Bert Faibish
CFL.ca
As morning broke on the second day of workouts, 54 athletes peeked out of their windows and thanked their lucky stars.
The fact that Bloor Street in Toronto had been replaced with snow and slush was of no consequence, because all of E-Camp Sunday’s drills would be going on under the dome at the University of Toronto.
The first group to take the field were the E-Camp behemoths, the offensive and defensive linemen.
If yesterday was about measurements and weight, today was a chance to showcase your skills.
Linemen from both sides of the ball were given the opportunity to go head-to-head against one another, surrounded on all sides by coaches and scouts from all eight CFL teams.
“With everyone watching, this is really your chance to just go out there and play ball,” said Montreal’s Gregory Alexandre.
“Beating guys one-on-one was important for me because I feel like I’m at my best as a pass-rushing three technique.”
-Gregory Alexandre, DL, Montreal
Alexandre was one of a handful of players who turned heads with his dominant performance in the one-on-one portion of Sunday’s drills.
“Coming into this weekend the one-on-ones were my main focus and after today I hope that my name rose up some people’s boards,” said Alexandre.
“Beating guys one-on-one was important for me because I feel like I’m at my best as a pass-rushing three technique,” he added.
Another player that may have improved his stock among teams in attendance was Bishop’s product, defensive end Mathieu Boulay, who topped all defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.84.
“In the drills today I really wanted to show my speed and explosiveness off the edge, and my desire to get to the quarterback so I feel like I accomplished that,” said Boulay.
“To be honest I was expecting a slightly lower time but its still the top in my group and that was a goal of mine coming into the camp,” he said.
As a Canadian defensive end, Boulay knows that he faces an uphill battle for a roster spot, but there are other ways for him to contribute to a team.
“As a Canadian its tough to get a spot on the D-line, it’s normally an import position,” admitted Boulay.
“I’ve played a lot of Special Teams in my career and I know that’s one way for me to earn my place on a roster,” he added.
Other players took Sunday as an opportunity to reaffirm their place on draft boards in the eyes of scouts in attendance.
Offensive lineman Scott Mitchell looked the part of a top pick as he turned away bullrushes and swim moves from defensive linemen, but he wasn’t the only one.
After leading his group in both the vertical and broad jump, Western Ontario’s Brendan Dunn followed that up with a solid performance against the defensive line in the drill portion and the best 40 time amongst offensive linemen with a 5.24.
“They told us we had to try reps at tackle and guard so I struggled a bit inside but I thought my tackle reps went really well,” said Dunn.
“One-on-ones went well, I got some good punches in and launched some guys off of me so I feel really good,” he added.
After a grueling three days of interviews and drills, Dunn is satisfied that he left everything out on the field.
“They really ran us today before we even started one-on-ones but I’m happy with my performance, I know that I did my best and gave it my all.”
Saturday’s events are a good way to gauge potential among prospects but Sunday is the chance to really get noticed. Regardless of numbers from Saturday, it’s the guys who perform on Sunday whose names may get called earlier.
