Over the weekend, from Thursday through Saturday there were four Canadian athletes drafted into the NFL. The Miami Dolphins selected Jevon Holland of Oregon, Washington picked up Benjamin St Juste from Minnesota University, Volunteers’ receiver Joshua Palmer was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers and Chuba Hubbard was picked by Matt Rhule and company of the Carolina Panthers. The four players drafted in this year’s NFL Draft ties the previous record of Canadians selected in an NFL Draft which had been set in 2012 however just because the NFL Draft is over doesn’t mean there won’t be more Canadians brought into the NFL.
The first of the Canadian undrafted free agent signings comes with University of Montreal offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage. Lestage was signed by the Seattle Seahawks who were limited to just 3 picks in this weekend’s NFL Draft. If they had more maybe they would have drafted Pier-Olivier Lestage like we have seen previously with Laurent Duvernay Tardif and David Onyemata who were each picked recently out of a U-Sports program.
With the 126th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft the Carolina Panthers draft Chuba Hubbard, running back, Oklahoma State. Hubbard, a Canadian running back who was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta is the fourth Canadian-born athlete drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft, tying the previous record set in 2012. He’s alongside Jevon Holland, Joshua Palmer and Benjamin St Juste in this year’s draft that are already picked, and with both Alaric Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga we may just see the record broken today with 5 or 6 Canadians drafted this weekend.
Hubbard may be the steal of the draft to play with Christian McCaffrey in the Carolina Panthers backfield. He had an all-purpose 4,490 yards over the span of the three seasons at OSU with 660 touches. Scoring 36 touchdowns in 33 games Chuba Hubbard averaged a touchdown once every 18 touches over his collegiate career and after leading the NCAA in rushing in 2019 with well over 2,000 yards as well as a 40 yard dash time of 4.48 he brings good speed and quickness to the backfield, even similar traits as McCaffrey making this a perfect fit for Hubbard.
McCaffrey also suffered a serious injury last season, making it more likely for us to see the Canadian running back featured in the offence in 2021.
After seeing both Jevon Holland and Benjamin St Juste get selected on the defensive side of the ball fellow Canadian Joshua Palmer thought he’d put his name in the mix. Getting the call from the Los Angeles Chargers at 77th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft Palmer looks to join Nkeal Harry and Chase Claypool as Canadian receivers in the NFL.
Like Canadian defensive back Benjamin St Juste of Montreal Palmer attended the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl, actually scoring a touchdown in the big game, boosting his draft stock ahead of several other receivers in the draft class.
Palmer may not be the flashiest receiver in this year’s draft class considering the amount of depth that the position but the son of former Windsor University football star is now among Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Jalen Guyton in Los Angeles’ receiving core. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds Joshua Palmer provides good size, speed and route running for young quarterback Justin Herbert as they look to beat out the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
Following Jevon Holland’s Canadian introduction to the 2021 NFL Draft at just 36th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft and the 6th pick in the second round we now see fellow Canadian defensive back Benjamin St Juste joining him in the NFL. St Juste was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and played his college football at both Michigan and Minnesota, most recently Minnesota where he made the biggest impact making 59 tackles, and thirteen pass deflections in just two seasons as a Gopher.
St Juste was also invited to the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl which he excelled at, improving his draft stock. He then went on to run a 4.51 40 yard dash, 3.96 20 yard shuttle and a 6.63 3 cone drill while measuring at 6-foot-3, 202 yards at the University of Minnesota’s pro day where he was featured alongside 2021 NFL first round draft pick Rashod Bateman of the Baltimore Ravens.
The Montreal native brings great size and very good passion in the secondary of the Washington Football Team.
On day two of the 2021 NFL Draft we have seen the beginning of something big for football in Canada. Last year both Chase Claypool and Neville Gallimore were brought into the NFL on day two by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys, now to start the series of Canadian draft picks in this weekend’s NFL Draft we see Canadian-born defensive back Jevon Holland go off the board. Holland, who was born in Coquitlam, British Columbia while his father Robert Holland played for the B.C Lions of the CFL. His father played 7 seasons in the CFL while also playing in the NFL mainly with the San Francisco 49ers. Jevon Holland also has a brother, Jamirr Holland who participated in the 2019 CFL Combine and is a CFL Free Agent.
Eventhough he didn’t spend too much time in Canada, having been raised in California for the most part of his childhood however he still feels a connection with the country and as he trains with fellow Canadian draft prospect Chuba Hubbard he’s using the NFL as his opportunity to represent Canada. He said in his pro day interviews, “This is my olympics.”
With that being said, we can now see Jevon Holland in a Miami Dolphins jersey thanks to the 36th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. After Holland we will likely see Benjamin St Juste, Joshua Palmer, Chuba Hubbard, Amen Ogbongbemiga and Alaric Jackson get drafted in days two and three meanwhile both Terrell Jana and Bruno Labelle each have chances at an undrafted contract on Saturday or Sunday following the 7 round draft.
In this year’s NFL Draft, starting tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern Day Light Time we will see 259 players selected over the span of seven rounds and have opportunities to play in the NFL. The first round of the NFL Draft is tonight, Thursday April 29th, rounds two and three will be on Friday, April 30th and the final four rounds will be featured throughout the day on Saturday. Following the draft there are typically a minimum of 400 players signed by NFL franchises as un-drafted free agents making it nearly 700 new NFL players over the timeline of just four or five days. What separates this draft with previous NFL Drafts other than the players involved would be the Canadian players involved. Last year we saw both Chase Claypool and Neville Gallimore get picked in back to back rounds by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys, two of the most popular and historic franchises in the NFL, in years before 2020 we had seen players like Nkeal Harry, Nathan Shepherd, David Onyemata and Luke Wilson each hear their names called in separate drafts but there hasn’t been more than four Canadians drafted in a single NFL Draft ever. In this weekend’s NFL Draft we are projected to see 5, maybe 6 or more Canadians get the call from an NFL organization, breaking the previous record for most Canadians selected in an NFL Draft and possibly having 7 or 8 Canadians brought to the league come Monday May 3rd.
This year’s NFL Draft features Canadian-born athletes Jevon Holland, Benjamin St Juste, Josh Palmer, Chuba Hubbard, Alaric Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga who all are expected to be drafted. Of the six, Holland may be the first Canadian off the board tonight or tomorrow within the first two rounds, Chuba Hubbard will be drafted within the first four rounds, being the first Canadian running back drafted since Tim Biakabutuka in 1996 by the Carolina Panthers, both Joshua Palmer and Benjamin St Juste will also be found in the same rounds that Hubbard could land in and to finalize the draft on day three we expect to see offensive lineman Alaric Jackson of Iowa and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga of Oklahoma State be selected. There are also pass catchers Bruno Labelle, Dominic Johnson and Terrell Jana who each have the chance to get drafted or be signed following the draft by an NFL franchise, as do U-Sports athletes Nelson Lokombo, Logan Bandy and Kyle Borsa who have performed exceptionally well over the span of their careers in Canada and most recently had a great combine performance.
If all of the twelve players named have the opportunity to either get drafted or sign an un-drafted contract it will be great for not only the players, and the families involved but the entire country here in Canada. Over the recent years we have seen a large growth in Canadian talent in the NFL, NCAA and even the Canadian leagues of U-Sports and the CFL. A large contribution of that growth is the examples set before the athletes we see in the NFL today. This year we have Chuba Hubbard, Benjamin St Juste and Joshua Palmer who really headline the Canadian group in the 2021 draft class but they wouldn’t be where they are today without the great players before them like Hamilton receiver Austin Collie who had 16 receiving touchdowns with the Colts, Tim Biakabutuka, a Montreal raised first round NFL Draft pick and Daniel Federkeil who won both a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl. It is clear that players from the past have helped out in the growth we see now, and with the continuous improvement in coaching and player development in Canada Chuba Hubbard, Benjamin St Juste, and Joshua Palmer will not be the last Canadians to headline an NFL Draft.
Read more on the 2021 NFL Draft class in the articles featured below by JZ Media
In 2013 there was a wave of great football players that were introduced to the NCAA. Looking back at it today it may be one of the more successful recruiting classes of recent history. Some prime examples that you can name from the group would be Derrick Henry, Jaylon Smith, Chris Jones, Ezekiel Elliott, Alvin Kamara, Jalen Ramsey, Joey Bosa and Tre’Davious White who’ve all become big name NFL stars, although to pair with all of the successful players that have now found their way to the NFL are a number of busts. Marketed as one of the biggest busts in the NCAA and a quarterback that USC signed over Jared Goff and Mitchell Trubisky, eventually disappointing a lot of Trojan fans in 2013 was Max Browne. Browne was the number one quarterback available in the 2013 recruiting class, the seventh best overall player available according to Rivals’ top 100 list and he was on a mission. Max Browne said in my interview with him, “As soon as I got to SC I wanted to take over for Matt Barkley, start as a true freshman, play three years and become an NFL first round quarterback.” he then explained, “That was the plan I had set in my mind. I can humbly say that I had the work ethic to match it but things ended up going in a totally different direction.”
Browne with the Trojans
Unfortunately for Max Browne, his career at USC didn’t go as planned. Being the number one recruit he was heavily talked about and a lot was expected of him but after redshirting his freshman season in 2013 and throwing less than 20 passes in the first two seasons of his collegiate career it didn’t take long for football fans to stop talking about him. Browne’s time at SC was full of opportunities, he was put in several different positions to become the starting quarterback at the University of South California and to be the next Mark Sanchez or Matt Barkley like he hoped to be going into the school, though he never was able to live up to that. Browne elaborated, “I ended up losing a couple competition battles at USC, went through coaching changes where I played for Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron and Clay Helton all in one season while also playing for Steve Sarkisian before playing for Pat Narduzzi at Pitt and overall I didn’t have that many great experiences playing football at University that I would have hoped but I made the most of my opportunities everywhere I went.”
As Browne mentioned he not only had the opportunity to compete at the University of South California but he also had played one season at the University of Pittsburgh. With the Pitt Panthers Max Browne didn’t have too different of an experience compared to the time spent with USC, only playing in 6 games before suffering a shoulder injury which ended up finalizing his collegiate football career. In the 2017-18 ACC season with the Panthers Browne ended up completing 96 of 135 passes (71%) for 997 yards with a 5 to 2 touchdown:interception ratio. Browne’s season in 2017 was by far the best of his university career, going up against the 650 yards and 2 passing touchdowns that he threw over the span of his three year tenure at USC and behind just 1,647 yards and 7 touchdowns in his time in the NCAA Max Browne’s best memory on the field came at Pitt as well. He mentioned, “My game against Rice while I was at Pitt was my favourite on the field memory, having thrown for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns it was fun to have the winning experience and I won ACC player of the week which felt good at the time but overall the best memories came within the relationships I built at both schools.”
Browne at Pitt
As a former number one recruit, only having one big game to look back on with a smile where Browne completed 28 of 32 passes for 410 yards and 4 touchdowns, winning the ACC player of the week in a 42-10 win over Rice is disappointing. Max Browne was deemed a bust by many, he had a lot of hype around him entering his University career, he had around 20 offers from big power 5 programs and he recalls having great experiences in his recruiting process, Browne looks back on a couple of old stories, “I remember being in art class, my football coach came into my class room and he looked at my art teacher, pointed at me and said ‘I need to talk to Max.’ At this point everyone had been somewhat used to me having conversations with coaches and all that but there was something different about this time. I left the class room to go see my coach and he just handed me the phone so I pick it up and put it to my ear. It ended up being Nick Saban on the phone. It caught me off guard because this is arguably the best coaches in college football taking the time to talk to me about going and playing for him.” He also had another recruiting story from a high school basketball game that Josh Heuple, who at the time was Oklahoma’s offensive co-ordinator and is now Tennessee’s head coach was at to watch Browne, “I threw down my first dunk that night, I did it right in front of him against one of my school’s rivals and after seeing my athleticism that night I received an offer from OU a couple days later.”
Max Browne and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson at the Gatorade Player of the Year ceremony
Browne has many stories from the recruiting process. Being the number one ranked quarterback of the 2013 recruiting class every school out there wanted hands on Max Browne, with USC ending up having him commit in April of 2012 Browne says, “It was all USC after that. Oklahoma, Alabama and Washington were all there too as big options but I was all about USC after I committed.” Although USC may not have been too thrilled with the overall result of Max Browne being in a Trojan uniform. He explained more, “It wasn’t how I drew it up. It wasn’t what I hoped for or what I wanted to have happen to me or USC but here I am, at 26 I’ve got a lot of great things going on with my life and I had a lot of great experiences at both schools off of the field and I learnt a lot.” At both USC and Pitt Max Browne was named a team captain, voted by his teammates. He believes that being a captain at both programs is one of his biggest achievements and even-though many have talked about Max Browne being a bust, he himself has not let that get to his head. Browne has focused on all of the success he had over the span of his football career both on and off of the field and despite having a poster on his wall featuring Rivals’ all-decade NCAA busts with his picture headlining the article he has moved on from the time he spent at both USC and Pitt. He has used the negativity as motivation for his life after football and he’s used his experience in football and in school to educate the next generation of athletes.
The talk surrounding Browne is mostly regarding the disappointing collegiate career he had at USC, and like the Rivals’ article mentions as one of the biggest busts of recent NCAA history but what isn’t talked about is the football player, student athlete and man that is found above his shoulders. Max Browne was a leader at both schools he played at, and being a captain for both the Trojans and Panthers back that up but he was also a great student. While performing on the football field at the Coliseum in Los Angeles Browne took advantage of the schooling he had at USC, completing three degrees at the University of South California all under his scholarship. he comments, “yes my college career didn’t work out as planned on the football field but what happened on the field and behind the scenes, having lost competition battles, experiencing coaching changes and transferring to Pitt where I suffered an injury didn’t change who I was. Everything I went through only helped me, it didn’t make me any worse because I didn’t let it make me worse. I stayed grounded and that outside of a few good games and being a leader in both locker rooms was my biggest achievement.” Browne explained more, “I learnt a lot from all of the coaches I had, I took advantage of the schooling, getting three degrees total and I was able to learn a lot about myself and the world around me.”
In the conversation I had with Max Browne he talked a lot about the positives that he took away from the college career he had and now at 26 years old what sticks out to myself and other football fans would be his success post-football. Browne accomplished a lot from the start of his football career as a kid to January 2019 when he hung up his cleats, being named 2012’s Mr Football, the 2012 Hall Trophy winner as well as a two time Gatorade player of the year award winner he was given a lot of hype and he will be remembered by many from the great attributes he showed on the football field but the way its looking now he will also be known as a great business man. Since stepping away from the game of football in 2019 he has used his education and connections to get a job with internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk who owns a series of different companies through the Vayner X name brand, get his name in the door in commercial real estate all while sticking around football as a colour commentator for college football games. He has been able to work radio with Sirius XM, Stadium and USC, covering college football while also appearing once on TV doing commentary for a UAB vs LA Tech game last fall. When talking about what he’s busy with now he said, “I want to be in business but I also want to stay in football. I have so much that I want to do within the game of football still and a lot that I want to talk about so I’ve been building a YouTube channel, I’ve been on radio and TV talking football and then as for business commercial real estate has been something that I’ve been working on as of recent.”
Going into his career at USC, having been the number one recruit Browne and a lot of people around him would have thought that at 26 years old he would still be slinging the rock at the professional ranks. His plan was to start three seasons at USC and become a first round draft pick in the NFL, at 26 he would be finishing his rookie contract and be in the midst of a large pay day, although Max Browne learnt that not everything you want to happen will happen. He isn’t finishing his rookie NFL contract right now, and in the midst of a big NFL contract but Browne is stacking good days. Browne has been using the experiences he had through the game of football, both good and bad, the education he has from University and the prior knowledge of life and football to help the next generation of athletes. He will not be the last bust in college football. There have been plenty of players whose careers don’t work out and there will continue to be plenty of players that face the same troubles that Max Browne did but Browne believes that being a bust in football doesn’t mean you are a bust in life. It is something that he learned through his own experience and creating a platform on YouTube, being a colour commentator and commercial real estate agent he has been showing exactly that to the next wave of athletes so that they can learn from mistakes made by previous athletes. He gives some words of advice to athletes, “Stay grounded. Don’t get too high on yourself. Don’t think your shit doesn’t stink when things are awesome and don’t get too down when things fall a part.” he continued, “Over my whole life I have always been the same Max Browne. Whether you know me from middle school or my senior year of high school or even in 2019 when I was without football for the first time other than a few small changes I’ve always been the same Max Browne. My character has stayed the same. I’ve hung around a lot of the same people my whole life and I haven’t gotten too high on myself or low on myself and that is something I am very proud of and I think if other athletes did this or do this they can have a good future in or outside of football.”
Later in the conversation I had with Browne, I asked Max about when his college career was starting to come to an end and how big staying grounded was in the transition post football, “The music always stops.” he responded, “A lot of people have trouble realizing it because of the egos they’ve built when they were having success and thats where you have to stay grounded so when the music stops you don’t have trouble moving on to the next chapter. It helped me navigate myself to where I am today, being in the media side of the game while also doing some business work and more people can benefit too.”
Being able to create a platform where he posts educational videos about football on YouTube and tells his story via social media Max Browne has enjoyed having the ability to tell his story while its happening so that others can learn from him. He said, “I’ve been happy to share my story and help the future generation.”
Browne, as mentioned earlier has a YouTube channel, is working with Stadium, Sirius XM, and USC as a broadcaster and has launched his career in commercial real estate, “stacking good days” he says. Checkout all of Max’s social media platforms now to stay up to date with what he has going on and to keep up with the Max Browne story.
Earlier in this calendar year, the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks signed linebacker Micah Awe. Awe has spent 3 seasons in the CFL split between the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts, he’s made 154 tackles and forced 3 turnovers over the span of his 35 games played in the league but as of recent his impact off of the football field has had as big as it has on the field. Shortly after being signed by the Redblacks in Ottawa, Micah was able to publish an app that has been in the works for some time now called Purpleshift. Purpleshift is a fitness and recruiting app which people have the opportunity to get results on their athletic ability. From the 40 yard dash to your pushups, Purpleshift allows you to find out where you stand as an athlete, getting the times and results of your drills while also receiving a score on each activity you tested yourself in. As a football player, Awe in-visions this app to be a popular app for the NFL and CFL, even going back to the grass roots in high school and university in the recruiting aspect of sports and the exposure around recruiting.
To be able to one day achieve the goal of being a big name app in the football and sports world, Micah Awe and his team at Purpleshift has been able to verify combine results for some of the best athletes that are on the come up for a big professional career. One of the players that Awe was able to verify combine results for was Alain Cimankinda. Cimankinda is a 2021 CFL and NFL Draft prospect out of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and over his university career spent at the University of Guelph Alain Cimankinda found himself just two sacks shy of the all-time U-Sports sack record finishing with 16.5 sacks in 23 games. At the CFL’s 2021 virtual national combine, Cimankinda had a spectacular performance and tested very well as an edge rusher, Purpleshift was able to verify exactly that. Marking him down at 6-foot-1/2, 244.5 pounds Purpleshift verified Cimankinda’s performance with a 40 yard dash of 4.90 seconds, a 20 yard shuttle of 4.37 seconds, 1.67 seconds 10 yard dash and a 112.50 inch (9.375 feet) broad jump. Purpleshift also gave him a score for each of the combine activities he participated in, 91.91 for the 20 yard shuttle, 89.73 for the broad jump, 90.49 for the 40 yard dash and for one of the best activities for Cimankinda for the 10 yard dash he received a score of 90.07. This combine performance from Alain Cimankinda, officially verified through the Purpleshift app is a big help for his draft stock, making him one of the best defensive players available in the 2021 CFL Draft which will occur on Tuesday May 4th starting at 7:00 pm eastern daylight time. The first two rounds like every other year will be televised on TSN while the final 4 rounds will have coverage on CFL.CA.
Learn more about Micah Awe’s invention with Purpleshift as well as 2021 CFL Draft prospect Alain Cimankinda using the links found below.
On Thursday April 29th the 2021 NFL Draft will start. Going until Saturday May 1st, unlike previous years this NFL Draft class features a number of Canadian athletes. There are 6 Canadian-born football players that are expected to be drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft which coming off of a 2020 Draft where both Chase Claypool and Neville Gallimore were is a great look coming from Canada. The Drafts with the most Canadians drafted came in 2014 and 1986 with 4 drafted in each of them so if all six prospects that are expected to get drafted, Chuba Hubbard, Jevon Holland, Joshua Palmer, Alaric Jackson, Benjamin St Juste and Amen Ogbongbemiga get drafted they would reset the record to 6 players and with both receiver Terrell Jana and tight end Bruno Labelle there is a slight chance that the previous most gets doubled with 8 Canadians drafted into the NFL.
Running Back Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
Chuba Hubbard may be one of the most exciting Canadian in this year’s NFL Draft class. Being named a top five running back and a top 100 prospect in the 2021 Draft class by numerous NFL sources, Hubbard’s 4.48 speed might get him drafted in as early as the second round on April 30th.
In his 2021 Oklahoma State Pro Day, alongside his 4.48 40 yard dash Hubbard headlined with a 36 inch vertical and a 10 foot broad jump with 20 bench press reps of 225 pounds really signifying what he showed on game film over the span of his collegiate career. During his 3 seasons with the Oklahoma State Cowboys Chuba Hubbard had over 660 all-purpose touches for 4,490 yards and a total 36 touchdowns. Having played in just 33 games in the 3 seasons at OSU Hubbard averaged a touchdown once every 18 touches. He also averaged 136 all-purpose yards per game from 2018 through the 2020 season.
Wide Receiver Joshua Palmer, Tennessee
At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Brampton, Ontario native Joshua Palmer looks to continue the streak at 3 straight years with a Canadian-born receiver drafted in the NFL Draft. In 2019 the Patriots selected Nkeal Harry, a Toronto-born athlete out of Arizona State and and last year Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool of Abbotsford, British Columbia was drafted in the second round by the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers now Palmer hopes to be drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Josh Palmer played in 47 games over his career at Tennessee, making a catch in 41 of them, totalling for 99 catches for 1,514 yards and 7 touchdowns while rushing for 37 yards and an additional touchdown. In the 6 games that Palmer didn’t catch a pass, 4 of them coming in his true freshman campaign in 2017, the Tennessee Volunteers went 1-5. Palmer’s 4.51 40 yard dash, and his performance at the 2021 Reeses Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama which he caught a touchdown pass from Kellen Mond in has helped his draft stock as a big body, good route running, quick receiver.
Offensive Tackle Alaric Jackson, Iowa
Canadian offensive linemen in the NFL isn’t anything new for football fans. Last year Carter O’Donnell of the University of Alberta made his way to the Indianapolis Colts on an undrafted free agent deal but matching up with Brett Jones, Dakoda Shepley, Laurent Duvernay Tardif and Ryan Hunter Windsor-born offensive lineman of Iowa Alaric Jackson has a very strong chance of being drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft and is featured as a top 10 offensive lineman available by multiple NFL Draft gurus.
At 6-foot-5, 321 pounds offensive tackle Alaric Jackson has started each of the 42 games he was a part of since redshirting his freshman campaign in 2016, all at left tackle. Jackson was Triston Wirfs’ teammate from 2016 through the 2019 NCAA season, Wirfs went on to win the Super Bowl in his 2020 rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a starter, Alaric Jackson strives to do the same.
Defensive Back Jevon Holland, Oregon
"I feel like I'm representing Canada like someone would be in the Olympics."
Jevon Holland — a six-foot, 207-pound junior safety from Coquitlam, B.C. — is expected to be the first Canadian selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.https://t.co/jbL7egFJxM
Projected to be picked within the first two or three rounds in the 2021 NFL Draft on either April 29th or 30th Jevon Holland said, “The NFL is my olympics. It’s my opportunity to represent Canada.” At the University of Oregon, prior to the 2020 NCAA season that he opted out of Holland made 108 tackles, 10 pass deflections and 9 interceptions.
Having played in 27 games from his true freshman season in 2018 where he first made an impact leading the team with 5 interceptions though the 2019 season Holland made a huge difference in the defensive backfield. In each of the 8 games that he had one or more interceptions in the Oregon Ducks went 7-1.
Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, Oklahoma State
Amen Ogbongbemiga, the Calgary, Alberta native not the only Alberta-born player on the Oklahoma State Cowboys, having played with running back Chuba Hubbard but without a doubt Ogbongbemiga has been the best on the defensive side of the ball while Hubbard has taken care of business on the offence.
As a Cowboy Amen Ogbongbemiga has played in 49 games, gratuity improving in each of the 49 games, making 180 tackles in his final 24 games at the school averaging well over 7 tackles per game at the linebacker position but the real stat for Amen Ogbongbemiga is how he has helped his team win games since coming in as a redshirt freshman in 2017. As we have heard defence wins championships, last year it was on display yet again with the Buccaneers shutting down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offence in the Super Bowl and for Ogbongbemiga he has helped the Oklahoma State Cowboys win games as a linebacker, going 23-9 in games that he has made multiple tackles and 5-3 in games with a sack over the span of his collegiate career at OSU.
In this year’s CFL Draft there is plenty of Canadian talent. There are several talented football players from both the NCAA and U-Sports looking to make an impact at the professional stage in the CFL but one thing that sticks out a lot in this year’s CFL Draft is the number of athletes from Ontario. Among the 37 players that participated in the 2021 CFL National Combine for the CFL Draft 10 were from the province of Ontario, really demonstrating the growth of talent that we see in the province.
Over the recent years we have seen that exact growth south of the border with players going to the NFL. We have seen Ontarians Nathan Shepherd, Eli Ankou, Brent Urban, Neville Gallimore, Tevaughn Campbell, Michael Hoecht, and Dakota Shepley make their ways to the NFL and joining them this year will be both Windsor, Ontario native Alaric Jackson and Brampton’s very own Joshua Palmer. Unfortunately the two players who are alongside Benjamin St Juste, Chuba Hubbard, Amen Ogbongbemiga, and Jevon Holland as Canadians in the NFL Draft class are stealing all of the CFL Draft attention from the players that will be playing in the CFL in 2021 when a season is played. The CFL Draft spotlight should be on players like Nelson Lokombo of Saskatchewan, brother of CFL linebacker Bo Lokombo, Terrell Jana from the University of Virginia, UBC’s linebackers Nick Cross and Ben Hladik, Cincinnati Tight End Bruno Labelle, Grant McDonald of Calgary, Shae Weekes of Bemidji State and both Ottawa natives Alain Cimankinda and Dylan St. Pierre.
Both Cimankinda and St Pierre are among the Ontarians in this year’s CFL Draft and as the results come out for the CFL National Combine they are two of the best Ontarians available in the Draft, both coming from the nation’s capital, they actually train together with Titan Performance’s Joey Kwasniewski in the off-season.
Cimankinda, a 6-foot-1, 235 pound defensive end/edge rusher was just two sacks shy of the all-time U-Sports sack record and if there had been a 2020 U-Sports season he would have broke it. Having played at many different levels of football, starting with Ottawa’s NCAFA and Ontario’s OVFL, Quebec’s CEGEP division one football, New Mexico Military Institute, a JUCO in the NJCAA and then Guelph at the U-Sports collegiate level here in Canada Alain Cimankinda has been an explosive defensive end and linebacker. He, alongside Daniel Joseph of N.C State and Carleton’s Shaiheem Charles-Brown is one of the best defensive linemen available in this year’s CFL Draft and might just be the best available defensive player considering his versatility. Having the ability to play all over the defensive line and even the defensive backfield as a linebacker in coverage is extremely rare in a player of his caliber, and his versatility is exactly what puts him on top in this year’s draft. Cimankinda as a 2021 CFL National Combine invitee ran a 4.93 40 yard dash, 4.43 shuttle, 7.36 3-cone drill and benched 23 reps of 225 pounds, making him one of the top performers in this year’s CFL Draft.
Another combine performance that is getting looked at quite well is University of Ottawa receiver and fellow 613 native Dylan St. Pierre. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds Dylan St Pierre ran a 4.86 40 yard dash which as a receiver may not be the flashiest but his route running and change of direction makes up for his 40 time like a lot of receivers. He ran a 4.20 shuttle as well as a 7.23 3-cone drill, really showcasing his change of direction that you see in his route running and with 20 bench press reps of 225 pounds he demonstrates strength which is something that a lot of teams at the next level look for at the receiver position. Dylan St. Pierre had a great career at the University of Ottawa with over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns in his 21 games demonstrated in his Draft highlight tape and just recently played in Orlando, Florida’s Tropical Bowl senior showcase game. He said in an interview, “A couple guys I played with or against are at the professional level now. Guys like Neville Gallimore, Jackson Bennett, and a bunch of other guys and I want to join them at the professional level so the opportunity to go to Florida to play in this game is going to hopefully help with that.”
With the CFL Draft in just over two weeks, come Tuesday May 4th, 2021 both Alain Cimankinda and Dylan St. Pierre have been and will continue to talk to CFL coaches and front office personnel leading up to Draft Day. The two Ottawa natives will be among a number of 613-raised players in the CFL and if somehow one of them earns an opportunity south of the border in the NFL they would join both Neville Gallimore and Eli Ankou state side.
In link with the 2021 CFL Draft, CFL Draft prospect Alain Cimankinda has teamed up with JZ Media, Skyline Sports Global and Vado Visuals to produce a documentary series leading up to the CFL Draft, telling his untold story. The documentary is aimed to inspire the younger generation of athletes as his mentor Jean Guillaume said, “Alain has the perfect Ottawa story.”
JZ MEDIA 