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Eleven initially uninvited players to watch at the national CFL combine
There's always been a surprising amount of depth of Canadian football talent, and the CFL has realized this in recent years. Formerly, promising players who weren't invited to the official combine for one reason or another had to show their skills off at alternative events such as Duane Forde's National Invitational Combine. The CFL began to hold its own regional combines in 2013, and that's led to a lot of success over the last two seasons. It's likely to do so again this weekend at the national combine, as the CFL has brought in 11 players from regional combines to compete on the main stage. That says a lot about how valuable regional combines have become.
This all started in 2013 with two official regional combines in Quebec City and Edmonton. Those events produced some excellent invitees to the national combine in Kris Robertson (eventually taken 11th overall in that year's draft by Winnipeg, currently with Saskatchewan), Jermaine Gabriel (taken 17th by Toronto, still with them) and Michael Klassen (taken 32nd overall by Montreal, still with them). That success prompted the league to expand to three regional combines in 2014, which produced 14 invitees to the full national combine, and those invitees generally did quite well at the main event and in the draft, encouraging the CFL to go on with the regional combines. They held three again this year, in Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto, and the 11 players they've brought in from those all look to have a good chance at impressing this weekend. Here's a breakdown of those guys:
Kahlen Branning, defensive back, Regina Rams (CIS): Branning bested all Edmonton competitors with a 40-yard-dash time of 4.55 seconds, and he finished second in the vertical jump with a 38-inch leap. He posted 11 tackles in six games for the Rams this year.
Dexter Jahnke, defensive back, Okanagan Sun (CJFL): Jahnke recorded a 4.57-second 40 time, the second-best of anyone in Edmonton, and he also finished second amongst DBs in the three-cone drill with a time of 7.57 seconds. Last year in the CJFL, he had 47 passes defensed, three interceptions, 13 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Auston Johnson, linebacker, South Dakota Coyotes (NCAA Division I FCS): Johnson notched a event-high 29 bench press reps and added a 4.82-second 40, second-best amongst linebackers. He had an impressive career at South Dakota, including a 2013 honourable mention to the all-conference team.
Quinn Lawlor, offensive lineman, Brigham Young Cougars (NCAA Division I FBS): Lawlor posted 24 bench press reps, second-best amongst linemen, and his 31.5-inch vertical was best amongst linemen. He didn't play much with BYU last year, appearing in just one game, but played in six games as a junior.
Anthony Coady, defensive back, Montreal Carabins (CIS): This combine was dominated by members of the CIS-champion Carabins, as three of the four players who advanced played for the Université de Montréal. Coady posted a 7.02-second time in the three-cone-drill, second amongst defensive backs, and generally excelled in the other tests as well. He recorded 20 tackles and an interception for the Carabins last year.
Jean-Samuel Blanc, defensive lineman, Montreal Carabins (CIS): Blanc posted a three-cone-drill time of 7.42 seconds, best amongst defensive linemen. He also placed second amongst his position group in the 40, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump and shuttle run. He had 22.5 tackles, four sacks and an interception in last year's regular season.
Mikhail Davidson, receiver, Montreal Carabins (CIS): Davidson posted an impressive 4.59-second 40 and also did well in the shuttle and the three-cone drill. He led the Carabins with 43 regular-season catches for 769 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and also added nine rushes for 72 yards and a touchdown.
William Langlais, running back, Sherbrooke Vert et Or (CIS): Langlais led all running backs in Montreal with a 4.08-second time in the shuttle run, which was second amongst all participants in all regional combines. He didn't put up many stats with Sherbrooke, but may have some potential.
Melvin Abankwah, running back, Saint Mary's Huskies (CIS): Abankwah finished top-five in Toronto in everything but the bench, with his 4.69-second 40 time looking particularly good. He led the Huskies with 534 rushing yards and two touchdowns last year.
Matt Rea, running back, Michigan State Spartans (NCAA Division I FBS): Rea posted 29 bench press reps, tops in Toronto and tied for the week lead with Johnson. He also tied for second in the three-cone drill with a time of 7.12 seconds and was fourth in the shuttle. Rea was born in London, Ontario, but has spent most of his life in Michigan. He appeared in three games for the Spartans as a fullback this year, but only decided to take a chance at the pros after finding out he now counts as a Canadian in the CFL thanks to the new import rule. That may work out well for him.
Louis Mensah, linebacker, Fort Lewis College Skyhawks u(NCAA Division II): Mensah didn't finish top-five overall in any of the drills in Toronto, but still managed to impress evaluators. He played mostly as a running back at Fort Lewis, but was a versatile one. We'll see if he can do well at the full combine.
It's impressive how much Canadian football talent is out there, and the growth of these regional combines is a reflection of that. Each of these combines is finding substantial talent, suggesting they'll be around for some time. We'll see how these players perform in Toronto, but given the past few years, it wouldn't be surprising to see at least some of them excel and wind up going reasonably high in the draft.
