{"id":563187,"date":"2026-03-27T00:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T00:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/563187\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T00:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T00:20:15","slug":"5-cfl-combine-participants-compare-themselves-to-cfl-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/563187\/","title":{"rendered":"5 CFL Combine participants compare themselves to CFL stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 Everything gets measured at the CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness Canada. Times, reps, height and weight, anything that can be measured will be.<\/p>\n

Beyond the concrete numbers, the intangibles are also on full display for CFL personnel to evaluate. As the week goes on and the players put on the pads for practice sessions, general managers, scouts, coaches, and even fans can\u2019t help but say \u201cthat player runs routes like Tyson Philpot<\/a>\u201d or \u201che rushes the passer like Mathieu Betts.\u201d<\/p>\n

But those are the evaluators\u2019 comparisons, what about how the players themselves describe their games? CFL.ca asked some of the biggest names at this year\u2019s combine to do just that.<\/p>\n

\"\u00bb\"CFL COMBINE PRESENTED BY ANYTIME FITNESS
\u00bb\u00a01 position group to watch for every team at CFL Combine<\/a>
\u00bb 5 players to watch at the 2026 CFL Combine<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a05 bold predictions for the 2026 CFL Combine<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a07 traits scouts look for in CFL Combine prospects<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a03 reasons why CFL Combine interviews matter more than the numbers<\/a><\/p>\n

JUSTIN PACE | LINEBACKER | QUEEN\u2019S<\/p>\n

Justin Pace, a linebacker from Queen\u2019s, was the first of a few prospects to name a fellow Canadian in his positional group when asked on Thursday of CFL Combine week to compare himself to a current CFL player.<\/p>\n

Pace spent four seasons with the Gaels, totalling 160 total tackles. His 2024 season was a career year for the six-foot-one, 223-pounder, tallying 52.5 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and 5.5 tackles for loss. A season with a stat sheet full across the board is reminiscent of the exact player that Pace compared himself to: A.J. Allen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would definitely go with A.J. Allen<\/a>,\u201d said Pace. \u201cHe\u2019s a great linebacker, a great Canadian linebacker. Also comes from the OUA. I got to meet him in my visit at Guelph a couple of years ago. He\u2019s a guy that can do everything, pass rush, coverage, stop the run, and that\u2019s a guy that I look up to and want to form my game around.\u201d<\/p>\n

OSASERE ODEMWINGIE | LINEBACKER | CALGARY
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Osasere Odemwingie is looking to turn heads at the CFL Combine this weekend in Edmonton (Calgary Athletics)<\/p>\n

Another linebacker, Calgary\u2019s Osasere Odemwingie, also played sideline-to-sideline defence in his time with the Dinos. In 31 career games over four seasons, Odemwingie tallied 162.5 total tackles, four sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four pass breakups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would probably say A.J. Allen<\/a>,\u201d Odemwingie said, giving the second nod of the day to the Riders weakside linebacker. \u201cI think he\u2019s a dog. I think he finds the ball, he\u2019s a heat-seeking missile so I compare myself to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

NATE DEMONTAGNAC | RECEIVER | NORTH DAKOTA<\/p>\n

On the other side of the ball, receiver Nate DeMontagnac compared himself to a recent CFL Draftee, Stampeders receiver Clark Barnes. In his four-year career at North Dakota, DeMontagnac hauled in 775 total yards to go along with back-to-back seasons with a pair of touchdowns in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably Clark Barnes,\u201d said DeMontagnac of his comparable player. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot from him going to the same high school as him. He\u2019s one of the best receivers I\u2019ve ever played with (and is) my guy. Learning from him has been cool and I compare a lot of the stuff I do to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barnes impressed at his CFL Combine in 2023, the last time the combine was also in Edmonton. Will DeMontagnac do the same and separate himself from the pack during the practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday?<\/p>\n

DEVYNN CROMWELL | DEFENSIVE BACK | MICHIGAN STATE
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Devynn Cromwell (right) compares himself to Elks defensive back Tyrell Ford (left)<\/p>\n

Michigan State defensive back Devynn Cromwell is in Edmonton for interviews with the teams, but won\u2019t be participating in any of the on-field activities due to injury<\/a>. Cromwell played three seasons in U SPORTS with the Guelph Gryphons (2021-2023) before joining Texas Tech in 2024 and finally Michigan State in 2025.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re wondering what kind of player Cromwell is, look no further than Edmonton Elks defensive back Tyrell Ford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d definitely say I\u2019d compare myself to Tyrell Ford<\/a>,\u201d said Cromwell. \u201cHe has that track background and he\u2019s super athletic. I think I\u2019m athletic in that way and I\u2019d say our games are kind of the same in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

NICK CENACLE | RECEIVER | HAWAII<\/p>\n

Hawaii receiver Nick Cenacle says he plays like one of the best Canadian pass-catchers in the CFL and the Most Valuable Canadian of the 112th Grey Cup: Samuel Emilus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say shades of (Samuel) Emilus,\u201d said Cenacle. \u201cI went to the same CEGEP as him, too. I kind of adopted the same role as him, and playmaking ability too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cenacle isn\u2019t participating in the on-field practices on Saturday and Sunday, but will do the full gauntlet of testing on Friday<\/a>. Will he blaze to a fast 40-time and show off his route breaking ability in the 3-cone drill and make CFL evaluators compare himself to Emilus as well?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 Everything gets measured at the CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness Canada. Times, reps, height and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-563187","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\/563187","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=563187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}