CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — If the first day of testing at the National Combine is about strength, the second is all about speed.
Sunday at the 2015 CFL National Combine had no shortage of speed, highlighted by the same electronic 40-Yard-Dash record being twice broken on the same afternoon.
After UNLV running back Shaquille Murray-Lawrence set an electronic 40 record-breaking time of 4.41 earlier in the day, Regina defensive back Tevaughn Campbell answered shortly after, re-setting the record with an electrifying run of 4.36.
While the 40 is Sunday’s equivalent of the bench press, that wasn’t the only exciting aspect of the final day of the combine.
» 2015 CFL National Combine: Leaderboard
» Images from Combine Sunday
» CFL.ca Video Zone
» Campbell breaks electronic 40 record
» Raising the Bar: 5 Combine results worth noting
» One-on-One: Tevaughn Campbell
» One-on-One: Chris Ackie
Once again turning heads was the explosive Montreal linebacker Byron Archambeaux, who logged the number one shuttle time with a mark of 4.18 while placing fourth in the three-cone with a run of 7.16 — this just a day after setting a linebacker record with 41 reps on the bench press.
High-ranked Manitoba receiver Nic Demski took home the three-cone crown, topping all participants with a time of 6.91, the only time below seven seconds on the day.
While the nation’s top football prospects got to put their talents on paper on Sunday through three remaining combine tests, the day also provided an opportunity to shine in a greater football environment with positional drills and one-on-ones.
In one aspect of the combine that’s unique to Canadian Football, players strap on the pads and helmets and go at it in contact drills, watched by the eyes of nearly every scout, coach and general manager across the league.
Sunday is, in all reality, one last chance for prospects to put their work in front of the eyes of all nine CFL teams — and on this day in late march, that was clearly an emphasis among participants.
Who helped themselves the most? Click here to view the full CFL Combine roster and results.
40-Yard Dash
Shaquille Lawrence-Murray and Tevaughn Campbell share the day’s biggest headline, each having consecutively broken the electronic record for fastest time in the bench press.
While Steven Turner holds the record for fastest all-around 40 at 4.31, his time was hand-timed in 2010, the year before the CFL started using electronic measurements in testing the 40.
CFL.ca Combine Insider Justin Dunk says Sunday’s historic feats will long be remembered, after only an hour separated a pair of record-breaking performances.
“You come here every year and you think the athletes are better, bigger, stronger and faster,” says Dunk. “But to see the electronic 40 record broken twice in one day was just an awesome display.”
“I think it shows that you don’t need to look at a player based on his passport – that these Canadian kids are legitimate football players, it doesn’t matter what side of the border they were born on.”
Receivers Nic Demski and Lemar Durant also helped their draft stock with better-than-expected 40 times, while Regina defensive back Kahlen Lanning, an Edmonton Regional selection, did more to impress scouts by placing third in the 40 with a 4.53. Lanning, at this point, appears likely to grow the list of regional combine participants getting invited to the National Combine and then getting drafted.
Despite not finishing in the top 10, Chris Ackie also turned heads with a 4.67 40 time just one day after winning the vertical jump while setting a broad jump record with a leap of 10’11.50”.
Ackie is listed as a defensive back but took on drills as a linebacker on Sunday, showing the versatility needed to fit in on a CFL defence.
“He ran a 4.66 and he ran a 4.9 at the 2014 East-West bowl, so you know he’s been putting in the time and he’s faster,” says Dunk on how Ackie’s improved his draft stock. “I had an idea he’d be good in the jumps and show that athleticism, but you wanted to see the speed.”
“I think he’s solidified himself as one of the premier guys in the draft in terms of defensive players.”
“He showed he can rush the passer from the linebacker spot,” Dunk continues. “He’s built big enough to be stout against the run, and at the back end he can play safety for you or corner – he has the range to move around back there.”
While a number of top players at least maintained their draft value with a strong 40, at the end of the day Sunday’s special moment has to go to both of the record-breakers.
Both known for their ability to run track, there was an expectation for these two burners to come in and torch the 40 – and neither disappointed, not to the surprise of our combine analyst.
“I knew that Shaq Murray-Lawrence ran track back in high school, so that’s a good foundation for him, and I heard he had been timed in the 4.4’s at his pro day, so I had an idea he could go pretty fast,” says Dunk, who highlighted both players as contenders for the 40 title in his ‘testing monsters’ pre-combine predictions.
“Tevaughn Campbell, that track background and he was also coming off his track season at the University of Regina — he goes right from football to track,” Dunk continues. “He had won a CIS silver medal a couple of weeks ago so that gave me a little bit of an idea.”
“But never in my wildest dreams did I think both of them would break the record.”
MUST WATCH: Tevaughn Campbell breaks electronic 40-yard dash record:
Shuttle and 3-Cone
While the 40 may be the day’s big ticket event, shuttle and three-cone are important tests that measure agility, acceleration and control rather than breakaway speed — valuable for the nine CFL teams looking on.
Byron Archambault took the shuttle title by running it in 4.18, just edging second-place Nic Demski (4.19) and third-place defensive back and regional combine invite Dexter Janke (4.25). Most impressive, however, was the way Archameault blew away the competition at his linebacker position.
The next best linebacker was Ron Omara, posting a 4.32 — also an impressive mark for a linebacker. Meanwhile, five of eight linebackers posted a number higher than 4.50, putting well into perspective just how dominant Archambault’s run really was.
That agility combined with his strength (41 on the bench, good for second all-time) bodes well for the Montreal Carabin’s status as the upcoming draft’s most hyped linebacker.
Rounding out the top-five in the shuttle were two more Montreal Carabins, Mikhail Davidson with a 4.28 and Anthony Coady with a 4.31, as the University of Montreal continued to impress on the national stage during Sunday’s showcase.
Continuing his dominant testing day in the three-cone was Manitoba receiver Demski, the highest-ranked receiver inthe most recent scouting bureau rankings. Demski complemented a fifth-place finish in the 40 and a second-place finish in the shuttle with a first-place finish in the three-cone, finishing with a time of 6.91.
It’s impressive because it was miles ahead of the next-best finisher, Phillip Enchill at 7.06, and the only time on the day below seven seconds.
Behind Demski and Enchill was the equally impressive Chris Ackie, continuing his strong day with a time of 7.09. Archambault placed fourth with a run of 7.16 (tops among linebackers again) while Anthony Coady rounded out the top-five with a 7.22.
If you’re looking for clear-cut winners from today’s shuttle and three-cone drills, look no further than Archambault, Demski and Coady — the three guys able to land in the top-five for each event.
One-on-Ones
While Sunday’s three testing events are an important part of the weekend, some prospects and evaluators take just as much or more out of the one-on-ones — the one chance of the weekend to excel in a football environment.
That’s especially the case for the offensive and defensive linemen, who may not shine as much in the 40 but truly enjoy the spotlight of the one-on-ones, where everyone watches each defensive lineman try to beat the man lining up across the line of scrimmage.
On the offensive side of the ball, Calgary’s Sukh Chungh and Sean McEwen were ones to watch, along with Michigan State’s James Bodanis and Laval’s Danny Groulx. That’s not to say the other offensive linemen weren’t impactful on this day, either.
“The guys that stuck out were Danny Groulx – his footwork was so smooth in there,” starts Justin Dunk in his offensive line analysis. “Sukh Chungh showed how tough he is in there and didn’t really get beat. Sean McEwen at centre snapping the ball, very stout on the inside.”
“James Bodanis didn’t have a lot of reps at Michigan State, so these were big reps for him and I think he did well on the offensive side of the ball as well.”
McEwen and Chungh are ranked sixth and seventh respectively in the Scouting Bureau rankings and are expected to be first round picks. Sunday’s performance in one-on-ones didn’t do anything to dispell that, as both stood mightily against some of the country’s top competition.
“Really happy with the way the one-on-ones went,” says Chungh. “I felt like I showed my aggression and my talent as an offensive lineman.”
“The running didn’t go as well as I thought, but the one-on-ones went great and I thought I showed what I’m made of.”
And that, both McEwen and Chungh agree, is what the one-on-ones are all about — a chance to show your true football ability in an intense game situation.
“It’s a great environment out there,” adds McEwen. “Really intense. I love the coaches and I love that intensity. It was fun.”
McEwen centred a high-powered offensive line that boasted some of the nation’s top talent, and against a high-powered interior pass rush he rose to the task. The result has him leaving Toronto head held high.
“I think the testing’s one thing, but what it comes down to is can you play football,” McEwen says. “I think I showed that to a certain degree today and I was fairly happy.”
“I think some stuff that you just can’t necessarily see on game film, like toughness and my aggression, wish I would’ve done a little bit better of a job with that,” he continues. “But just the finishing the drill aspect of it was something I wanted to show and I think I did.”
Western teammates Daryl Waud and Ryan Connop along with Ottawa’s high-motored Ettore Lattanzio were among those who stuck out to Dunk on the defensive line, despite an overall strong day for the offensive linemen. Ricky Osei-Kusi and linebacker Ron Omara, who tested and did drills with the linemen, also impressed with flashes of speed and all-around quickness.
While one-on-ones are big for the offensive linemen (who probably couldn’t care less about the 40-yard dash), receivers have a lot to gain from drills and one-on-ones as well.
Melvin Abankwah may have done the most to raise his stock, as the dual-threat receiver and running back prospect ran both RB and REC drills. He said he was disappointed with his 40-time, but Dunk argues that he more than made up for it with his ability to separate against defensive backs in one-on-ones.
“I think talking to a couple of scouts afterwards asking ‘how do you use Abankwah if you’re going to draft him’, and it looks to be at the slot position,” says Dunk.
While Abankwah’s versatility should give him bonus points for scouts (he played both running back and slot receiver during his season at Saint Mary’s), Dunk says he profiles as a slot receiver as opposed to a running back in the pros. And on Sunday he showed why he should be coveted on draft day.
“He’s uncoverable. He might not have liked his 40 time, but I think that guy has game speed,” explains Dunk. “The wiggle he showed and the burst to be able to get in and out of his breaks, and he was open on every single rep.”
“Abankwah I certainly think helped himself.”