The 2025 CFL Combine took place last weekend, offering a deep class of prospective Canadian players the chance to prove themselves against the very best.
Many of the top invitees took full advantage of the opportunity and confirmed the considerable hype around them, including the likes of Darien Newell, Jeremiah Ojo, and Isaiah Knight. However, some less heralded players came out swinging and forced scouts to double-check their reports, while still others worked their down draft boards based on disappointing results.
Here are seven players who saw their stock rise in Regina and seven who fell as a result of their performance.
RISER: DL Max Von Muehldorfer, Western University
The Calgary, Alta. native entered this week on the late-round bubble and exited as a guaranteed draft pick. There was no question that the former Junior PanAm champion weightlifter was going to be strong enough to win the bench press but his elite athleticism took people off guard, posting a 34-inch vertical and 4.96 forty-yard dash at 290 pounds. Those numbers are identical to what garnered Darien Newell so much NFL attention last week and while Von Muehldorfer’s tape isn’t as good, he showed far more as a pass rusher in Regina than he has at Western. He even took some reps at fullback on Sunday, with some teams believing he can cut down and flip to the offensive side of the ball.
FALLER: DL Isaiah Bagnah, Brigham Young University
Several players elected to sit out portions of the Combine, which can be a touchy subject with evaluators, but the only one who legitimately hurt himself by doing so was Bagnah. To his credit, the Lethbridge, Alta. native did test twice in the span of three days due to the Big 12 Pro Day but after doubling down on disappointing results, he surprised some by not taking advantage of the opportunity to prove himself physically against his peers. The fourth-ranked prospect on the CFL Scouting Bureau was also visibly less present and engaged than others who have declined to participate in the past, which rubbed some the wrong way. When your athletic measurables are disqualifying by NFL standards and below-average by CFL ones, it is best not to leave questions regarding your attitude and competitiveness.
RISER: DB Anton Haie, Université Laval
This is easily one of the best defensive back classes in modern CFL Draft history and Haie proved he deserves to be considered alongside players with far more illustrious resumés. His hips snap so quickly in transition that they deserve a sound effect, with his 3.96 short shuttle and 6.62 three-cone being absolutely elite at five-foot-11 and 199 pounds. Add in a long history of special teams success that was backed up in drills and the Laval product will go earlier than fans expect.
FALLER: LB Harold Miessan, Université de Montréal
Presidents’ Trophy winners typically find themselves highly coveted in the CFL Draft process for obvious reasons and there are three of them in this class alone. Unfortunately, only two of them are on track to get drafted after Miessan’s poor testing numbers all but ruled him out of contention. Running a 5.03 forty and jumping 26.5 inches in the vertical is just not going to cut it as an undersized coverage linebacker, and there was nothing in the fieldwork that would make teams dismiss those data points. Ultimately, the two-time All-Canadian may have peaked as a Carabins legend.
RISER: OL Arvin Hosseini, University of British Columbia
Some years the title of best offensive lineman at the CFL Combine is a legitimate title fight but after Erik Andersen suffered a concussion in the first contact session, nobody came close to challenging Hosseini. The North Vancouver, B.C. native moves extremely well for his size and held his own at tackle despite a lack of length and experience at the position. He was also noticeable as the only guy making the extra effort to finish all his reps on the bags, which is the aggressiveness you’d expect from someone who was trained by the late Dan Dorazio and mentored by two NFL players.
FALLER: DB Johari Hastings, Wilfrid Laurier University
Hastings was one of two former Simon Fraser University players who earned their ticket to Regina, which made him an immediate fan favourite due to the circumstances around that program’s demise. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t on par athletically with the other defensive backs and is unlikely to be included on many team’s boards. While you can overcome being either small or slow if you have enough compensating factors, running a 4.91 forty at five-foot-eight is essentially a football death sentence.
RISER: LB Seth Hundeby, University of Saskatchewan
In most years, running a 4.70 forty and a 6.88 three-cone will get you drafted in the CFL as a safety. To post those numbers as an oversized 251-pound linebacker makes Hundeby one of the freakiest athletes in this entire draft. While scouts knew that the Saskatoon, Sask. native would test well, he dramatically improved on his speed results from the East-West Bowl last year. With some great special teams reps backing up his raw tools, expect him to go in the top half of the draft even though he’s told teams he’ll be returning to Saskatchewan in 2025 to complete his engineering degree.
FALLER: TE Quincy Vaughn, University of North Dakota
There was eager anticipation to see what Vaughn would be able to do athletically given his impressive frame and pedigree, but the converted quarterback underwhelmed virtually across the board except for his three-cone. The Hamilton, Ont. product still blocks, runs routes, and tries to catch passes like a guy who’s new to the position, despite making the switch two years ago. He’ll still get drafted because of his ability to play short-yardage QB, but with a 5.03 forty and nine-foot, three-inch broad jump, he’s not exactly the second coming of Chris Streveler or Tommy Stevens.
RISER: DB Mack Bannatyne, University of Alberta
All the defensive back talk entering the Combine was about safeties Jackson Findlay and Nate Beauchemin, both of whom delivered on their lofty expectations. However, the cult of Mack Bannatyne has a quiet but fervent following which added several members in Regina. The pride of the Golden Bears doesn’t test quite as well as his contemporaries overall but did run a faster forty at 4.54. He backed up some exceptional tape in the on-field drills and it wouldn’t shock me if somebody has the six-foot-11, 195-pound playmaker as DB1 on their board.
FALLER: DL Aiden Bertuzzi, University of British Columbia
The Thunderbirds have produced some Combine freaks over the years but Bertuzzi is just not one of them, running 5.00 at 246 pounds and posting an ugly 28-inch vertical jump. That could have been forgiven if he wasn’t completely invisible in the one-on-ones too, getting consistently erased by a poorer-than-average crop of offensive linemen. With the amount of difference-makers available along the defensive line this year, it is hard to see the Victoria, B.C. native getting picked.
RISER: REC Ethan Jordan, Wilfrid Laurier University
I don’t like calling players who have already been voted Top 20 prospects “risers,” but I think the shoe fits for Jordan considering how much he separated himself from a painfully pedestrian receiver group. The All-Canadian target has been called too slight-framed to crack a CFL roster but he weighed in at 177 pounds — 10 more than he was at CGS in January — and still ran a legitimate 4.44 forty with the extra muscle. His refreshing realism and unabashed authenticity should also endear him to teams, proving he won’t wilt at the first sign of adversity at the next level.
FALLER: OL Alex Berwick, Western University
To be frank, this was a poor group of offensive linemen overall and you could easily include players like Daniel Dove, Dre Doiron, and Cody Neumann on your list of losers. However, it was Berwick who exhibited the biggest discrepancy between expectations and results. Based on his movement skills at Western, I would have bet on him as a top-half tester but he was actually one of the slowest and least explosive despite cutting weight. That was followed up by some ugly losses in the competitive period that seemed to snowball and even resulted in some bad snaps from the usually reliable centre. The end result was a wasted opportunity to solidify himself on the boards of O-line needy teams.
RISER: OL Ethan Pyle, University of Guelph
Most of the players upgraded from the Invitational Combine in Waterloo continued to help themselves in Regina, but Pyle probably gained the most due to the relative strength of his position group. He’s easily dismissed due to his lack of size and muscular definition, but the quick feet are there and he battled as well as anyone at the centre position. The odds remain stacked against the 284-pounder having a long CFL career but he’s now cemented himself as more than just a scout’s guilty pleasure.
FALLER: DL Liam Reid, University of Calgary
Rightly or wrongly, bloodlines matter in scouting and the nephew of long-time B.C. Lions’ centre Angus Reid has one of the best. The problem is that he is too athletically limited to continue taking off-ball linebacker snaps at his current weight like he did with the Dinos and not yet strong enough to thrive along the defensive line. His one-on-one reps featured none of the flashes that he shows on tape and I left thinking the Vernon, B.C. native might be best suited to move to fullback if he wants to maximize his chances of making a CFL roster this year.
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