Christian Bender/CFL.ca
When the CFL Combine presented by New Era gets underway this week in Winnipeg, the league’s nine teams will once again get a complete view of this year’s prospects.
The combine format changed last year, with measurements and testing taking place over two days, followed by three days of practices, offensive and defensive installations and a light scrimmage to close the evaluation period out on Sunday.
The goal of the format is to let teams see the players they’re considering drafting in more than just a testing environment.
“Some teams put more value on the testing. Some teams put less value on the testing and they want to see how they play,” explained Greg Dick, the CFL’s chief football operations officer and head of Grey Cup and events.
“Having the ability for them to be on the field and competing against the top guys is huge.”
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That format, plus the in-person interviews that teams conduct with prospects during the week, work to give teams as well-rounded an impression as possible in a week’s span.
“(You can) get in-depth and see the guys more. It’s not rushed. For many years it was rushed, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get through it. Let’s get out of here, let’s do it,'” said BC Lions co-general manager and director of football operations, Neil McEvoy.
“Now at least you can see them Day 1, talk to them that night and maybe go back and see if they can learn what was given to them when you talked to them. I think it’s a lot better format now. (You) look at more guys a bit more in-depth.”
There won’t be any modifications to the format of this year’s combine as it shifts to Winnipeg, though this year’s venue — the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North — will provide a bigger playing surface that will make the week more efficient. Just as the present combine format came from team feedback in 2022, the bigger playing surface is a result of the feedback that came after the 2023 event.
“It’s a soccer facility but it’s a full 110 yards,” said Dick. “We’ll have offence and defence practice at the same time.
“That compresses the day. It reduces the hours that they’re waiting around, so that was better. And the coaches and scouts don’t have to be there all day. That was a big change and I think that will be something that we continue to do.”
Edmonton Elks GM and head coach Chris Jones, who holds the top pick in next month’s CFL Draft, said he’s liked the changes to the combine format. For an organization that prides itself on the research it puts into potential draft picks, getting a more complete view of a prospect only helps.
“I like what we’re doing. I like the direction that we’ve gone as a league,” Jones said of the combine formate.
“It allows us that little bit more of an opportunity, because we’re not like the NFL and have just expendable money to send people out. I like being able to see it firsthand and watch it. That’s the thing that I do like about it.”
Theo Grant felt he benefitted from the CFL Combine’s format last year. The Montreal Alouettes signed him to a three-year deal in January (Christian Bender/CFL.ca)
Dick looked at how both last year’s CFL Draft and Global Draft played out and felt like that increased exposure time for both teams and prospects paid off. Anthony Bennett, whom the Winnipeg Blue Bombers took in the first round last year, came to mind for Dick as just one player who he thought benefitted from the new combine format.
“I think that helped because I think they thought he was undersized,” Dick said. “They met him, he’s a good kid and I think those types of things make a difference, so I think he moved up. I think kids like Jake Kelly, the other kid that Winnipeg drafted (in the second round) … there’s a few DBs, I think, that moved further up the list.”
The format helped offensive lineman Theo Grant raise his stock, as well. He played his way into last year’s combine in Edmonton after a strong showing at the CFL Invitational Combine at the University of Waterloo. After another strong performance in Edmonton, he was named a coaches’ top pick as an offensive player. The Montreal Alouettes chose him 32nd overall in the 2023 CFL Draft and after playing out his final U SPORTS season at Queen’s in 2023, he signed a three-year contract with the Als in January.
