Saskatchewan Knows Combines!

The event was held in the soccer facilities on the Regina Exhibition Grounds across the parking lot from Mosaic Stadium. The players combine combines medicals, physical testing in five events and then two days of drills and one on one sessions.

Not all potentially draftable players were there. Kurtis Rourke, the quarterback at Indiana and brother to BC quarterback Nathan Rourke was recovering from an ACL injury and he is expected to a mid-level NFL draft pick which means he will be a few years away from coming to the CFL and that means he will be drafted lower because of his lack of availability.

As more Canadians play football, north and south of the border, they are getting opportunities at their respective university Pro Days where the players show their skills to various scouts. Even if they don’t become starters, back ups can make as much as $31 million over four years of a five-year rookie contract. I got that figure from the news 3DownNation put out that quarterback Trey Lance, a first-round draft pick of the San Fransisco 49ers who was traded to Dallas and has not really seen any significant action, has not had the fifth year of his contract renewed in the NFL and is a free agent.

Lance was placed on the Riders negotiation list which gives the Riders exclusive first rights to speak to him if he doesn’t catch on in the NFL and wants to continue to play football.

There is a Saskatchewan connection because Trey Lance’s father was former Rider Carlton Lance, a defensive back who played for the Riders in the 1990s. The Combine weekend had a bunch of players whose fathers played in the 1980s and 1990s and suddenly I felt old.

One of the more intriguing and touching stories came from Rob Vanstone, the Rider historian who did an interview with Kaseem Ferdinand, a wide receiver from Carlton University in Ottawa whose father was former CFL running back Denny Ferdinand who played for Ottawa, Saskatchewan, and Montreal until he unfortunately died from a heart attack at age 40.

At that time Kasseem’s mother was six months pregnant with Kasseem and his twin brother who only knew their father through old game videos. Ferdinand talked with Vanstone who saw his father play like I did and when I saw Kaseem, I was reminded of how fast Ferdinand hit the line when he took the ball.

The facilities at the Exhibition grounds only allowed fans at one end of the field so unless the receivers were coming towards you, it was difficult to gauge how the players may do in a professional context. Considering how the receivers were mostly working without their regular quarterbacks, it was a good way to test to see how the receivers responded because in a professional game, you may have to play with different quarterbacks an if you can’t give those quarterbacks confidence in their ability, then they are not going to throw to you.

Kaseem Ferdinand has speed, but the two to three deeps balls aimed his way were overthrown so that was not really a good way to gauge their professional talents. Another interesting receiver was University of Saskatchewan receiver Daniel Wiebe who did very well in the 40 timings and on the cones demonstrating his speed and quickness.

The question with Wiebe is his height which is stated as 5’9” but is a bit shorter than that so how his size will do when getting hit by bigger players will be interesting. I thought Wiebe may do well on special teams returns and maybe coming out of the backfield to take short passes and translate his speed and quickness to make big yardage.

At running back, I was impressed with Ludovick Choquette from Long Island who showed some determination and broke several tackles in the running drills. I met the parents of the girlfriend of running back Brayden Stubbs from the University of Manitoba who had some good moments demonstrating his ability to run in traffic. Stubbs is apparently going back to school this fall, so teams won’t get him for a year, but the combine experience allowed Stubbs to see where he ranked and what he needed to do to improve his professional chances.

Another running back who impressed with his power and speed was Opemipo Oshinubi, a running back from the University of Alberta. Oshinubi came to the combine from Invitational Combine where he ran a 4.45 40-yard dash and has 25 reps on the bench press. That combination of speed and power is likely to make him a very nice draft pick for whatever team selects him.

Quarterback Jonathan Sendecal from University of Montreal started off the combine well, but I thought he was overtaken by Amaud Desjardins from Laval who not only has the size but demonstrated composure, especially on one drill when he dropped back to pass but almost stumbled over an Edmonton Elk assistance who cut across the field trying to take a short cut and almost injured a potential draft pick.

When it came to the offensive line, the focus of attention was the one-on-one drills with defensive linemen which drew the attention of coaches, general managers and players. While offensive lineman Erik Andersen of Western was forced to withdraw after suffering a concussion, the drills were designed to see how players would perform against elite competition because not all U Sports Football conferences have an equal pool of talented players where players could hone their talents.

The defensive linemen won most of the drills which was not a good reflection on the offensive linemen there. One offensive lineman who was built solid and had good feet was Ethan Vibert from South Dakota State who not just held his own but established his position as one not to be trifled with. Depending on what a CFL team feels needs to be reinforced, Vibert should be hearing his name called early in the draft.

Readers may be interested to know that Connor Klassen of the University of Regina Rams and hailing from Big River, acquitted himself well. Standing at 6’4”, weighing 310 pounds and getting invaluable experience with the Regina Thunder of the Prairie Junior Football Conference, Klassen playing at right tackle reduced sacks from 15 in 2023 to 5 in 2024. I can see Klassen getting picked and spending a year in apprenticeship refining his game before getting a starting spot, although with his physical and playing stats, he could probably step in right away. Klassen is a great example for young football players in northern Saskatchewan that it is possible to go from Big River High School to the CFL Combine and eventually into the CFL.

There were three defensive backs who caught my eye during the combine, Tall and lean, they struck me as potentially ideal for matching up on deep balls with tall receivers.

Nate Beauchemin of the University of Calgary is listed at 6’2” 200 pounds and is coming off a season where he had four interceptions for 167 yards in 2024 following a season where he had four interceptions for 102 yards. He was the 2024 Canada West and U Sports Defensive Player of the year and a Canada West and U Sports first team all Canadian. He looks like he can contribute right away.

Eric Cumberbatch of the University of Ottawa is listed at 6’2” and 195 pounds and his physical build reminded me of former Saskatchewan Roughrider and Toronto Argonaut defensive back Steve Dennis, who had the nickname of stickman. Cumberbatch only played four games last season, probably due to injury, so it will be interesting to see where he goes and how he fits in with his size.

Jackson Findlay of Western University is another player whose family has a long connection with the CFL. His great grandfather Stephen, his grandfather Greg, his uncle Brooks (who played for the Riders) and his father Anthony all played in the CFL. Findlay stands 6’2” and weighs 203 pounds but he wants to be a doctor and that may give some teams pause into selecting him, not knowing how long he would be a player before wanting to get into medicine (he is currently a medical sciences student). Findlay has the size and speed to be something similar to a Craig Butler type of safety, so it depends on how long he wants to play before getting into medicine, although there are players who have managed to combine playing and learning medicine.

There are a couple of other players with Saskatchewan connections worth mentioning.

One is Dolani Robinson, a 6’3” 195-pound defensive back from the University of Regina. He has the size and speed to make an impact, it will be interesting to see where teams see him lining up in their defensive secondary.

The other player is Ethan Ball, a 6-foot 190-pound defensive back whose father is former Rider play by play announcer Michael Ball. Ball was relieved of his duties as the Rider play by play guy before the 2024 season by Harvard Broadcasting, who owns CKRM, the station with the radio rights to the Riders. I kind of doubt the Riders would pick him up, but he could land with some team looking for help on special teams while he learns to play his position at the pro level.

At linebacker there were two Saskatchewan players who made things interesting. One is Chopper Hippe of the University of Regina. Originally from Lloydminster, he is 6’1” 225 and after coming over the U of R from the Edmonton Wildcats, he has been consistent although his 40 times could use some work. One of the greatest names I have heard in football, I can see him as a special team’s player and as a rotational linebacker used for blitzes since he has pretty good stats when it comes to tackles for losses.

Another player from Saskatchewan who did a lot to improve his draft ranking is Seth Hundeby from the University of Saskatchewan. He stands 6’3” weighing 245 pounds and is an engineering student, who was both a Canada West and U Sports first team all-star. He likes playing football, and anyone drafting him should contact their local engineering firms to see about offering him work in the off-season. He is big, strong, and mean, something you like to see in a linebacker.

On the defensive line there were a few players who stood out, including Jeremiah Ojo from the University of Montreal. He stands 6’3” and weighs 236 pounds and had a motor that would not quit. He is a two-time U Sport first team all Canadian and has the speed to line up on the edge and make life miserable for other teams. He will be a star wherever he lands.

Another defensive lineman who made his presence noted was Max Von Muehldorfer from Western. Von Muehldorfer stands 6’2” and weighs 285 pounds. He showed off a great motor getting excellent pressure on opposing offensive linemen and with a criminology degree will likely make an excellent police officer. I certainly would not want to mess with him.

This is an entirely subjective look at who stood out at the combine, which combined with the layout of the Combine and not getting a good look at the other side of the field where the receivers and defensive backs were playing meant I could have easily missed someone.

There is no chance the CFL missed anyone with a drone flying over the Combine field all three days and three cameras on larger scissor lifts.

The next stage for the CFL will be the draft on April 29, but how the draft shakes out will depend on the NFL draft held April 24. A fair number of the Canadian players trying out at various pro days at various American universities will be waiting to see if they get drafted, and if not, if they can get signed by teams as undrafted free agents. CFL teams will respond by drafting those players picked or signed as UDFAs in lower rounds while seeking players who can contribute right away.

A final note to all of this was news the Roughriders added former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Trey Lance to their negotiation list. Lance was drafted by the San Fransisco 49s in the first round out of South Dakota State and while he beat out Jimmy Garappolo as the starter, he was injured after six games and was later traded to Dallas when Brock Purdy, the last guy picked in the NFL draft, took over the starter’s role.

Lance made a mistake by going into the NFL draft instead of playing one more year of university football to hone his game. Lance is a mobile quarterback who can throw but has not had much game time and could use the opportunity to rotate into the game and work on his game to prove he can play quarterback.

The Riders may have a bit of an inside edge on this since Lance’s father Carlton, played for the Riders in 1993, Lance may sound a bit like the Riders bringing in Paxton Lynch, another former NFL quarterback, but his mobility and arm make it intriguing enough to see what he can do with an opportunity and the right coaching.

by Greg Urbanoski

Saskatchewan Knows Combines!

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