THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — This weekend will be the biggest job interview of Shomari Williams’ young life.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., will be among 56 top Canadian university players attending the CFL’s annual evaluation camp. Williams and the other prospects will go through their paces under the watchful eyes of officials from the league’s eight teams as they gather stats and personal information in preparation for the Canadian college draft May 2.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Williams said Friday. “It’s very important for me to do well this weekend.
“I want to show (CFL teams) I’m a good football player and more important I’m a good person and someone who can represent their club and be an ambassador to the CFL. That’s the one lasting impression I’m going to try and make on each club I meet with.”
The six-foot-two, 236-pound rush end – projected as a linebacker in the CFL – certainly turned heads in 2009. After three seasons at the University of Houston, Williams transferred to Queen’s and helped the Gaels capture their first Vanier Cup title since 1992.
CFL officials took notice.
Williams is currently ranked fourth by the CFL’s amateur scouting bureau after starting 11 spots lower. The bureau consists of league scouts, GMs and player-personnel directors who annually grade the draft-eligible Canadian college prospects.
But not all the top prospects will be there.
Five players among the top-15 ranked prospects are currently playing south of the border – including top-ranked John Bender of Cochrane, Alta., a hulking six-foot-eight, 325-pound offensive lineman at Nevada. They still have NCAA eligibility remaining and are expected to return to school this fall.
The CFL camp certainly doesn’t have the stature of last month’s NFL combine, a week-long showcase featuring over 300 top U.S. college prospects being poked, prodded and tested at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. What’s more, the tests and drills are performed under a media spotlight as they’re broadcast live and the players’ results are dissected daily.
By comparison, the CFL evaluation camp will begin Saturday in the ballroom of a downtown Toronto hotel. In the morning session, prospects will undergo medicals, hand-arm measurements, standing reach and flexibility tests, as well as a test to see how many times they can bench press 225 pounds.
Then on Saturday afternoon, players will return for height and weight measurements as well as the vertical and standing jumps.
The camp shifts to the bubble at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre on Sunday as players don equipment and perform a variety of on-field drills. And they’ll definitely be under pressure to perform as if their draft position depended on it because, for the most part, it could.
“When we get there we’ve looked at video from where they played so we have a pretty good idea of them (draft prospects),” said Ken Miller, the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach and vice-president of football operation. “But a person can move up pretty dramatically by how he performs there.
“If his quickness and agility are better than what we thought and if at the personal interview the person demonstrates character and discipline and motivation . . . he can bounce up significantly.”
Or drop.
“It depends on the position but say if an offensive lineman only does three or four reps on the bench press, unless there is some declared reason for that it would mean they haven’t been in a weight room,” Miller said. “If you’re a lineman and you don’t have strength then you’re probably not going to be able to play that position.
“If a player just demonstrates he just doesn’t have the skill he needs to do it on a regular basis, it could drop him.”
The ‘Riders will be well represented with upwards of 10 representatives at the camp, and with good reason. The defending West Division champions have two first-round picks in this year’s draft (second and fourth overall), meaning they have a good chance of adding two quality players to an already solid roster.
And the ‘Riders have a definite idea of what positions they’ll be watching closely.
“Historically offensive linemen have had the greatest carry over so if there’s an absolute standout in the offensive line even though we have outstanding depth on our line that might be something we consider strongly,” Miller said. “We would like to find a linebacker, we would like to find a defensive lineman to help our ratio and rotation on defence.”
But Miller said he and other CFL officials are often as interested in a player’s character as they are in his physical ability.
“It’s a combination of the two because there are a lot great physical specimens who for whatever reason aren’t able to take those skills and use them at this level,” he said. “And there seems to be other people who don’t seem to have the skills but because of their work ethic and determination really rise to the top and become good.”
Williams remains unfazed.
“I’m just approaching it that in all the testing and drills I want to do well,” he said. “I’m not so much trying to compete against everybody else as I am just wanting to make sure I get a personal best in every event I do.
“I still want to perform the best I can but I’m more worried about what I do and how I can better myself. I’m not apprehensive. I’m loose and excited.”
Like all draft prospects, Williams has spent the off-season training and preparing himself for a pro career. But at the urging of his agent, Montreal-based Darren Gill, Williams has worked out with Joe Eppele, a highly regarded offensive lineman from Washington State University.
Williams and Eppele didn’t know each other when they started training together, but have become friends. Like Williams, the six-foot-eight, 315-pound Eppele, of Brackendale, B.C., will attend this weekend’s camp.
“Joe is a great guy and it was definitely good . . . he got to push me and I got to push him,” Williams. “And we’ve definitely become good friends.
“It’s been a good experience meeting him.”
