{"id":515061,"date":"2026-03-05T02:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/515061\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T02:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:53:13","slug":"a-position-by-position-preview-of-the-cfl-invitational-combine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/515061\/","title":{"rendered":"A position-by-position preview of the CFL Invitational Combine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Draft season is in full swing, and with the NFL Combine coming to a close, football fans can turn their attention to the CFL Invitational Combine taking place Friday at the Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House in Waterloo, Ont.<\/p>\n

The Invitational Combine, which has replaced the three regional combines since 2023, gives draft-eligible prospects a chance to shine in front of CFL scouts, general managers, and coaches. The group will have their measurements taken, go through on-field drills, and participate in a one-on-one period. <\/p>\n

CFL evaluators will then come together and determine the top participants that they would like to see join the rest of the field at the CFL Combine in Edmonton beginning Mar. 27.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here\u2019s a position-by-position preview of the 83 players putting their skills on display at the 2026 Invitational Combine.<\/p>\n

Quarterback\"\"Scott Barnett Toronto (Toronto Varsity Blues) <\/p>\n

Participants: Scott Barnett – Toronto, Gunnar Gray – Buffalo, Alex Vrekeen – Queen\u2019s<\/p>\n

Three pivots will be in Waterloo, with the headliner being Queen\u2019s Gaels pivot Alex Vreeken. The Kingston, Ont. native was named an OUA second team all-star after completing 61.8 per cent of his passes for 2,315 yards, 18 touchdowns, and six interceptions. If Vreeken\u2019s 2025 East-West Bowl testing results stand pat or even improve, he\u2019ll come in as one of the bigger (listed at 6-foot-4) and more athletic Canadian pivots since 2016.<\/p>\n

Alliston, Ont. native Barnett set single-game records at Toronto this past season and finished the year with 2,326 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Gray had minimal playing time\/production in his three years at Buffalo after putting up big time numbers at San Diego Mesa Community College (2021-22).<\/p>\n

Running Back\"\"Quentin Scott Wilfrid Laurier (Wilfrid Laurier) <\/p>\n

Participants: Jeffrey Amisial-Chatelier – McGill, Jordon Benjamin – Kenyon, Jhavaun Blake – Gannon, Malcolm Bussey – St. Francis Xavier, Donavin Milloy – Guelph, Quentin Scott – Wilfrid Laurier, Liam Talbot – Windsor, Angel Vital – Laval<\/p>\n

Three backs stand out amongst the grou,p including Guelph\u2019s Milloy, Laurier\u2019s Scott, and St. Francis Xavier\u2019s Bussey. Both Milloy and Scott are two-time OUA second-team all-stars and come in with a ton of production, while Bussey is one of the most decorated AUS backs of all-time.<\/p>\n

The three-time All-Canadian and four-time AUS all-star had multiple Division I FCS level offers out of high school, but chose St. Francis Xavier as a Hammonds Plains, N.S. native. The former New Hampshire Gatorade State Player of the Year did miss the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL, but has put up 3,268 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and 30 touchdowns in four seasons.<\/p>\n

Wide Receiver\"\"Matt Sibley Calgary (Calgary Dinos) <\/p>\n

Participants: Thomas Desrosiers – Sherbrooke, Colby Ginn – Windsor, Frederick Hachey – Carleton, Zachary Houde – St. Francis Xavier, Sam La Roue – Western, De Shawn Le Jour – Manitoba, Hamilton McMartin – Texas, Iraghi Muganada – Montreal, Gavin Owen – UBC, Tyriq Quayson – Windsor, Everett Reid – McMaster, Matt Sibley – Calgary, Daniel Yusuff – Edmonton Huskies (CJFL)<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s a receiver group that lacks production, there\u2019s still plenty of intrigue for various reasons.<\/p>\n

Leading in the production category is Carleton\u2019s Hachey, Calgary\u2019s Sibley, and two-time AUS all-star in St. Francis Xavier\u2019s Houde. All three should be among top testers at the position as well.<\/p>\n

The intrigue comes in the form of McMartin, who didn\u2019t log a single catch at Texas, Manitoba\u2019s Le Jour, who should post one of the tallest\/heaviest combos by a Canadian receiver since 2016, and La Roue<\/a>, who\u2019s big, athletic, and has played as a defenceman in the National Lacrosse League since 2021.<\/p>\n

Offensive Line\"\"Riley Schick Regina (Regina Rams) <\/p>\n

Participants: Sahil Bhullar – Towson, Zachary Cloutier – Ottawa, Nick Gidaro – Waterloo Omar Hashw – Saint Mary\u2019s, Mahdi Hazime – New Mexico Highlands, Sebastian Holden – Toronto, Damien Irep – Concordia, Matthew Ljuden – Alberta, Alexendre Masri-Fliss – Laval, Victor Olaniran – Manitoba, Chris Pashula – Calgary. Riley Schick – Regina, Thomas Ta\u2019avili – St. Clair Saints (CJFL)<\/p>\n

One of the deepest groups in the class as a whole in scouts\u2019 eyes is the offensive line position, and that trickles down to the Invitational with multiple guys worth following.<\/p>\n

Starting in the Canada West with Regina\u2019s Schick and Manitoba\u2019s Olaniran who headline the group. The former claimed CJFL all-Canadian honours twice with the Regina Thunder before starting at centre for the Rams the past two seasons, grabbing a Canada West all-star nod last season in the process. Schick also boasts a pedigree that no other U Sports lineman has, having spent time on the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 practice roster in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n

Olaniran, on the other hand, had interest from a few Division I programs, including Illinois and Purdue, following a monster 2024 season but remained at Manitoba for the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

Other names to keep an eye on include former conference all-stars Ljuden and Masri-Fliss, Hazime, who was a two-star prospect out of high school before initially committing to Michigan, and Hashw, who should measure in as one of the tallest and heaviest Canadian linemen since 2016. <\/p>\n

Defensive Line\"\"Robert Keyes-Wilson Guelph (Guelph Gryphons) <\/p>\n

Participants: Conner Franzisi – Western, Omari Hastings – Wilfrid Laurier, Robert Keyes-Wilson – Guelph, Steven Kpehe – Queen\u2019s, Kaleb Mackie-Mcleod – Manitoba, David McGill – St. Francis Xavier, Cameron Michaud – Bluefield State, Anthony Montas Leipert – Regina, Otito Nwaogu – St. Francis Xavier, Marcus Tenney – Wilfrid Laurier, Johnathon Stevens – Saskatoon Hilltops (CJFL)<\/p>\n

The first name to keep an eye on among the defensive linemen is Cameron Michaud, who is arguably the most intriguing prospect at the combine as a whole. Listed at 6-foot-7, Michaud should measure in as one of the tallest Canadian defensive line prospects since 2016, while also projecting to test very well. He\u2019s also bounced around in his collegiate career between the CJFL (2021 All-Canadian), U Sports, and multiple Division II programs, only adding to the intrigue.<\/p>\n

Conference all-stars in Laurier\u2019s Tenney, Guelph\u2019s Keyes-Wilson, and St. Francis Xavier\u2019s McGill are also featured, while Queen\u2019s edge Steven Kpehe should post great testing numbers after his most productive season in Kingston. <\/p>\n

Linebacker\"\"Nic Pereira Manitoba (Manitoba Bisons) <\/p>\n

Participants: Ilan Barbaras – McGill, Jason Briones – Presbyterian, Nicholas Ciriello – Geneva, Jack Cobb – Guelph, Josh Connors – Wilfrid Laurier, Chase Henning – UBC, Aaron Lavers – McMaster, Colin McKellar – Regina, Nicholas Pereira – Manitoba, Olivier Ruest – Laval, Dillon Schobourgh – Morehead State, Anthony Sestanovic – McMaster<\/p>\n

Multiple guys in this group have US experience, with Briones and Schobourgh putting up respectable numbers at the FCS level, Ciriello registering 193 tackles over the past two seasons alone at Division III Geneva, and McKellar, who was productive at Regina after spending his freshman season with Division II Simon Fraser who should also test well.<\/p>\n

As for Canadian production, Manitoba\u2019s Pereira is the feature. The backer has over 100 tackles in 32 collegiate games and was named a Canada West all-star after a great 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

Defensive Back\"\"Gianni Green Guelph (Guelph Gryphons) <\/p>\n

Participants: Isiah Blackson – Waterloo, Ryan Butler – Saint Mary\u2019s, Jordan Chizda – Calgary, Kyle Chorney – Bishop\u2019s, John Corscadden – Queen\u2019s, Kallon Edwards – Saint Mary\u2019s, Gianni Green – Guelph, Mason Henry – Waterloo, Ethan John – Windsor, Chandler Jones – Louisville, Jean-Sebastien Lamothe – Concordia, Alex MacDonald – Bishop\u2019s, Tristan Miller – Wilfrid Laurier, Billy Jonas Pernier – Laval, Robert Springer Jr. – Windsor, Tariq Brown – Okanagan Sun (CJFL)<\/p>\n

The defensive back group features conference all-stars and U Sports All-Canadians all over the place in what is a more than solid group.<\/p>\n

John, Corscadden, Edwards, and MacDonald all have received all-star nods, while Butler and Springer \u2013 who won\u2019t test due to an injury \u2013 have All-Canadian pedigree.<\/p>\n

Other names include Green, who could measure in amongst the tallest defensive backs since 2016 after four productive years at Guelph, Lamothe, who should be one of the faster guys at the combine as a whole and has versatility, as well as Jones, who made 34 starts at Louisville and is a late addition after qualifying for Canadian CFL status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Draft season is in full swing, and with the NFL Combine coming to a close, football fans can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,76945,82],"class_list":["post-515061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-cfl-sports-football-league-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}