CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — Regional combines kick off on Monday and with the CFL Draft officially set for May 12, GMs are busy scouting the country’s top university-level talent. We weigh in around the CFL with another edition of Checking Down.
Edmonton Eskimos
- As the Edmonton Sun‘s Gerry Moddejonge previously reported, Mike Scheper is set to become the Edmonton Eskimos’ new offensive line coach. Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal reports that it’ll happen in time for combine.
#eskimos HC Chris Jones said Scheper played and coached OL before working defences in #cfl. Said OL in #yeg will be a return to his roots.
— Chris O’Leary (@olearychris) March 20, 2015
The Eskimos surrendered the fourth fewest sacks in the league last year, while their rushing attack was football’s second best behind only the Stamps.
Calgary Stampeders
- The Stamps loaded up on young international talent this week, signing four defensive linemen, an offensive lineman, a running back and a receiver.
Six-foot-seven, 325-pound offensive lineman Cory Brandon will vie for a roster spot this training camp, as the Stampeders look to build depth on the line after losing two key starters to free agency. 23-year-old Timothy Flanders joins the Red and White after attenting 2014 training camp with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
The team also added receiver Nick Johnson, and defensive linemen Adrian Hamilton, Chris McAllister, Andrew Mahan and Risean Broussard.
- It’s hard to imagine a season any better than the one Jon Cornish had in 2014, but the 30-year-old says he plans to top last season’s results. Cornish won the CFL rushing title last year in about half a season’s work, rushing for 1,082 yards and an unheard of 7.8 yards per carry. That earned him Most Outstanding Canadian honours.
“I want to top what I did in 2013,” Cornish told Stampeders.com, the team’s official website. “That’s my goal.”
Can Cornish top last year’s accomplishments?
Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Former Riders President and CEO Jim Hopson met with the media for the last time on Thursday, recalling the ups and downs of his time with the Riders. Hopson thanked the fans and said that 2007 was a turning point for the team, a year in which it finally ended a long drought in winning the 95th Grey Cup Championship in Toronto.
The Riders appeared in three Grey Cup Championships since then, including 2013 when they won on home turf in an historic victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. For the entire press conference (in two parts), click here.
- Defensive back Macho Harris and the Riders announced that they’ve agreed to a contract extension on Friday. The 29-year-old had the best CFL season of his career in 2014, playing in 17 regular season games and registering 61 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Nic Demski told Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press that being drafted by the Bombers would be a dream come true. The University of Manitoba star pass-catcher is the fifth-ranked player in the most recent CIS Scouting Bureau rankings, but was placed in Justin Dunk’s most recent mock draft as the ninth overall pick by the Calgary Stampeders.
Demski was a four-time CIS All-Canadian with Manitoba and on top of playing as a slotback also spent time as a running back. He compares his game to the Argos’ Chad Owens, and surely the Bombers could use that explosiveness from a national whether it’s at the receiver position or out of the offensive backfield.
The Bombers own the second pick in the 2015 CFL Draft, where they’ll likely take one of the draft’s several high-ranked offensive lineman. Their second round pick (11th overall) will be the one to watch, as they’ll have plenty of additional ammo to move up if they hope to add Demski (they also have another pick in the second round).
Toronto Argonauts
- Jim Barker, Chad Owens and off-season acquisition Ricky Foley held their first media availability of the season on Friday in Toronto, as Barker discussed his team’s off-season; Owens talked about moving to Canada and spending his first off-season in Toronto; while Foley spoke about his return home to the Argos.
- Among other hot topics, Barker updated the status of Ricky Ray coming off off-season shoulder surgery. The Argos’ GM said Ray is ahead of schedule right now, although the team will know more by the end of April:
“He’s coming along great,” said Barker. “He’s actually ahead of schedule in terms of his lifting and things. We won’t know a lot until the end of April. That’ll be the time after the surgery.”
In the meantime, Barker added he’s comfortable with his young quarterbacks, particularly Trevor Harris, if needed.
“Obviously you’d love to have one of the great players in the history of this league back, but we’re not going to force him back early,” added Barker. “Ricky knows his body well and there’s nobody more diligent in terms of getting ready. When he’s ready, he’ll tell us . . .”
Ottawa REDBLACKS
- The Ottawa REDBLACKS own the number one pick in the 2015 CFL Draft, and with a bevy of top-ranked offensive linemen to choose from, the general consensus is that they’ll be going with a big man this May. The Ottawa Sun‘s Tim Baines says not so fast, as the ultra-talented Lemar Durant could swoop in.
Durant is described as a college phenom with the size (six-foot-two, 231 pounds) and speed combo to be a difference-maker on a CFL field. It’s not as common for skill position players to go first overall, but if Durant can be the kind of ratio-breaker that some claim, it shouldn’t be ruled out.
Montreal Alouettes
- The Alouettes announced on Friday the signing of Joe Thornton, an international linebacker out of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs.
The headline ‘Joe Thornton to suit up for the Alouettes’ has some doing a double take, but this is a different Joe Thornton than your hockey-playing variety. This one is pretty good at football, last year amassing 125 tackles for the Colorado Ice of the Indoor Football League (where he was named an All-Star).
Not included this week are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and BC Lions.
