The CFL’s Invitational Combine is slated for Friday in Waterloo, with more than 80 prospects hoping to catch the eyes of CFL scouts and earn an invitation to the National showcase in Edmonton.
The Invitational is the venue for the underutilized, the overlooked, the undersized, and the flawed. It offers a chance for players who have question marks to answer those in testing and competitive drills, fighting their way back onto the draft radar. While many will prove to be exactly what scouts expected, every year offers a handful of hidden gems.
Last season, 10 players who attended the Invitational Combine were drafted, including Luka Stoikos, who just represented Canada at the Winter Olympics in Milan. Alumni from the Invitational and the Regional Combine circuit that preceded it include former first overall pick Jordan Williams, current Redblacks right tackle Zack Pelehos, ratio-breaking Stampeders cornerback Adrian Greene, and Riders star receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker.
Yesterday, we took a look at eight offensive players to watch. Today, I present eight defensive prospects that I’ll have my eye on when the action gets underway tomorrow.
DB Tariq Brown, Okanagan Sun (Kelowna, B.C.)
There was no greater ballhawk in the Canadian Junior Football League last season than Brown, who picked off seven passes and was named an All-Canadian after making his return to the field following a one-year sabbatical. The five-foot-11, 193-pound safety is draft-eligible thanks to a freshman year spent with the Saskatchewan Huskies and demonstrated some impressive range and instincts, albeit against a fairly low level of competition. Given that fact and his smaller frame, he’ll need an impressive day in Waterloo to follow in the footsteps of former CJFL safety Jermaine Gabriel and get selected out of the Invitational.
LB/LS Nick Ciriello, Geneva College (Port Colbourne, Ont.)
There are four players at the Invitational who can long-snap, an area of need for a couple of teams in the draft, and none have more to gain than Ciriello. The five-foot-10, 215-pound linebacker thrived at the NCAA Division III level, finishing with the seventh most tackles in the nation last year and amassing 211 for his career. That type of stat line against weak opponents doesn’t do much for scouts, especially given his lack of pro size, but if he snaps well enough live, then he may forge a path onto a roster despite his limitations.
LB Josh Connors, Wilfrid Laurier University (Scarborough, Ont.)
Connors was a dominant linebacker at St. FX and earned AUS all-star honours in 2023, but has dropped off the radar since then for reasons largely outside his control. The five-foot-11, 223-pound defender missed all of the 2024 season with injury, then transferred to Laurier last year and promptly broke his hand after two games. Though he returned late in the year with an enormous club, his chance to earn the defensive minutes in the OUA that may have elevated his draft stock was lost. Still, Connors plays with quick feet, low pad level, is violent on contact, and has an impressive amount of special teams production considering his injury, which makes him a sleeper prospect.
DB Gianni Green, University of Guelph (Mississauga, Ont.)
Cornerbacks with size and speed are hard to come by, which makes Green a particularly intriguing option. The six-foot-two, 190-pound shows flashes of elite play — most notably a four-interception game against Carleton last year — but has struggled with consistency and isn’t as physical as you’d like to see from someone with such a large frame. There are tools there to develop if someone is willing to invest, and he has more positional versatility than previous Gryphons corners, like Siriman Harrison Bagayogo, which is a plus.
LB Chase Henning, University of British Columbia (Salmon Arm, B.C.)
Last season saw UBC special teamer Ronan Horrall promoted from the National and get drafted. This season, Henning could be that guy. The six-foot-two, 215-pounder was a reasonably productive player on a bad Thunderbirds defence this year, but he was a second-team All-Canadian on special teams in 2024, making 24 percent of the team’s tackles in that phase of the game. Bigger bodies with downhill speed will always have value in the CFL Draft, and the Salmon Arm native could gain a lot with a good showing.
DB Chandler Jones, University of Louisville (Miami, Fla.)
It has been three years since Jones went through the NFL Draft process, but he recently gained National status through his mother, who was born in Toronto. That puts the 26-year-old right back in the thick of things as a prospect, trying to prove he’s still got it after last playing for the ELF’s Paris Musketeers in 2024. The five-foot-10, 186-pound defender was hardly a testing darling the first time around, running a 4.71 forty, but they were within bounds for a CFL prospect, and he boasts legitimate FBS production with positional versatility. That could be hard to ignore, given the players around him.
DL Cameron Michaud, Bluefield State University (Calgary, Alta.)
Michaud’s post-secondary career has been something of an odyssey, beginning with the Calgary Colts, taking him to Guelph, and then back to the CJFL, where he was named an All-Canadian with the Okanagan Sun in 2023. He then headed south of the border to Saginaw Valley State, before an arrest for retail fraud ended his tenure and sent him to Bluefield State. Standing at six-foot-seven and 270 pounds, Michaud is still raw but has length like few in this class and a motor that attracted interest from Division 1 programs. Versatile enough to rush from a variety of alignments, he has the chance to help himself at the Invitational more than anyone else.
LB Dillon Schobourgh, Morehead State University (Toronto, Ont.)
A two-year starter at the FCS level, Schobourgh’s resume would seem like a perfect fit for the National Combine. However, the six-foot, 225-pound linebacker appeared to take a step back last season and has struggled with missed tackles at times throughout his career due to his lack of size. Comparing Division 1 tape to U Sports film is one of the challenges of CFL scouting, and Schobourgh will be looking to prove that his deficiencies were exaggerated by playing against tougher competition.
