Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — The scouting report on St. Francis Xavier’s Kay Okafor could be reduced to this: dominant athlete but raw with a ton of room for improvement.
Okafor is still relatively new to the game of football but continues to demonstrate a high ceiling that CFL.ca’s Marshall Ferguson says teams at the professional level should be clamouring to try and mold.
Ferguson compares Okafor to past CFL prospect and Wilfrid Laurier grad Chima Ihekwoaba, who turned in one of the best performances for a defensive lineman at the CFL Combine ever in 2010.
“While Chima had a slightly taller frame and played more end than tackle, the overwhelming physicality of both these men makes them ideal national defensive linemen,” said Ferguson. “Okafor has shown flashes of brilliance on game tape since emigrating from Nigeria to Holland College in Prince Edward Island before finding a home with the St.FX X-men.”
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Like with Ihekwoaba, who was drafted by the Als 14th overall in 2010 and played three seasons in Montreal before retiring, the name of the game for Okafor is physical dominance.
Okafor checks in at 6-foot-3, 273 pounds with 10.5-inch hands and an arm length of 34 inches. Add that to 30 reps on the bench press and Okafor is among the elite defensive linemen to attend the combine over the years from an athletic standpoint.
During one-on-ones in Regina, Ferguson caught a glimpse of what Okafor could one day be.
“I saw flashes of what I think Kay Okafor will become in a couple of years,” said Ferguson. “His height, weight and testing numbers are crazy but he’s only been playing football for five years.
“His ability as an athlete is of the highest quality but there’s a lot of room for improvement in being a pass-rusher,” he added. “But I have confidence that with the right team he will find out how good he will be as a pure pass rusher.”
At St. FX, Okafor honed his craft as a pass rusher over the span of four seasons. Last season he recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks and 17 total tackles over eight games.
Whoever ends up drafting him will have to be patient but Okafor’s natural ability speaks for itself. The upside will be hard for GMs to ignore on draft day.
“While this comes from memory and not game tape, I remember seeing the same from Chima during his time with the Laurier Golden Hawks — the ability to change a play in a moment’s notice with pure pass rushing power and speed,” said Ferguson.
“Okafor will need plenty of refinement at the CFL level but any coach would be ecstatic to work with a man that large and genuine in his approach to the game.”
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