CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — As the sun rises over Toronto on Saturday morning, 59 of Canada’s top collegiate football prospects will officially take the next step towards becoming professional football players.
For many of them, E-Camp is a way to show CFL scouts how they fare in various types of situations. Whether it’s physically, intellectually or mentally, there will be plenty of watchful eyes on them at all moments of the weekend.
For a select group of prospects, however, the glare from the eyes of general managers and scouts from all eight teams might seem a little brighter than usual.
In 2011, former prospects and current CFLers such as Henoc Muamba, Anthony Parker and Nathan Coehoorn went through it all before each of them were selected in the first round of the draft.
All three went on to make their respective rosters, and enjoyed solid rookie CFL seasons.
This season, all eyes will be on new players who will all be vying for the opportunity to play for a CFL team.
Highlighting the new crop is McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan, who arrives at E-Camp following an extremely successful 2011 campaign.
Quinlan completed 64.7 per cent of his passes for 1,708 yards and 13 touchdowns, before leading his Marauders to a thrilling double-overtime victory over Laval at the 2011 Vanier Cup.
The 23-year old was also named MVP at each stage of McMaster’s post-season run.
On the other side of the field at the 47th Vanier Cup in Vancouver this past November was Laval Rouge et Or linebacker Frédéric Plesius.
A tenacious playmaker during his time in Laval, Plesius proved that he can deliver when it mattered in high-pressure situations.
The Laval, QC native registered five tackles and returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown during the Vanier Cup.
While Quinlan and Plesius have certainly been generating their fair-share of hype heading into the weekend, no prospect has garnered as much attention as top ranked Ben Heenan.
The University of Saskatchewan offensive lineman has been ranked no.1 on the Scouting Bureau’s Top 15 prospects list since September, and seemingly has no interest in occupying any other spot.
In 2011, Heenan participated in the East-West Shrine game, was selected as a Second Team All-Canadian, played in the Canada West All-Star game while starting all games on the offensive line for the Huskies.
One player who has seen his stock rise steadily leading up to E-Camp is Queen’s receiver Johnny Aprile.
The six-foot-three wideout enjoyed a strong season with the Gaels, averaging nearly 85 receiving yards per game.
The Toronto-born 22-year old has also found success on special teams, where he averaged 36.5 yards on 10 kick returns, good enough to lead the nation in the category.
The action gets underway bright and early on Saturday, with bench press kicking off the daily activities at 8:30 am ET.
