WINNIPEG, MAN. – Benjamin Labrosse and Darius Simmons, two former All-Canadians from the McGill University Redbirds, were among 72 prospects who took part in the 2024 Canadian Football League Combine Camp at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North indoor facility, March 19-24.
 
A combined group of scouts, coaches and officials from all nine CFL teams were on hand to test an elite class of eligible seniors for the upcoming CFL Draft and the Global Draft, slated for April 30. Most of the top-rated prospects had a direct invitation to the main Combine camp, while others merited an invite based on performance at the CFL Invitational Combine held on March 8 in Waterloo.
 
Labrosse, who earned first-team All-Canadian honours in 2022 but sat out last season to focus on academics, is a six-foot, 189-pound defensive back from Greenfield Park, Que. One of 14 DBs in camp, he was the talk of the day after tying running back Michael Chris-Ike of Delaware State, for a camp-wide top time of 4.51 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Labrosse also ranked first overall in the broad jump (11-feet, 1.75 inches), was second in the vertical leap (38.5 inches), tied for second in both the shuttle run (4.21 seconds) and the three-cone test (6.76 seconds). The only test that he wasn't near the top was in the bench press, where he was 26th overall but tied for eighth among DBs with a dozen reps.
 
"That guy's a player, he's going to be (drafted) high," predicted Jim Barker, a TSN football analyst and former CFL coach, on the CFL.ca streaming coverage of the Combine. "He's just so much bigger than he (appears on video)… He plays fast… and is smooth... That's an athletic young man right there…. You go to an NFL Combine and there are very, very, very few 11-foot broad jumps. That kid is a great athlete… he's explosive and a great football player. He does everything well. He's able to cover, is physical and doesn't stay blocked. He's going to be an interesting (pro) player. I see him as a possible (pick in) the first two rounds."
 
Simmons, a 5-foot-11, 204-pound native of Lachine, Que., is a three-time All-Canadian, earning first-team honours last season. He was one of 13 receivers at the Combine and ranked second at his position in the shuttle run with a time of 4.27 seconds. He tied for fifth among receivers in the bench press (14 reps), was eighth in the 40-yard dash (4.89 seconds), eighth in the three-cone test (7.19 seconds), 11th in the standing broad jump (nine feet, 6.25 inches) and tied for 12th in the vertical leap (30.5 inches).
 
"He is a nice-sized youngster, who played boundary slot, which is a position that you do a little bit of everything," Barker said.
 
The main camp featured 55 draft-eligible seniors from U SPORTS institutions and 17 other Canadians from NCAA programs. The U SPORTS breakdown included 26 from the OUA conference, 14 from the Canada West league, a dozen from the RSEQ and three from the AUS. Queen's led all Canadian universities with five invited players, while Concordia, Laval, Alberta, UBC had four apiece. Prospects from 11 OUA schools were on hand, while six institutions from the Canada West were represented, four from the RSEQ and two from the AUS.
 
2024 CFL COMBINE RESULTS
 

CFL COMBINE CAMP ATTENDEES LISTED BY SCHOOL
(at Winnipeg, March 21-24, 2024)
 

NCAA (17)	CWUAA (14)	OUA (26)	RSEQ (12)	AUS (3)	TOTAL (72)
Augustana	Alberta	Carleton	Concordia	Mt. Allison
Baylor	Alberta	Carleton	Concordia	Bishop's
Bemidji State	Alberta	Carleton	Concordia	Bishop's
Cincinatti	Alberta	Guelph	Concordia
Colgate	Calgary	Guelph	Laval
Connecticut	Manitoba	McMaster	Laval
Delaware State	Regina	Ottawa	Laval
Hillsdale	Regina	Ottawa	Laval
Maine	Saskatchewan	Ottawa	McGill
Merrimack	Saskatchewan	Queen's	McGill
NW Oklahoma St.	UBC	Queen's	Montreal
Prarie View	UBC	Queen's	Montreal
S. Alabama	UBC	Queen's
S. Florida	UBC	Queen's
San Diego St.		Waterloo
Towson		Waterloo
Washington St.		Western
		Western
		Western
		Windsor
		Windsor
		Windsor
		WLU
		WLU
		WLU
		York

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
(514) 398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca