cfl evaluation camps 2013 thread

Alouettes de Montréal
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The CFL is now hosting a two round combine system. One will be held east in qc and the other out west somewhere. the best of those combines will be invited to Toronto for the evaluation camp weekend. I know many are interested in receivers, Laval will have four receivers at the combine. Haidara seems to be a dark horse in this year’s draft . I figure we can post relevant stuff to ecamp in this thread.

Le camp printanier de la LCF attendu

ORLANDO | Invités au camp d’évaluation de la LCF, qui se déroulera du 22 au 24 mars à Toronto, les receveurs Guillaume Rioux, Yannick Morin-Plante et Seydou Junior Haïdara profitent d’un entraînement spécifique au camp de printemps et jaugent leurs énergies avant le grand jour.

«On ne veut pas arriver brûler au camp d’évaluation, a expliqué Rioux. On participe à certains entraînements et on s’entraîne au gymnase près de l’hôtel. On pratique aussi notre t-test (déplacements verticaux). On veut mélanger les deux.

«On veut bien gérer notre utilisation, renchérit Haïdara. On décide au jour le jour ce qu’on va faire.»

En plus de garder les jambes fraîches pour le rendez-vous dans la Ville reine, les trois receveurs veulent aussi diminuer les risques de blessures. En 2008, le centre Louis-David Gagné s’était blessé à un genou, en Floride, et avait dû se contenter d’un rôle de spectateur à Toronto. Il n’avait finalement pas été repêché.

Au cours des dernières années, la situation était différente puisque le camp d’évaluation se déroulait au début mars et les joueurs du Rouge et Or sélectionnés se pointaient en Floride avec une journée de retard.

En sachant que Rioux, Morin-Plante et Haïdara ne seraient pas utilisés à outrance, le Rouge et Or souhaitait amener quelques receveurs de plus pour épargner les jambes de tout le monde. La recrue Marc-André Koolen est donc du voyage, même si rien ne lui garantit un poste au camp d’entraînement.

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Jim Popp tweeting 11 Als staff members at the CFL Combine, including Coach Hawkins and Scott Flory.

Trestman as we know did not attend in the past.

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Good place for him to meet the brotherhood…

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Great for Dan Hawkins to be there. With regards to Scott Flory, I wonder if he could be a future scout/assistant GM with the Als; reminds me of Barron Miles who was involved in these tasks, during his off-seasons.

Richard

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Jim Popp interview at the Combine:

[url=http://video.tsn.ca/videohub.aspx?dl=pipe42/latest/1/0/890691/clip/0]http://video.tsn.ca/videohub.aspx?dl=pi ... 691/clip/0[/url]

Jim seems to be enjoying his wife`s home cooking.

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Doug Brown ?@DougBrown97 10h
“@DuaneFordeTSN: ....Stefan Charles: 6'4", 324 lbs....Linden Gaydosh 6'3", 314 lbs.? You can't play D-line in the CFL @ those weights.

This tweet from Doug Brown on 2 of the top 3 d-line prospects. Both have put up impressive numbers at the combine, but as Jim Popp himself has always said, it`s what you do on the football field that holds the most importance. So are they in fact too big for the grind of the CFL game?

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I think what Brown means and is correct is at that size they would not be able to keep pace as every down starters on the defense in the CFL, pace is just too fast. However in Charles case he can lose 20 pounds with ease and Gaydosh can probably lose 5 to 10. I’d have a concern with Charles discipline. His bench was weak and body composition and reputation screams “lazy”… I think both guys are sure bets as rotation guy, Gaydosh has potential to be a ratio changer within two to three years but my guess is he will get picked up by an NFL squad as a FA signing. Also points to a weak group of olinesmen at the combine IMO.

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While offensive linemen may not be the strength of the 2013 CFL draft,there are still good offensive linemen available; in fact, I expect as many as three offensive linemen to be selected in round 1 of the upcoming CFL draft.

There are very good defensive linemen available but,unfortunately, a few will try the NFL. The players that could/should be signed as NFL free agents are: Stefan Charles,Benjamin D'Aguilar and Linden Gaydosh. Will CFL teams take a chance and select these players in round 1? Time will tell.

Unless Hamilton trades its first pick, they will select Matt Sewell OT as first player. With choice number 3,I expect the Als to select OL Corey Watman; with their fifth choice, the Als could/should select Junior DL Brent Urban or DL Jesse Joseph. Knowing that Jim Popp often comes with surprises, I wonder if LB/DB/S Mike Edem could be selected with choice number 5. Possibility.

Players that have increased their value/ranking are:

DL: Elie Ngoyi and Michael Klassen. Theseb 2 players should have been selected before end of round 3.

WRs: Michael DiCroce,Seydou Junior Haidara and Yannick Morin Plante. By the end of round 3, these three players will have been selected. I do hope that one of these three players will be selected by the Als.

RBs/FBs: Matthew Burke,Isaac Dell and Brendan Gillanders. Should be selected in rounds 4 to 6.

Richard

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I think Montreal is going to pick on the defensive side of the ball. I think they most likely go after Redshirts. Lets face it we have Bourke,Woodruff,Jourdain,Flory,Perrett,Bomben,Matte,White,Barrette. That’s NINE and we can only protect 7 Non imports in the draft. Drafting Offensive linesmen would be drafting for Ottawa plain and simple. I think the players of interest for us are in no particular order.

List might look something like this.

Gaydosh
Charles
Aguillar
Joseph
Mulumba
Prime
Lokombo
Edem
Robertson
Urban

Once these guys are gone I think the Als may look at some of the local receivers like Plante,Haidara,Rioux. Might even grab LeMarquand or other local Ottawa kid as a favour to Ottawa for some future consideration, as Ottawa can only draft NCAA juniors.

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Popp a dit qu'il repêchait le meilleur joueur disponible susceptible de demeurer avec l'équipe. Il garde les choix "risqués" pour la fin.

Bien que l'équipe ait besoin de renfort canadien à la défensive, il peut arriver avec une surprise, comme il a fait avec Lavoie l'an dernier.

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Four of the five highest ranked players in the upcoming 2013 CFL draft are defensive players; anyone of these played would be a welcomed addition to the Als; unfortunately, it could be a while before, if ever, we see any of these players in the CFL,since they will most probably all be signed by NFL teams. The Tiger-Cats have started grading players on their "sign ability". I am positive that other teams are doing as such. To quote Kent Austin of the Tiger-Cats: "If you get a great player but you aren't going to see him for a while,I don't know how much that helps you".

I doubt that players such as LB Bo Lokombo,DL Linden Gaydosh,DL Stefan Charles and DL/LB Ben D"Aguilar will be selected in the first round of the upcoming draft. Players such as DL Elie Ngoyi,LB/DB Mike Edem,WRs Michael DiCroce,Seydou Junior Haidara,Yannick Morin Plante and Ol Brett Jones and Corey Watman will be selected higher than originally anticipated. Tel que le dit le proverbe: "Un tines vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras."

Playing five Non-Imports on the offensive line, the Als will always need good offensive linemen; I don't have too much confidence in Matte and Barrette. I expect the Als to select an offensive lineman in the upcoming draft. I don't see how "drafting offensive linemen would be drafting for Ottawa"; no matter which players the teams select, Ottawa could select one of these players in the expansion draft.. By the way, unless the rules have been modified, teams will be allowed to protect 6 Non-Imports in first round of Non-Import draft and a further 6 in round 2 on Non-import draft. In round 1 of Non-Import draft, 7 Non-imports could be protected,if a team loses a K/P in round 1 of Import draft; becomes 8 if team loses a QB in Import draft.

In round 1 of the 2013 upcoming Draft,the Als will have 2 choices and I will be surprised if an OL is not selected.

One option: Two Junior players selected,i.e. DT Brent Urban and OL Nolan MacMillan.
Another option: 1 offensive lineman selected, i.e. either Brett Jones or Corey Watman + Junior DT Brent Urban.
Another option: 1 Junior offensive lineman,i.e. Nolan MacMillan and 1 player amongst LB/DB Mike Edem,DL Elie Ngoyi,Ol Brett Jones and Corey Watman.

I know that there are other options, but I remain convinced that 1 offensive lineman will be selected in round 1.

Richard

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I agree with Richard. I too feel that the Als will select at least one offensive lineman in the first round. We field an all-Canadian O-line, and as such, it’s paramount that we keep our roster and prospect pool stocked with good young Canadian O-line talent, because not everyone you draft is necessarily going to pan out (remember Steenburgen?). Part of why we’ve been able to maintain a quality all-Canadian O-line for so long is because our propensity to draft O-line talent means we always have good O-line players at different stages of career / development. Matte and Barrette may turn out to be starters, or they may not. But we need to protect the position. It’s why I also feel we should draft Shea Emry’s replacement. That sounds weird, because Shea is in his prime, but IMO you always have to protect your existing NI starter positions before worrying about adding other positions. Guys like Dublanko and Ridgeway are serviceable as backups but aren’t going to be able to take over if Emry gets injured without a big drop-off.

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J’avais l’impression que Brouillette assumait un peu ce rôle, mais comme il a manqué plus qu’à son tour, on ne peut pas encore faire de plan en ce qui le concerne. J’ai pas mal l’impression que cette saison, ça passe ou ça casse pour Brouillette.

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It is possible as the Als draft best available in most cases but this year the talent is on the dline and 2014 is stock full offensive linesmen opposite of this year. Let’s face it the defense and special teams is where the team needs to focus. We have to fit Ryan White on the roster this year that means either nine game him and we can’t use him or give him a roster spot. Phil Blake has not been able to crack the dressed roster with the Broncos, he could end up showing up. There are so many good defense prospects and the als are positioned to be able to take a LB (there are only a couple in the draft) Prime can also play fullback. He’s gold IMO can play LB, FB, ST and DE. Edem has the potential to become a starting safety. Robertson the potential to become a starting corner or safety. Joseph,Mulumba and Aguillar are great prospects on the edge and you have Urban who can play inside. I would use the three picks on a combination of those guys.

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Hfx: I do agree with your thinking that the DL requires NI strengthening. I like Ben, the defensive end from Mc Master. The fact that his weight is 240 lbs might prevent the NFL from going after him as, their guys are big fast and weight way more than Ben. This appears to be the only draft that I can remember that features the DL position. I would think this unique draft exactly fits the team's requirements at this time - look for two defensive players to be selected with the initial two picks.

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Well yeah, you go BPA whenever possible, but Popp also has a history of going off the board with lower picks.