Kent Ridley
CFL.ca
Run! Run Faster!
Day 2 of the CFL Evaluation Camp presented by Reebok had a great sub story that was all about the speed. It was the high profile event of the testing weekend with a focus on the 40 yard dash. It’s grown in popularity over the years and once again the prospects didn’t disappoint.
You could feel the electricity grow as the progression of the day took hold. A decent sized crowd formed to observe the events going on inside the University of Toronto sports bubble as the St. Patrick’s Day parade carried on outside.
Once again it was Bishop’s University taking the top spot as another E-Camp record fell. Steven Turner ran into the spotlight with a blazing 4.31 time in the 40. His outstanding time was partnered with a 4.03 in the shuttle, just a blink of an eye behind Jimmy Allin’s 3.97 last year. Taurean Allen did his best to chase down Turner with a 4.44 in the 40 and a 4.04 in the shuttle. These two will be fun to watch battling head-to-head in the future.
The one on one drills were especially entertaining as first the linemen went through their paces. Defensive linemen tried out their best moves against their offensive counterparts with some great footwork on both sides. Everton Black out of Manitoba showed a lot of quickness coming through the line.
The next group began with a blocking drill for the running backs who attempted to stop the hard charging linebackers. Another Manitoba Bison, Matt Henry, was up for the challenge with several of the linebackers like Concordia’s Cory Greenwood and Queen’s product Shomari Williams using their best moves to get past the blocking back.
The session that followed saw the Canadian QBs get a chance to make the pro throws to a bunch of sure handed receivers. McGill’s Charles-Antoine Sinotte showed that he’s a guy that just hates to see the ball on the turf and stretched out for a few catches that really looked like they would go incomplete. Shawn Gore from Bishop’s and Akeem Foster from St. FX used some great cuts to gain separation from their defenders in this offensive slanted drill.
There were a lot of great performances by the E-Camp players that really showed why they were the top invitees to the weekend event. And for all of you football fans, do yourself a favour and get out to a CIS game this fall to see the next crop in full game speed.
