REGINA– The backbone of the CFL is it’s Canadian talent, and the Elks brass has travelled to Saskatchewan to find the next crop of home grown stars.
It’s not an easy process to sort through hundreds of eligible players and distill them into only a handful of draft picks, however Edmonton’s football operations staff has been working tirelessly to prepare themselves for this moment.
“The CFL draft is obviously a big deal because it directly impacts the depth of the roster and the National talent in the league,” Elks VP of Football Operations and General Manager Ed Hervey said. “It gives these young players an opportunity to showcase their ability. For us as teams, this is the Canadian Football League and this is our chance to identify talented national players and give them an opportunity to not only make our teams, but develop them into players of the future. They’re the lifeline and lifeblood of this league.”
The National Combine runs the draft eligible players through a gauntlet, providing team talent evaluators a chance to see if the athleticism matches what they see on tape. Over the next several days, roughly 100 players will show their on-field pedigree, while also meeting with teams one-on-one to see if they are a cultural fit for the examining organization.
The four days spent in Regina is just one step along the way on the long road to the April 29th CFL Draft. Months of preparation has gone into analyzing the batch of prospects and diving into the backgrounds of every one of them. In most cases, this weekend will be the first time team personnel staffs have a chance to meet these players face-to-face, and the Elks staff intends to maximize the brief time they have with each prospect.
Edmonton Elks 2024 CFL Draft first-overall pick Joel Dublanko
“This week allows you to see what kind of competitors they are when they’re doing their testing,” Hervey said. “As far as the interview process, there’s the first impression that you have. We’ve seen these guys on film. We’ve heard a lot about them. We’ve got information based on what our personnel department has investigated and speaking with their coaches and other players about them. This gives the player a chance to have his own voice as to who he is.”
Over the weekend, Elks football personnel will split into offensive and defensive groups and sit down with the corresponding prospects. About 13 minutes is all they have to get to know a player, in his own words. The interview also serves a purpose to check up on any red flags the prospect may have, including injury history or other concerns.
Edmonton Elks coaching staff studies prospects at the 2025 CFL National Combine
Hervey admits that it’s not enough information to make a real judgement on a player, but it adds context to the evaluation and provides a clearer picture on who should be the next addition to the Green and Gold’s locker room.
“I think it’s a short amount of time that they have to impress,” he said. “The realities of the interview process is it just gives us a basis of being able to ask questions and determine whether the player has character, and if the character matches the information that we received from the coach.”
The work is a grind, but it can pay massive dividends for the club in the long run. Hervey remembers a situation early on in his career where the in-person meeting helped sell the organization on a prospect.
“We were just trying to get information on a player and we ended up reaching and contacting him and we were able to convince him to fly out and work out for us,” Hervey said. “We were getting close to the draft and because it was so late in the process, that time when we flew this player in and worked him out and had a chance to talk to him and really got to know him, it gave us a better feeling about him.”
That’s 20 straight completions for Trevor Harris, this one to Calvin McCarty for the TD! 👀#GCPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/cm4Supwa0p
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) November 10, 2019
As for the player, he ended up suiting up for 203 games over 13 seasons with the Double E after being drafted in fourth round of the 2007 CFL Draft. He quickly became a fan favourite and a Grey Cup champion with Edmonton, but it may not have happened had the team’s personnel staff had a chance to see him up close and get to know the person behind the draft tape.
“That person actually ended up being Calvin McCarty,” Hervey said. “He didn’t go to the combine that year, but it just shows the importance of the interview process and having a chance to see the players in person. I think for that reason it gave us the confidence and the comfort in knowing that what we were drafting when we did eventually pull the trigger and draft McCarty.”