The CFL combine 1-on-1 scorecard

After the CFL combine in late March, 3DownNation’s Justin Dunk, Drew Edwards and John Hodge went back and watched the one-on-one sessions involving the offensive and defensive lineman, the receivers and defensive backs as well as the running backs and linebackers.

While watching each match up – sometimes several times – we assigned a win, loss or tie to each player depending on the outcoming of the rep and, in the case of the skill positions, registered any relevant stats (catches, interceptions etc.)

This is, of course, a subjective exercise and so keep that in mind when reviewing these numbers. That said, the grades give a pretty good indication of the performances at the combine.

Up first, the offensive linemen. These marks are for the pass rush drill: there was a run blocking session but it was virtually impossible (if you’re Edwards) to determine winners and losers. The pass rush drill notoriously favours the defence as they have unlimited time and space while not having to respect the run.

Dakoda Shepley, who had an excellent combine overall, had the best record among offensive lineman. He also took the most reps. While the players more or less go in rotation for the first part of the drill, scouts and coaches request specific matchups in the latter part: Shepley and Mark Korte were certainly on display. We assigned a win, loss or draw for each snap.

Among the defensive lineman, Bo Banner showed plenty of quickness and polish in his pass rush ability while Brett Wade won some battles early – including a memorable one against Shepley – before fading late.

The one-on-ones between the receivers and defensive backs favours the offensive player who has unlimited space and time to execute his route. That said, Mark Chapman put on a display, winning the majority of routes and making four catches. It’s worth noting that there was an obvious disparity in the quality of the quarterbacking: while Noah Picton was reasonably accurate and on time with the football, Christian Strong was erratic on both counts. Again, some players – Chapman and Rashaun Simonise in particular – got lots of reps.

Godfrey Onyeka, the six-foot-two, 208-pound defensive back from Wilfrid Laurier was the most popular defensive back, registering a whopping 13 reps and performed reasonably well with a winning record and an interception. There’s a reason he was ranked at No. 6 among all prospects coming in.

Yes, this drill favours the offensive player but that doesn’t fully explain the dominance by the running backs over the linebackers. Atlee Simon and Alex Taylor were both spectacular.

But this group of linebackers, with the exception of Jean-Gabriel Poulin, also underachieved. This class of LBs is not thought of as a particularly strong one and the combine showed us one of the reasons why.