THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — He’s listed as an offensive lineman but Joe Eppele certainly doesn’t look the part.
At six-foot-eight and 309 pounds, Eppele is a lot longer and leaner than the majority who play along the front wall. He sports a muscular, ripped physique with broad shoulders and V-tapered back and his waist is noticeably devoid of the many extra pounds many offensive lineman traditionally carry.
And a clear indication of Eppele’s lean look came Saturday during the CFL evaluation camp when the veins in the former Washington State star’s muscular biceps appeared as if they were about to burst through his skin as he got himself ready to perform a drill.
“I’ve always been told I look like a defensive lineman or tight end,” Eppele said. “Every time I tell someone I’m an offensive lineman they want to know what’s the heck is going on with my weight thinking I’m too skinny.
“But I weight in at 309 pounds so I feel comfortable with my weight.”
Having a lanky frame does allow the 22-year-old native of Brackendale, B.C., the luxury of being able to add extra weight easily. That’s something that will make him an attractive pro pick when CFL officials conduct the league’s Canadian college draft May 2.
So, too, will his versatility. Over his college career, Eppele played both tackle positions as well as right guard. With CFL teams only allowed to dress 42 players per game, such flexibility gives coaches many more options.
“It (bouncing around the offensive line) was frustrating at times when it was happening,” Eppele said. “But now that I’ve got it under my belt I feel a lot more comfortable on the field because I understand what other positions are doing and what they have to do as well to get their job done.
“I think it helps me get my job done knowing what they have to do.”
Then again, CFL coaches and GMs are already very well aware of Eppele’s vast physical potential. He’s currently ranked 11th by the league’s scouting bureau but has dropped seven spots from earlier in the year. Still, he’s regarded as a blue-chip prospect in what’s considered to be a deep talent pool.
“He’s very impressive physically,” said Toronto Argonauts head coach Jim Barker. “When you meet him his body shape is good.
“At Washingon State he was in an offensive system that’s similar to the CFL. He has a lot of things you look in a perspective offensive lineman.”
Eppele and the other 50-plus draft prospects were measured and weighed Saturday, then put through a series of agility and strength drills under the watchful eye of coaches and GMs from all eight CFL teams.
Eppele performed quite well, finishing fourth overall and tops among offensive linemen by bench-pressing 225 pounds 28 times. He was second overall in the vertical jump (36 inches) and registered a respectable broad jump of eight feet 4.5 inches.
Barker, for one, was pleased with Eppele’s performance in the bench press.
“It tells me he’s a guy who’s been working out hard,” Barker said. “He helps himself incredibly that way because if he throws up 12 or 13 for a guy as big as he is, you have someone who maybe hasn’t worked as hard as he needs to in order to be successful in this league. That’s passing the first test.
“Now, we haven’t interviewed him yet and we’ll know a lot more about him after that. (On Sunday) he’ll go 1-on-1 against the best pass rushers this draft has and there are some good ones. It’s a bonus for us because with this camp being in Toronto our coaches coach these guys so we’ll get a chance to coach him and see if he’s a guy will fit what we want.”
But the highlight Saturday was Wilfrid Laurier’s Michael Montoya’s performance in the bench press. The five-foot-10, 236-pound running back from Burlington, Ont., raised eyebrows with a camp-record 40 reps.
It was the best of a number of impressive lifts in the bench, with five players registering 25 or more reps.
And that’s impressive considering four of the top-rated offensive linemen – including top-ranked John Bender of Nevada – didn’t attend the camp. That’s because they’re returning to school in the U.S. in the fall.
That could work in Eppele’s favour in May because the Argos hold the first overall pick – one of three the club has in the first 11 selections. They’d want to use the No. 1 selection on a player who could come in immediately and contend for a starting position.
And shoring up the offensive line remains a priority for Barker.
“He certainly is,” Barker said when asked if Eppele was a player of interest for Toronto. “But I think in this camp there’s a lot of guys that there’s an interest in.
“In terms of the first pick overall I think there are five or six guys you could potentially look at and any one of them would be quality picks.”
Eppele, for one, would welcome the opportunity to suit up for an Argos club rebuilding after posting a CFL-worst 3-15 record last season and looking to return to the league playoffs for the first time in three years.
“I’d love to play here,” he said. “I have a lot of family in Toronto and my father is in Newfoundland so he’d be able to come to game.
“I’d be more than happy to put pads on every day for any team that’s crazy enough to pay me to play this sport. I’ve moved around a lot … and am just looking forward to the opportunity to move to a new city and meet new people.”
