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Bypassed in NFL draft, could Vernon Adams and Everett Golson be headed to the CFL?

By Jamie Thomas

CHICAGO - Playing quarterback in the National Football League is akin to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. And that’s even if you’ve been through a highly-regarded apprenticeship program.

Take Vernon Adams and Everett Golson, two QBs who have finished playing in highly-acclaimed NCAA programs at Oregon and Florida State, respectively. Neither player was selected during the 2016 NFL Draft on the weekend, and as of this writing, only Adams has been invited to an NFL mini-camp. 

But what about the Canadian Football League?

Both players are around the same height and weight, Adams is 5-foot-10, 200 pounds while Golson is 5-11 and 197 pounds. That puts both passers below average size for most NFL teams. 

“If Vernon Adams ever chose to come to the CFL, a team better jump all over that opportunity because he would be a star.” said a front-office member of one CFL team. 

"I think Adams is the better CFL prospect,” a source told me in an email. "He is a better passer with a more consistent touch on his passes. Adams throws with better accuracy and ball placement. Vernon is more of a dual threat and has a better feel in the pocket."

Neil McEvoy, who is the B.C. Lions director of football operations and player personnel thinks it’s not a slam dunk Adams or even Golson will head north in the immediate future.

“They’re both good athletes. Fifteen or even 10 years ago both of these guys would probably be directed to the Canadian Football League and already signed,” explained McEvoy. “But because the NFL is looking at all players and trying to fit these guys into their programs, these guys will both get a look.”

Adams is on the Lions' negotiation list and the team obviously know his strengths and weaknesses very well. 

“He’s not the biggest kid in the world but when he goes on the football field and plays, he plays at a high level. He’s athletic enough and he’s a winner wherever he’s been,” said McEvoy. “When he was at Eastern Washington they continually won, when he was at Oregon last year they won a lot of games.

“He got a little hurt (in 2015) and that’s going to be . . . his downfall. His size going up against the bigger guys may be a negative because of the fact he got hurt this year playing in the PAC-12.”

As for Golson, who didn’t receive an invite to the NFL combine, one draft guru says the three-down league is the best place at least to start.

"I think he's probably made to order for the CFL,’ Mike Mayock of the NFL Network told reporters during Golson’s pro day at the end of March. “I think he could go up there and run around and throw the football and have some fun and maybe kind of regenerate his resume a little bit.

“But he's an athletic kid with a big arm and I hope he gets an opportunity somewhere.”