Don Landry
CFL.ca
Reach for the sky, young football hopeful. Take one giant leap toward your future. CFL decision makers are keeping a close eye on you and for some, the vertical and broad jumps are the most telling of the tests you’re being put through this weekend.
Facing that kind of scrutiny, it must be very pleasing to meet it with a personal best. Even more satisfying when you come off a bad injury to do it.
Saskatchewan Huskies’ defensive back Keenan MacDougall, who missed all of last season with a partially torn quadriceps tendon, led all broad jumpers with sensational mark of 10 feet, 7 and a half inches, half an inch better than he’d ever done before.
That, in fact, was the farthest distance travelled by any of the hopefuls at the CFL’s E-Camp for draft eligible players, being held at the Park Hyatt Hotel in downtown Toronto.
“This past season I had a knee injury which kind of prevented me from doing much until about eight weeks ago,” he said. “I’d just been doing rehab and physio and it kind of led into more specific stuff. When I got the invite (to E-Camp), it was kind of a surprise that I even got invited. I decided to go and make the most of it.”
When asked if he found it amazing that he was able to accomplish such a thing with limited work out time, MacDougall shrugged it off.
“I don’t know, it is what it is. Adrenaline was kind of pumping, so, maybe that had something to do with it, too.”
MacDougall and St. Francis Xavier defensive back Dylan Hollohan were the stars of the great leaping derby, finishing one-two in both categories. Hollohan came in just two inches short of MacDougall in the broad jump, but got him in the vertical, claiming the title with a jump of 42 and a half inches, one inch higher than second place MacDougall.
“As a young guy I played a lot of basketball and volleyball, so that was a nice little foundation for me,” answered Hollohan, when asked how he came by his talent for jumping.
“Those are definitely personal bests for me. I had a great day.”
Hollohan’s pleased, but not getting carried away. He knows there’s much more to impressing CFL scouts than just being able to launch.
“They want to see that you can do everything. Put up a reasonable number of reps on the bench, do the explosive tests well, run well and show your quickness. At the end of the day you’ve gotta go and play football in the one-on-ones and do well there.”
Indeed, a full picture can’t be painted until all the data is in. However, at least one CFL general manager thinks these two tests may just be a little more telling than the others.
“Yes, in my view. That’s one opinion of many,” Edmonton’s Eric Tillman said with a laugh. “None of us have cornered the market on wisdom and there are different approaches and different views as to what’s significant.”
Tillman feels that tests can only take you so far in the evaluation of a blue chip football prospect. He’s a firm believer in the character of a person and how they play the game, even if their test scores aren’t quite so eye-popping.
He’s of the mind that how a prospective player performs in the interview can mean the most.
Having said that, Tillman was watching with great interest as draft hopefuls were coiling and springing to hurtle their bodies skyward.
According to Tillman, the broad jump points to among the most important qualities a football player can possess, and it’s something Hollohan mentioned. Explosiveness.
“You want to find out about explosiveness and tests like these give you a real indication of that. What you’re trying to do is identify athleticism. I think the broad jump is a real indicator of explosiveness and that’s a huge part in being able to be successful.”
That goes, not just for receivers and defensive backs, whom you’d assume would most need leaping ability in order to do their jobs effectively.
“Explosiveness (for an offensive lineman) is a key element of being successful,” Tillman assures us.
Mount Allison Guard Mike Filer, a late addition to the camp roster, had the loftiest vertical among offensive linemen, topping out at 28 inches.
Filer’s quite a specimen. Although he wasn’t as impressive in the bench press competition as top ranked Ben Heenan of the University of Saskatchewan, he can still move a load. You can see video of him, on YouTube, clean lifting 325 pounds and squat lifting 630 pounds. Heenan was tops in the broad jump, at 8 feet, 3 inches.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Simon Fraser’s Justin Capiciotti served notice that he has the most explosiveness in the defensive lineman category.
He flung his body a very impressive 10 feet, 3 inches in the broad jump to lead the way. That’s just 7 and a half inches off the camp record, and that was set by a receiver (York’s Brian Nugent, in 2002), much lighter than the 245 pounds Capiciotti carries.
He was also the top DL in the vertical, with a leap of 35.5 inches. Judging by Tillman’s standards, looks like the kid has the required spring in his step.
Of the three quarterbacks being tested Kyle Graves of Acadia caught the most sky, with a vertical leap of 31 inches. As well, he sailed 9 feet, 6 inches to take the broad jump crown.
In the receivers category, Ismael Bamba of Sherbrooke and Laurier’s Shamawd Chambers both jumped a distance of 10 feet, 4 inches. Johnny Aprile, of Queen’s had the top vertical, 39.5 inches.
Western running back Nathan Riva had a 36 inch vertical and a broad jump of 10 feet to win both categories.
Laval’s Frederic Plesius was tops in linebackers, with a vertical of 38 inches and a broad jump of 9 feet, 8.5 inches.
