O’Day, Mace set to evaluate top prospects at CFL combine

With the CFL combine set to begin, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Mace admitted his attention will — unsurprisingly — be mostly on the offensive and defensive line.

“I’m biased. My eyes always go to the trenches,” said Mace, who is a former defensive tackle. “I think there’s some really good players on both sides. Every year you’re looking at the top tier of every position continuing to grow as our country continues to play football so it is exciting to see.”

The CFL combine is taking place in Regina from March 21-23. It’s one of the last chances the top prospects will get to showcase their skills to scouts, coaches and general managers ahead of the April 29 CFL Draft.

Riders general manager Jeremy O’Day said a player’s combined performance can help change teams’ minds about them.

“There’s a lot of examples of when you come to the combine and you have an opinion on them and they do really well and their stock rises and then there’s the vice-versa,” O’Day said.

A player falling in stock at the combine doesn’t always mean the player won’t have a successful career. An example of that happened just last year with the Riders and slotback Ajou Ajou.

Ajou didn’t test great at the combine — including running the slowest 40-yard dash times among wide receivers — and slipped to the seventh round, where the Riders selected him.

He went on to haul in 20 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns last season. He was released this offseason in order to pursue an NFL opportunity with the Indianapolis Colts.

“We took him in the later round knowing he didn’t test out well so that was a good pick,” O’Day said. “Some will come in and you have an opinion on them and then they test or go through the drills and you’re like we need to go back and give him a better grade or re-evaluate and watch the tape again.”

The Riders will look to use the combine to determine how they can improve their Canadian depth ahead of the 2025 season.

It’s a process that has plenty of steps throughout the season and offseason, from watching tape and reaching out to their coaches and then into the pro days and combine.

“We will come up with pre-combine grades for the players and then they kind of change as they go through the process — they can get better, they can drop or stay the same,” O’Day said. “It’s a fluid process. As far as what you put the most weight on, I think the testing is important but I think really you’re just looking for them to fit into the mold of a professional football player and according to their position.

“As long as they have physical capabilities and they are testing and their strength is what we expect it to be, a lot of what we rely on is watching them on tape … There are some guys that are going to come out and be really good at testing but then you don’t get excited about them on tape.”

With CFL teams needing to start seven Canadians, the national talent you have on your roster is important.

“This weekend on top of the draft for Canadian players is crucial to team success,” Mace said. “The better talent you have at the Canadian positions puts you in favour. People look to certain positions as ratio breakers or a ratio changing positions but that can be an offensive lineman.

“Logan Ferland — I’m looking at him as a ratio-changing position. He is one of the best, period. As this is the only draft we really have, you want to get the best ones possible.”