With the CFL’s annual Combine just around the corner, bclions.com took 10 minutes or so to sit with the club’s director of football operations and player personnel Neil McEvoy and talk about the week ahead.
Neil will travel to both Edmonton and Montreal on March 7 and 9 for Regional Combines before joining Wally Buono, Geroy Simon and offensive line coach Dan Dorazio in Toronto for the main go-around of CFL hopefuls.
“It’s a fun time of year,” notes McEvoy. “Looking at tape for weeks on end starts to wear on a person, so getting out and seeing prospects in person is a welcome change over the past couple months.”
The value of the Regional Combines continues to grow as a number of potential CFL Draft selections have seen their invitation to Edmonton or Montreal result in a trip to Toronto at the end of the week which in turn sees their value go from a possible ‘consideration’ to ‘likely selection.’
“A great example of a guy who was on our radar is
Dexter Janke who played at the University of Saskatchewan and then for the Okanagan Sun,” recalls McEvoy. “He is a talented player who I thought might slip under the radar, but once he ran 4.57 in Edmonton I knew he was going to get a lot of attention.”
McEvoy was proven correct when Janke parlayed his showing in Edmonton into a National Combine invitation and another effective workout. The Calgary Stampeders were impressed enough to take him in the fifth round in last year’s CFL Draft.
“We would have taken him in the next round for sure.”
While the addition of Regional Combines over the past couple years has helped uncover a few gems in advance of the Toronto gathering, McEvoy has learned that there is sometimes more than meets the eye when it comes evaluating both the performance on the field as well as the one in the interview room.
“I can think of a number of guys who had some very compelling measurables, but turned a number of people off when it came to the interview process. We’re obviously looking for exceptionally skilled football players but we’re not going to bring a guy in here that doesn’t fit our philosophy or expectations as a person.”
So if it’s safe to say that you can blow it during the interview, can the opposite be said about players who might make themselves a more attractive prospect by acing it?
“I’m not sure we’ve ever been so impressed by a guy in the interview room that we’ve moved him up on our draft board, but we’ve certainly had our opinions of certain guys as a package confirmed in one direction or another.”
Can a guy be given the benefit of the doubt if his skills warrant a hard look even if the interview leaves something to be desired?
“Let’s face it, we’re tasked with doing one thing each and every year and that’s to build a championship football team with the best possible players. You have to have an open mind in this process and remember these guys are young, they will mature and evolve as men. The interview is part of the process just like running the 40.”
Another challenge for teams in the three-down circuit when it comes to the draft is that late-round surprises are rare. The Richard Sherman’s of the NFL world (5th round, 154th overall) are the exception not the rule and their draft day tumble can arguably be attributed to the sheer numbers involved when 32 teams make selections over seven rounds (plus or minus any previous picks exchanged in trades). Mistakes are made, guys slip through the cracks to later rounds or aren’t drafted at all – see Cam Wake.
Seven rounds and nine teams in the CFL selecting exclusively Canadian players from the CIS and NCAA means that roughly 150 to 200 top players are going to be evaluated to varying degrees before approximately 63 or so players are selected in May.
“The pool of Canadian talent is obviously smaller than the American one based on the number of guys playing the sport, but the ratio on our respective teams is completely the opposite of the available talent pool. That’s a challenge and it demonstrates how important the CFL Draft is each year.”
Not only that, but with the unprecedented amount of interest from NFL teams in Canadian-born players recently, the access to some of Canada’s elite is not just a nine-team battleground.
“Take Canada’s interest in hockey and multiply that value by a thousand or more; that’s the interest football in the United States and not just at the pro level. No other sports entity comes close, so the competition for the best players regardless of where they are born is simply a case of economics.”
The Canadian ratio can work in many CFL team’s favor however when it comes to offering something the NFL cannot: longevity.
“The average football career in the U.S. is about three years or basically one contract. Once guys start getting close to that second contract then you begin to see them getting replaced unless they have become significant players on any given team. People need to understand that a lot of guys get cut in the NFL each season based solely on their contract or how close they are to being eligible for a pension when they retire. It’s not always a case of getting beat out for a spot.”
When it comes to talented Canadian players, a very lucrative career in the CFL is a reality. Likely earning a six-figure contract over a six-month season when your second contract comes around is the norm for many.
“I don’t know many 25 or 26 year-old college grads who have two years of experience in a given career and then stand to earn something close to or north of 100k and also get winters off. So yes, I believe we offer a very valuable opportunity.”
Starting next week, opportunity will be on the front step for some standout Canadian football players. Let the knocking begin.