew Edwards mentions him as a top DB.
- He pulled a hamstring in the 40, but still competed in the one-on-ones. He beat Corrado in one rep and highly rated Bailey in another.
- All nine teams interviewed him.
9) Anthony Coombs RB – rising
- Shamawd Chambers tweets: @acoombs1 killing in the one on ones.
- Don Landry and Justin Dunk said he did well at the 40, agility, and in the one on ones against linebackers. He reminded them of Andrew Harris.
- In two one on one drills that we see, he beats Caron, Briggs, and Pruneau in coverage and catches the passes.
- Duane Forde says Coombs and Harris couldn’t have more similarities
- Jeff Krever says he did a great job with jumps, lifts, caught the ball well and can run the ball.
- Overall, I would say that Coombs raised his stock. He seemed to do well at everything and everyone spoke highly of him. With the emergence or Harris and Cornish, teams may be willing to give Canadian running backs more of an opportunity than they previously were. He could very well be a first round pick in the CFL this year.
- On twitter, many Rider fans said they want their team to pick him, which makes sense. They need a replacement for Sheets, and they ran into great difficulty during a game last year when Sheets got hurt and they did not have a Canadian on the roster who could run the football. A talented Canadian like Coombs could at the very least fill the backup hole, and potentially could start for them one day.
10) Max Caron LB – dropping
- He ran a 4.9 in the 40, which is not very good. No one reported anything on him. I saw that he was beaten on a pass route by Coombs. As mentioned with Beaux Landry, it seems like no one had anything nice to say about him.
11) Casey Chin LB – slight drop
- Not much reported about him, except something about a tattoo. Also, it was reported that he long-snapped and did well, and that may be his way into the CFL. I would doubt if he was a first-rounder when there is little mentioned about his performance in one-on-ones. However, there are definitely teams who need to improve their long-snapping and this could be his ticket into pro-football. After a few years of development, maybe starting could be a possibility. That said, teams don’t often spend first round picks on long-snappers.
12) Sam Sabourin LB – dropping
- He did not attend the CFL Combine. According to the Ottawa Sun, he decided not to attend because he “has decided to focus on school and career pursuits rather than pursue a football career.” Undoubtedly, his stock will fall drastically.
13) Adam Thibault DB – rising
- He really impressed as a top DB in the fitness testing, but wasn’t able to participate in drills due to injury.
- Drew Edwards suggests that he may be a player who interests Hamilton with the top 40 time and 18 bench reps. He explains that Hamilton may be going with two starting Canadians in their defensive backfield and they will need depth.
- Duane Forde called him, “the day’s shining star, even though he couldn’t do one-on-ones.”
14) Derek Wiggan DL – dropping
- I had to look up his position. No one mentioned him at all. I would put him in that class, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
15) Dylan Ainsworth DL – rising
- A huge day for him as he made the biggest explanation mark when he ran over the #3 ranked Foucault which is the biggest combine highlight. He beat Foucault three times to show that was no fluke.
- Justin Dunk says, “Dominant off the edge in one on ones, showed nasty edge, 4.69 40 time, beat Foucault in one on ones.”
- Ainsworth was interviewed by all nine CFL teams.
- Clearly his stock has risen due to his performance at the combine. Great testing numbers and great one-on- ones. He couldn’t have asked for more.
Who else was highlighted, apart from the top ranked guys?
Quinn Smith DL/OL: dramatic rise. Likey a top five pick now after not being in the top 15.
- Drew Edwards says he dominated one-on-ones, even did some as an OL.
- Justin Dunk says he “turned some heads in one-on-ones. He won every single rep in the one on ones.”
- Video shows him beating Hart, Patterson, Lavertu, and Goosen and also losing to Lavertu. As an offensive guard, he beats Fletcher and Gill.
- Duane Forde says, “Smith is now the #1 rated d-lineman ahead of Gill now. He established himself like Lindon Gaydosh did last year.” This is exceptional praise as Gaydosh dominated the combine and used that as a springboard into the NFL.
- He will definitely be at the top of the draft, even in the conversation for #1 overall after dominating the highly rated players he lined up against.
Anndrew Pruneau DB - rising
- Mentioned by Drew Edwards as a top DB heading into the draft.
- In one-on-ones, he beats Bailey and loses to Coombs on a passing drill
Jessie Briggs LB - rising
- Justin Dunk says that he had a great 40 time and was fluid in the one-on-ones. He can play special teams right away and grow into a starter.
- He set personal bests in the 40, bench, and vertical jump which was 2nd best. Rated his one-on-ones as “alright” as he got beat a few times including by FB Dupuis who effectively blocked him on a pass rush drill and Coombs who beat him in a passing frill.
Ray Hartman DB - rising
- Duane Forde says he hasn’t played football in two years, but previously was an AUS all-star. He was dominant at the reginal combine, and pressed everyone. Video footage shows him beating Lapointe, Bastien and Corrado in drills.
- It sounds like he made a significant jump after the weekend. Being out of football for two years would have dropped him off the radar, but he was one of the guys Duane Forde wanted to highlight, which is a big tribute.
Michael Dadzie DL - rising
- Jeff Krever reports on Regina defensive lineman Michael Dadzie “I think I accomplished a lot, especially with my 40,” said Dadzie. “I dropped it, it was a little bit faster and I think I opened some eyes, and I definitely opened some eyes in the one-on-ones so I feel good.”
Miles Gorrell on less heralded linemen (TSN.ca) - rising
- “But a kid like Jaskaran Dhillon of UBC really impressed me; this was his first year playing on the offensive line. I also thought Terry Hart from Mount Allison did a great job and I also liked Kyle Patterson of Regina and Aaron Wheaton from the U of T.”
David Menard DL - rising
- “Menard, had the most bench reps. On Sunday he matched up individually against some of the top linemen in the country and wasn’t overmatched, flashing both quickness and strength in beating his man to the quarterback.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly-ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
Andrew Bucholtz focused in on three players who were not originally invited to the national combine, but worked their way up through the regionals and showed well. Here is what he had to say about each of them.
Tore Corrado WR - rising
- Corrado went on to dazzle even more this weekend, improving his 40 time to 4.565 seconds, which was best amongst receivers and fifth-best overall. Speed like that can be vital for pass-catchers, and Corrado definitely has plenty of speed to burn. He also posted a 7.03-second time in the three-cone drill, best of anyone, a 33.5-inch vertical jump, second-best amongst receivers, and a 4.22-second shuttle run time, second-best amongst receivers and fifth-best overall. Corrado is still anything but a lock to be drafted, as he's only listed at 6'0'' and 174 pounds (tiny even by CFL standards), and he only caught 21 passes for 231 yards in NCAA Division II play last year, so there are still questions about how effective he'd be in the pros. His impressive combine showing certainly has him at least being talked about, though.
James Tuck DE - rising
- Tuck looked solid against the more-heralded cast at the national combine, placing second amongst defensive linemen in the broad jump and tying for second in the vertical jump. He has solid explosiveness and could be an intriguing option as a pass rusher. We'll see where he goes in the draft compared to more- heralded DL prospects, but Tuck showed he wasn't out of place competing with them.
Guillaume Bourassa RB - rising
- Bourassa worked his way in through the Montreal regional combine and went on to post a 10'1'' broad jump at the national level, best amongst running backs and fourth-best overall. The broad jump is a key measure of explosiveness, which can be vital for RBs. Bourassa has speed, too; his 40 time of 4.706 seconds was second-best in his position group. He only recorded 402 yards last season in a crowded Rouge et Or backfield, but averaged 6.1 yards per carry. He might well be worth a look in the draft.
So, there you have it. All the reports on the CFL Combine, combined into one report. If you were at the combine and have some additional information you’d like to fill me in on, I would be more than happy to include it. As I said, I can only do so much with the limited information I am given. I do think it is interesting to gather all the comments into one forum.
Only 47 days until the draft! Be sure to check back for more 2014 CFL Draft Content. The next order of business will be putting together some mock drafts. I can’t wait!
My first idea was to follow up my blog from last year where I ranked the offensive and defensive linemen based mostly on YouTube videos of the one on one drills with the same kind of format. I emailed and sent twitter messages to the poster of these 2013 videos, in hopes that he would post them again. He did not, which leads me to think the CFL frowned on the initiative he took last year. To my dismay, no one posted raw one-on-one videos this year which means I need to find another angle at which to write.
The second way I was going to approach the CFL Combine was by looking at the numbers the players produced at the fitness testing, and then comparing them with what players achieved who were drafted in the first three rounds over the past five years. It was a pretty big study, and I worked through pretty thoroughly for a couple positions, but when I tried to see some similarities in the guys picked, there was very little that jumped out. I could finish this study, and if you are interested, let me know, but right now I am not planning on it.
In addition to not having statistical consistencies jump out of the fitness testing numbers, I had the good fortune of talking about my blog with John Hufnagel at a Stampeders VIP luncheon, and he really downplayed the fitness testing by calling it the Olympics. He made it clear that the numbers a player obtained could make the difference in a situation where two players were in a tied at the end of their evaluation, but he really bases his evaluation on their ability to play football. Listening to many of the videos taken of CFL executives on CFL.ca from this year’s combine pretty much verified the same feeling across several teams, so I decided to abandon the statistical analysis from the fitness testing.
So, what is left when the one-on-one videos aren’t available and the fitness testing is a relegated to minor component of the evaluation? I decided to look at the top 15 ranked eligible players heading into the combine and look at what the media reported about each of them. I looked at CFL.ca and TSN.ca, who are the major providers of CFL stories. I also looked at the major newspapers from every CFL team to see what could be found as well as looking at the twitter feeds for major CFL writers. I thought that one report that combined all the reports from all the sources would be of value to the hard core CFL follower. This way the reader can get a clear indication of who is rising and who is falling.
This is the top 15 players as reported by CFL.ca in January, their last update, and the comments (or lack thereof) of the various CFL media sources:
1) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif OL – status: falling
He choose not to participate in the CFL Combine and has considerable NFL interest. He will have a pro-day in the upcoming weeks so he can be poked and prodded by the respective pro leagues. It sounds like he will not be a high CFL draft pick because he is so highly regarded by the NFL. In addition, he is a medicine student, and it is quite likely that he will follow that future rather than earning $60,000 as a rookie CFLer with his body on the line. His falling status has nothing to do with his abilities, but more with the likelihood he will ever play in the CFL.
2) Pierre Lavertu OL – maintained/rising
3) David Foucault OL – slight fall
5) Matthias Goosen OL – maintained/rising
- Coming into the draft, these three had the best opportunity at going #1 overall. They are offensive linemen, which is a position of need for every CFL team because half of all Canadian starters come from that spot. Every team needs to continually add to their talent pool. Many comments were made with regards to all three, so I will report them together.
- Drew Edwards (http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/) Suggests that OL Pierre Lavertu and David Foucault did nothing to hurt their status as #2 and #3 prospects, but goes on to highlight Matthias Goossen as someone who the Tiger Cats may be interested in because he “may still be around at #9”, when they have their first pick. It sounds like Edwards liked Lavertu and Foucault more than Goossen.
- Jason Dunk, in his video on http://www.cfl.ca/video/index#, said that these “three had all eyeballs on them, David Foucault from Montreal, Pierre Lavertu from Laval, and Matthias Goossen from Simon Fraser, and all three solidified their status as potential #1 draft picks.”
In highlight videos of the one on ones, Pierre Lavertu wins one rep and loses another by Quinn Smith. In his self-evaluation, he says “I think it was half and half. I won some, lost some, but overall I’m satisfied.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly-ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
- Matthias Goosen loses a one-on-one matchup to Smith as well.
- “Their footwork and hand placement are very good, it’s clear they’re well coached,” Gorrell said. “You see guys like Pierre Lavertu, David Foucault and Matthias Goossen stepping up to the plate and being able to prove to the coaches and scouts they’re ready to take the next step.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly- ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
- Foucault was on the wrong end of the combine’s highlight reel when he gets bull rushed and run over by Ainsworth. Jeff Krever’s article suggests that Foucault had been battling the flu bug. Foucault himself explained the situation by saying: “He just played my weakness and I was too high in my stance. He tried the bull-rush and he kicked my ass. It’s okay, I just need to step up. I think my results today were very good, just the one-on-ones I’m a little sad about them because the guys in front of me, some of them were strong and I took a lot of reps with those guys and I’ll need to step up.” You have to watch very closely the video highlights to see that he lost at least two other reps to Ainsworth, one being a beautiful swim move to the inside, and another being a rip to the outside, both which can been seen on Ainsworth videos on CFL.ca. Though Miles Gorrell suggested otherwise in an interview, I would have to think that this domination by a 15th ranked player may drop Foucault’s draft status. He likely will still get picked early in the draft because Canadian offensive linemen are gold in the CFL, but he could fall to the third offensive lineman chosen, but likely remaining a first round pick.
4) Devon Bailey WR- maintained his position
- In a video by Shamawd Chambers and Don Landry on CFL.ca, Chambers suggests that Baily “met the pressure” and “did great”. “He proved he is the #1 receiver. He was aggressive and was the best.” - In the visible one on ones, he decisively beats Black and Pruneau, but also loses to Pruneau. He rates his performance as avergae, “I can do better.”
6) Evan Gill DL – dropping
- He was ranked the top defensive lineman headed into the weekend, but I don’t think he ended it this way, despite a very likeable interview.
- This is what Dan Ralph has to say in his round up column, “Manitoba’s Evan Gill, the scouting bureau’s top ranked defensive lineman at No. 6, displayed impressive brute strength Sunday. However, not having been in pads since the end of the season took its toll on the six-foot-three 300-pound Winnipeg native. ‘It was tough knocking the rust off,’ he said. ‘You’re getting a lot of reps at once and you’re getting gassed out there, it’s tough moving at that fast pace.’”
- At the end of the one on ones, coaches were asked what pairing they wanted to see. The consensus was to see Gill lineup against the surprising Quinn Smith at guard. Smith handled him easily.
- Duane Forde said that, “Smith is now the #1 rated d-lineman ahead of Gill now.”
- In summary, Gill is still highly rated but his status has fallen a bit. It did not look as though he would be ready to step in and help a team as a starter for next year, but would take some additional development.
7) Beau Landry LB – dropping
- I could not find his name mentioned in any publication. Upon looking at the fitness testing, he did participate in the running drills, but not the bench press. It is possible that he was not healthy enough to participate in the one-on-ones.
- Either he was not written about due to being unable to participate (injury) or perhaps he did take part in the one-on-ones and did poorly. It seems like the media goes by the saying, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Either way, I’d think he stock dropped.
8) Andrew Lue DB - maintained
- Drew Edwards mentions him as a top DB.
- He pulled a hamstring in the 40, but still competed in the one-on-ones. He beat Corrado in one rep and highly rated Bailey in another.
- All nine teams interviewed him.
9) Anthony Coombs RB – rising
- Shamawd Chambers tweets: @acoombs1 killing in the one on ones.
- Don Landry and Justin Dunk said he did well at the 40, agility, and in the one on ones against linebackers. He reminded them of Andrew Harris.
- In two one on one drills that we see, he beats Caron, Briggs, and Pruneau in coverage and catches the passes.
- Duane Forde says Coombs and Harris couldn’t have more similarities
- Jeff Krever says he did a great job with jumps, lifts, caught the ball well and can run the ball.
- Overall, I would say that Coombs raised his stock. He seemed to do well at everything and everyone spoke highly of him. With the emergence or Harris and Cornish, teams may be willing to give Canadian running backs more of an opportunity than they previously were. He could very well be a first round pick in the CFL this year.
- On twitter, many Rider fans said they want their team to pick him, which makes sense. They need a replacement for Sheets, and they ran into great difficulty during a game last year when Sheets got hurt and they did not have a Canadian on the roster who could run the football. A talented Canadian like Coombs could at the very least fill the backup hole, and potentially could start for them one day.
10) Max Caron LB – dropping
- He ran a 4.9 in the 40, which is not very good. No one reported anything on him. I saw that he was beaten on a pass route by Coombs. As mentioned with Beaux Landry, it seems like no one had anything nice to say about him.
11) Casey Chin LB – slight drop
- Not much reported about him, except something about a tattoo. Also, it was reported that he long-snapped and did well, and that may be his way into the CFL. I would doubt if he was a first-rounder when there is little mentioned about his performance in one-on-ones. However, there are definitely teams who need to improve their long-snapping and this could be his ticket into pro-football. After a few years of development, maybe starting could be a possibility. That said, teams don’t often spend first round picks on long-snappers.
12) Sam Sabourin LB – dropping
- He did not attend the CFL Combine. According to the Ottawa Sun, he decided not to attend because he “has decided to focus on school and career pursuits rather than pursue a football career.” Undoubtedly, his stock will fall drastically.
13) Adam Thibault DB – rising
- He really impressed as a top DB in the fitness testing, but wasn’t able to participate in drills due to injury.
- Drew Edwards suggests that he may be a player who interests Hamilton with the top 40 time and 18 bench reps. He explains that Hamilton may be going with two starting Canadians in their defensive backfield and they will need depth.
- Duane Forde called him, “the day’s shining star, even though he couldn’t do one-on-ones.”
14) Derek Wiggan DL – dropping
- I had to look up his position. No one mentioned him at all. I would put him in that class, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
15) Dylan Ainsworth DL – rising
- A huge day for him as he made the biggest explanation mark when he ran over the #3 ranked Foucault which is the biggest combine highlight. He beat Foucault three times to show that was no fluke.
- Justin Dunk says, “Dominant off the edge in one on ones, showed nasty edge, 4.69 40 time, beat Foucault in one on ones.”
- Ainsworth was interviewed by all nine CFL teams.
- Clearly his stock has risen due to his performance at the combine. Great testing numbers and great one-on- ones. He couldn’t have asked for more.
Who else was highlighted, apart from the top ranked guys?
Quinn Smith DL/OL: dramatic rise. Likey a top five pick now after not being in the top 15.
- Drew Edwards says he dominated one-on-ones, even did some as an OL.
- Justin Dunk says he “turned some heads in one-on-ones. He won every single rep in the one on ones.”
- Video shows him beating Hart, Patterson, Lavertu, and Goosen and also losing to Lavertu. As an offensive guard, he beats Fletcher and Gill.
- Duane Forde says, “Smith is now the #1 rated d-lineman ahead of Gill now. He established himself like Lindon Gaydosh did last year.” This is exceptional praise as Gaydosh dominated the combine and used that as a springboard into the NFL.
- He will definitely be at the top of the draft, even in the conversation for #1 overall after dominating the highly rated players he lined up against.
Anndrew Pruneau DB - rising
- Mentioned by Drew Edwards as a top DB heading into the draft.
- In one-on-ones, he beats Bailey and loses to Coombs on a passing drill
Jessie Briggs LB - rising
- Justin Dunk says that he had a great 40 time and was fluid in the one-on-ones. He can play special teams right away and grow into a starter.
- He set personal bests in the 40, bench, and vertical jump which was 2nd best. Rated his one-on-ones as “alright” as he got beat a few times including by FB Dupuis who effectively blocked him on a pass rush drill and Coombs who beat him in a passing frill.
Ray Hartman DB - rising
- Duane Forde says he hasn’t played football in two years, but previously was an AUS all-star. He was dominant at the reginal combine, and pressed everyone. Video footage shows him beating Lapointe, Bastien and Corrado in drills.
- It sounds like he made a significant jump after the weekend. Being out of football for two years would have dropped him off the radar, but he was one of the guys Duane Forde wanted to highlight, which is a big tribute.
Michael Dadzie DL - rising
- Jeff Krever reports on Regina defensive lineman Michael Dadzie “I think I accomplished a lot, especially with my 40,” said Dadzie. “I dropped it, it was a little bit faster and I think I opened some eyes, and I definitely opened some eyes in the one-on-ones so I feel good.”
Miles Gorrell on less heralded linemen (TSN.ca) - rising
- “But a kid like Jaskaran Dhillon of UBC really impressed me; this was his first year playing on the offensive line. I also thought Terry Hart from Mount Allison did a great job and I also liked Kyle Patterson of Regina and Aaron Wheaton from the U of T.”
David Menard DL - rising
- “Menard, had the most bench reps. On Sunday he matched up individually against some of the top linemen in the country and wasn’t overmatched, flashing both quickness and strength in beating his man to the quarterback.” http://cfl.ca/article/combine-highly-ranked-o-linemen-jockey-for-position
Andrew Bucholtz focused in on three players who were not originally invited to the national combine, but worked their way up through the regionals and showed well. Here is what he had to say about each of them.
Tore Corrado WR - rising
- Corrado went on to dazzle even more this weekend, improving his 40 time to 4.565 seconds, which was best amongst receivers and fifth-best overall. Speed like that can be vital for pass-catchers, and Corrado definitely has plenty of speed to burn. He also posted a 7.03-second time in the three-cone drill, best of anyone, a 33.5-inch vertical jump, second-best amongst receivers, and a 4.22-second shuttle run time, second-best amongst receivers and fifth-best overall. Corrado is still anything but a lock to be drafted, as he's only listed at 6'0'' and 174 pounds (tiny even by CFL standards), and he only caught 21 passes for 231 yards in NCAA Division II play last year, so there are still questions about how effective he'd be in the pros. His impressive combine showing certainly has him at least being talked about, though.
James Tuck DE - rising
- Tuck looked solid against the more-heralded cast at the national combine, placing second amongst defensive linemen in the broad jump and tying for second in the vertical jump. He has solid explosiveness and could be an intriguing option as a pass rusher. We'll see where he goes in the draft compared to more- heralded DL prospects, but Tuck showed he wasn't out of place competing with them.
Guillaume Bourassa RB - rising
- Bourassa worked his way in through the Montreal regional combine and went on to post a 10'1'' broad jump at the national level, best amongst running backs and fourth-best overall. The broad jump is a key measure of explosiveness, which can be vital for RBs. Bourassa has speed, too; his 40 time of 4.706 seconds was second-best in his position group. He only recorded 402 yards last season in a crowded Rouge et Or backfield, but averaged 6.1 yards per carry. He might well be worth a look in the draft.
So, there you have it. All the reports on the CFL Combine, combined into one report. If you were at the combine and have some additional information you’d like to fill me in on, I would be more than happy to include it. As I said, I can only do so much with the limited information I am given. I do think it is interesting to gather all the comments into one forum.
Only 47 days until the draft! Be sure to check back for more 2014 CFL Draft Content. The next order of business will be putting together some mock drafts. I can’t wait!
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