es (2002 and 2006). Following his playing career, | Forum
miaowang123
Sep 1 '19
There are likely two safe bets when it comes to the 2014 CFL Draft; offensive linemen will dominate the early selections, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will look to solidify one of their most glaring positional needs with the second-overall pick. Niklas Sule Germany Jersey . According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. 2 pick is an opportunity to grab one of three top O-line prospects who are expected to play professionally in Canada. The No. 1-rated athlete overall, offensive tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out of McGill, is not attending this weekends CFL Combine in Toronto, opting instead to hold his own pro day in Montreal for both NFL and Canadian scouts. This leaves Laval University centre Pierre Lavertu as a very likely target for either the expansion Ottawa Redblacks who select first overall, or for the Blue Bombers. Lavertu would be an attractive choice for Winnipeg with the free agent departure of starting centre Justin Sorensen this past winter. "(I am a) centre, so it will help then if Im going to be a centre at the next level," said the 6-foot-3 300-pound All-Canadian. "But if I have to play guard or something like that, Im going to do it." Lavertu is both confident and aware of the two teams who may call his name on May 13. "I figure that will happen. Its going to be cool if Im drafted by one of those teams. I watch a lot of the websites of Winnipeg and Ottawa just to learn more about these teams." The offensive lineman that may have the most to prove during Combine weekend is 6-foot-4 294-pound Matthias Goossen out of the non-CIS school Simon Fraser. "I want to make sure that whatever I do here solidifies what Ive done in the season, and it can help show more athleticism — how I compare to guys in the CIS game, because obviously all these guys here I havent played against at all. So it would great to compare myself to these guys and sort of show myself and prove my worth, and obviously continue to make myself look better for the scouts." Goossen made a huge leap in the Bureaus rankings in just four months, moving from No. 15 up to No. 5 once more scouts and CFL team reps could see what he was capable of. The Combine is an opportunity for him to cement those assessments. "I think the biggest thing, like everybody knows, is the one-on-ones and showing how to compete and showing how I actually play because when it comes down to it, theres no bench press on the field." Goossen played every position on the offensive line over the past four years at SFU, but feels his body-type is an ideal fit for the centre position at the pro level. A third potential option for the Blue Bombers, if they desire an O-lineman with their first pick may not fill their vacant centre spot, but he is quite hard to ignore. David Foucault stands 6-foot-8 and weighs in at 320 pounds. "I played tackle last year, but two years ago I played guard. I can play on both sides — guard and tackle — left and right… If a coach asks me what do you prefer? I prefer tackle. But I just want to play football. If you put me at guard, I will play guard. I just want to play professional football, and thats why Im here." While the CFL Combine measures many things, the versatile 24-year-old out of Montreal University feels language may be the most critical area for him to work on. "Thats why I went to Florida for training because all the stuff (at the Combine) is in English. When I came to Florida my first week, I was very bad in my English. I need to practice every day… If a scout or a coach wants to do an interview in French I will say no, I need to practice my English." Another concern for the No. 3-ranked prospect could be his physicality, as Foucault may stand prominent, but he has been known to play smaller than his stature and lack finish when engaging defenders. "(Im looking most forward to) the one-on-ones because in the combine in Tampa (Florida) I did all the tests and some drills. Some mirror drills and O-line drills. But maybe the one-on-ones I need to do well in that (this weekend). For all my tests I need to be consistent or do better." *N.B. Winnipeg traded their 2014 second-round selection along with import defensive end Alex Hall to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in exchange for non-import offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld and a 2015 fourth-round selection. Ilkay Gundogan Germany Jersey . Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season. Marco Reus Jersey . - The Pittsburgh Pirates plan on keeping promising left fielder Starling Marte playing alongside National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for years to come.ST. LOUIS -- Typically, a Sam Bradford rehab update in early June is not a major media event. Blame it on the other Sam on the St. Louis Rams roster. Attention was super-sized Thursday because of rookie defensive end Michael Sam. "I figured thats where you guys would be," Bradford joked after a workout. Sam, the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL, meets with reporters on Friday. The team is hoping the hubbub will die down eventually and Sam will be treated like any other seventh-round pick. "I think the media doesnt give athletes enough credit for just accepting players as they are," said wide receiver T.J. Moe, who was Sams teammate at Missouri. "They just assume its a tough-guy culture, and How are they possibly going to handle it? I think maybe its the other way around. How are the media handling it?" Bradford, the first overall pick in 2010, is more than five months removed from left knee surgery and said everything is on schedule. The quarterback got a scheduled day off to allow for bounce-back time and is expected to practice Friday. "To be honest, throughout the process Ive felt really good and felt better than what Id anticipated," Bradford said. "Even when youre healthy you have good days with your arm and bad days with your arm, and now its kind of the same thing with my knee." During the rehab, Bradford has added upper-body strength and believes he has a "little more pop" on his throws. "Moving around great," coach Jeff Fisher said. "Yeah, he does everything. Antonio Rudiger Jersey. Hes doing all the drops and the footwork is really good." Rumours the Rams might draft Johnny Manziel were easy for Bradford to dismiss. He was kept in the loop by Fisher and general manager Les Snead during the off-season. "They made it very clear what their plan was," Bradford said. "They continue to make that clear." Neither Bradford nor Fisher believe the quarterback has anything extra to prove this season. The Rams drafted protection for Bradford, taking Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson with the second overall pick, and held onto guard Rodger Saffold. They added veteran wide receiver Kenny Britt to the mix, too, reuniting him with Fisher. Britt made a couple of nice catches and also was involved in a bit of a scuffle Thursday. "Right now Im actually taking this year as a rookie year and building my platform," Britt said. "Everything starts from scratch." Britt had little to say about a sexually explicit video posted to his Instagram account last month. "Thats something that touches home," he said. "Me and my wife have to deal with that. Were going to leave it at that." Notes: Fisher anticipates offensive tackle Jake Long, also rehabbing from knee surgery, will be ready to participate in the middle of training camp and was "on pace" to start the opener. Long was hurt at the end of the season and his operation was in January, about two months after Bradfords procedure. ' ' 'onship in Helsinki, Finland. ' ' '
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