Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
The CFL Combine presented by New Era has arrived!
It’s where the top prospects can solidify themselves as a player to be drafted early or a rising star can be found through the grind of interviews, numerous physical testing and on field drills.
Over the last three years we have seen players go from outside the top ranked athletes to landing in the first round. We’ve also seen those who were highly ranked start sliding down when the draft came around due to concern over what they saw in one-on-one drills at the Combine.
This is the ultimate job interview for the future Canadian stars of the CFL and it’s where it all started for these combine graduates, who all had different experiences and provide a good lesson that it’s not only what you do this week that matters.
CFL COMBINE presented by New Era
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We’ll circle back to the remote combine that was held in 2021.
Instead of all the in-person testing, players were submitting their videos and numbers to CFL headquarters and team personnel while also holding virtual interviews with the nine teams ahead of the draft.
The two most notable players from the 2021 virtual combine have to be Ben Hladik and Peter Nicastro.
While Hladik saw his ranking slightly sag leading into the draft, the BC Lions were impressed enough to have the steal of the draft, picking him 22nd overall. If you’re re-drafting today, he’d be a top three selection after a breakout year as linebacker for the Lions in 2023.
The other player from 2021’s virtual combine is someone who clearly grabbed the attention of the Toronto Argonauts; offensive lineman Peter Nicastro. His numbers in the 3-cone drill and the shuttle were tops of the offensive lineman, as were his bench press reps.
Nicastro went from unranked going into the draft to a first round selection (seventh overall) of the Toronto Argonauts. He went on to become an East Division All-Star in 2021 and has become a major piece to the Argonauts interior offensive line.
The yield coming out of the 2022 CFL Combine was far greater with some of the biggest up and coming Canadian talents in the CFL.
Montreal linebacker Tyrell Richards solidified himself as the Alouettes choice for top pick in the CFL draft that year, while others rose up draft boards and are starting to become key figures for the organizations who drafted them.
Of course, there were no two greater stories, or should I say four, when CFL teams were seeing double with the Philpot and Ford twins at the combine and both brother combos impressed.
Tre Ford wowed Elks general manager and head coach Chris Jones with his athleticism enough to take the quarterback in the first round of the CFL draft and in 2023, we really saw what this athletically gifted quarterback can do to defenders in the CFL.
His brother Tyrell was equally impressive and athletic skillset has taken him from a CFL Draft pick in 2022 to getting NFL opportunities last year.
Then you have the duo the Alouettes and Stampeders are excited about seeing grow in 2024 after injuries have caused the Philpot twins to lose some playing time.
The Philpots came out of the 2022 CFL Combine with some questions over their testing numbers but the film didn’t lie in U SPORTS and the film isn’t lying when they’ve been able to hit the field in the CFL. They are going to be an issue for defenders in the years to come in the CFL as they were in some of the one-on-one drills at the combine two years ago.
Tyson Philpot went from CFL Combine participant in 2022 to Grey Cup champion in 2023 (Andrew Lahodynskyj/CFL.ca)
But I also want to highlight two of the steals of the draft in 2022 and how you have to be aware of not just judging an athlete based on how they perform at the combine.
Defensive back Jayden Dalke and receiver Kiondre Smith didn’t exactly steal the show at the CFL Combine in 2022 and likely saw a bit of their stock fall.
However, Dalke has since become a player in Saskatchewan that they love to put on the field because of his pure nose to the football and extremely fearless play which is something you can’t test at the combine. And Kiondre Smith took a huge jump from his rookie season to going for over 700 yards in year two as he refines his route running and is showing a bit more foot speed than what the scouts saw at the combine two years ago.
It’s a good reminder that what the CFL scouts and coaches will really evaluate you on is what kind of effort and impression you give them at training camp.
Last year’s combine is likely going to bare a little more fruit in 2024 as those players get an entire off-season after their rookie seasons to refine their training after a year of experiencing pro football.
But I have my eye out for three players who did show well at the 2022 combine.
Lake Korte-Moore and Michael Brodrique wowed CFL scouts at the combine and the Roughriders and Elks were not going allow them to fall outside of the top three because of it.
These two defenders didn’t get a lot of defensive reps in 2023 for their CFL teams but it can take a year or two for these young Canadian prospects to figure it out.
I’ll never forget how second overall pick Cameron Judge went from spot duty defender to now one of the best Canadian linebackers in the CFL over one off-season.
And the third player is a CFL Combine super star last year, who unfortunately suffered the worst kind of fate at the combine … an injury.
University of Saskatchewan’s Charlie Ringland had people doing a double take until he went down with a season-ending injury before he even got drafted. He fell down the draft board until the BC Lions selected him 43rd overall in the fifth round.
But as a top performer from the 2023 combine, I’m hoping we see the hard hitting, hard working Ringland arrive on scene in the CFL as the top prospect he was showing on the field a year ago.
