{"id":515164,"date":"2026-03-05T03:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/515164\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T03:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:53:19","slug":"5-players-to-watch-at-the-invitational-combine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/515164\/","title":{"rendered":"5 players to watch at the Invitational Combine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness season is officially upon us!<\/p>\n

In writing this article, where I\u2019m featuring a couple of the many names of note at the Invitational Combine, I could feel the March energy building as I got intrigued by player frames, athletic potential, theoretical CFL fits, and university on-field production.<\/p>\n

The Invitational Combine is a special set of circumstances. The withdrawal of seeing players with pads on is broken by the Waterloo event annually, while the pressure to perform in a short window with limited exposure to teams outside of testing numbers and thrown-together reps alongside players from other institutions leads to a tense setup for all involved.<\/p>\n

If a player can excel in those circumstances, they are certainly mentally prepared to attack the CFL Combine if an invite arises by late afternoon on Friday. Here are five players of interest heading into this month\u2019s kickoff of combine season.<\/p>\n

\"\"CFL COMBINE PRESENTED BY ANYTIME FITNESS
\u00bb\u00a0Invitational Combine kicks off Combine season on Friday<\/a>
\u00bb CFL Combine 101: The basics behind every drill<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Roster: Invitational Combine<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a03 players that went from CFL Combine to stardom<\/a><\/p>\n

LIAM SILVERSON | TIGHT END\/FULLBACK | QUEEN\u2019S
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

(Queen\u2019s Athletics)<\/p>\n

At six-foot-six and 246 pounds, Liam Silverson has an intriguing build, but the real headline here is his history at Queen\u2019s and how it applies to a potential CFL future.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve called the Yates Cup over the past five years, and that has led to plenty of interesting conversations with current head coach Steve Snyder. Offensive lineman Niklas Henning (six-foot-six, 287 pounds) is already off to the CFL Combine in Edmonton at the end of the month, and at Queen\u2019s, the offensive tackles are nearly interchangeable with tight ends as needed by injury and personnel packages. They practice together in individual sessions and the skill sets translate seamlessly.<\/p>\n

Could Silverson be asked to take some pass rush one-on-one protection reps at the showcase on Friday? You\u2019d have to think that for his draft stock to rise, that needs to be part of the equation, and his testing numbers will frame the conversation about what\u2019s possible moving forward.<\/p>\n

NICHOLAS PEREIRA | LINEBACKER | MANITOBA
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

(Bisons\u2019 Athletics)<\/p>\n

Stop me if you\u2019ve heard this one before. Highly productive homegrown Manitoba product with a ton of potential enters CFL Draft as an underdog story.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Pereira was tied for sixth in U SPORTS last year with 40 total tackles, while adding a couple of tackles for loss and a forced fumble. The St. Paul\u2019s High School product should show well in Waterloo and with any luck could join receiver Nathan Udoh as the only Bison at the big show in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

SCOTT BARNETT | QUARTERBACK | TORONTO
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

(U of T Athletics)<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s pivot Alex Vreeken has the size and such a pure arm that he\u2019s likely the pick IF a quarterback is to advance to the combine in Edmonton. Stages of progression aside, I just love what Scott Barnett did last year and wanted to highlight the Huron Heights 2021 OFSAA Independent Bowl champion\u2019s season-high 614-yard, four-touchdown performance in a 42-23 win at Carleton to kick off the OUA season last fall.<\/p>\n

The arm is live and I hope Barnett gets at least a camp invite after the Invitational Combine showing.<\/p>\n

RYAN BUTLER | DEFENSIVE BACK | SAINT MARY\u2019S
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

(Saint Mary\u2019s Athletics)<\/p>\n

Hailing from Mississauga, Ryan Butler is six-foot-one and 195 pounds, and led U SPORTS with six interceptions in 2025.<\/p>\n

His length and mobility will be closely monitored on Friday before his game film is picked apart to see if he is capable of making the leap from AUS-level quarterback play to the requirements of CFL-level defending.<\/p>\n

MAHDI HAZIME | OFFENSIVE LINE | NEW MEXICO
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

(New Mexico Highlands Athletics)<\/p>\n

Originally from Toronto, Mahdi Hazime moved to Michigan for high school in hopes of securing a scholarship. He landed with the Michigan Wolverines for a couple seasons after being ranked 10th overall in the 2019 Canada Football Chat recruiting class rankings.<\/p>\n

Originally a member of the Scarborough Thunder system, Hazime was 41-3 as a high school wrestler and eventually bounced around to Monroe, New Mexico Military, Houston Christian (2023 and 2024), and New Mexico Highlands (2025). He\u2019s well-travelled and the long road of COVID eligibility extensions, paired with the transfer portal, has led him to Waterloo this week to be judged alongside fellow big men.<\/p>\n

The positional group strength varies from year-to-year at the CFL Combine, and this year\u2019s CFL Combine group of pass protectors is a strong bunch both physically and in their depth of talent. Will there be room for a name or two to make the Edmonton step up in competition? Likely, but the margins are small.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness season is officially upon us! In writing this article, where I\u2019m featuring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-515164","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-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515164","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=515164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}