Best For Last: Shepley out-muscles the competition

WINNIPEG — Dakoda Shepley had to wait the longest for Saturday night’s bench press at the CFL Scouting Combine presented by adidas.

In the end, though, the wait was well worth it, as the University of British Columbia offensive linemen put up 27 reps to finish atop the combine leaderboard.

A loud and supportive crowd filed in to watch one of the combine’s marquee events on Saturday night at Winnipeg’s RBC Centre, with the test of sheer strength capping off a busy day for the country’s top draft-eligible prospects.

The loudest roar was for Shepley.

“It’s really cool,” said the offensive lineman. “I’m not used to that in the gym or anything — having a bunch of fans screaming in front of you while you’re benching.”

Bench Press

Receivers and defensive backs went first, followed by linebackers, running backs and quarterbacks. When the offensive and defensive linemen came up, it was Andrew Pickett taking the late lead with 25 reps. But the O-lineman out of Guelph would have to settle for second.

Shepley said he aimed to hit 30, but 27 isn’t so bad.

“I definitely feel like there was room for improvement,” said Shepley. “I was telling some of the other guys there’s always room for improvement with stuff like this. You’re only given such a short notice to train when you get notified that you’re in the national combine so I had three months. It makes you think, ‘what if I had started a month earlier?’ I’m happy with what I got and I’m having a good time while I’m doing it.”

Ottawa defensive back Jackson Bennett continued his impressive day, leading all non-linemen with 22 reps on the bench, tied with Western linebacker Jean-Gabriel Poulin.

Calgary offensive lineman Ryan Scenious was also part of a three-way tie for third.

Laval running back Christopher Amoah, after running a solid 40 in the morning, showed a little bit of muscle as well, finishing second among running backs with 18 reps.

Leading all receivers with 18 reps was regional combine invite and another Laval product in Marco Dubois.

And after an impressive morning in the 40-yard dash, short shuttle and three-cone drill, Daniel Petermann continued to test well with 17 reps on the bench.

The numbers Saturday may not leap off the page at first glance — 28 as a high nearly pales in comparison to some past benchmarks — but CFL.ca’s Marshall Ferguson called the first day of testing an impressive one.

“The athletic level of the group that’s been brought to Winnipeg is top notch,” said Ferguson. “They’re impressive for a number of reasons depending on the position group, but there are a lot of positives in this draft class and that’s coming out as we go through the weekend.”

For Shepley, the hope is now to parlay an impressive first day of testing into the one-on-ones on Sunday.

Shepley will be under the microscope when he takes on some of the top defensive linemen in a high-intensity, one vs. one setting.

“I’m just excited to get the pads on and start hitting,” said Shepley. “It’s uncommon. You always watch the NFL combine leading up to this and they don’t have pads on. You wish they did.

“It’s good to be in the CFL combine where you strap the pads on . . . and show them how you play football rather than how far you can jump and how fast you can run.”

Testing continues on Sunday morning with the broad and vertical jumps at 10 a.m. ET, followed by positional drills and one-on-ones at 12 p.m. ET. The combine is expected to wrap up by 3:30 p.m. ET.