92 of the top draft-eligible prospects will be in Regina from March 21-23 for the Canadian Football League’s annual combine.
On Friday, athletes will individually compete in the 40-yard dash, three-cone, short shuttle, broad jump, and bench press. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, the players will participate in two-a-day practices.
Offensive lineman Connor Klassen is excited about the opportunity to perform in front of CFL brass.
“It’s been a long two, three months of putting in the hard work in the gym and on the turf. It’s going to be awesome to finally have the chance to showcase my skill set and show teams what I can do against the best competition in the country.”
Klassen is a six-foot-three, 310-pound offensive lineman from Big River, Saskatchewan. After graduating high school, he decided to pursue football as an offensive lineman, a position that he had never played.
“I realized I was too big to play hockey. I didn’t ever play on the offensive line. I didn’t have any technique coming out of high school. So, I was determined to get better and prove that I could play at a higher level.”
Klassen joined the Prairie Football Conference’s Regina Thunder before being recruited by the University of Regina Rams. Klassen feels the Rams were impressed by his consistency.
“I’m not the most powerful out there, but I move really well. I can make a lot of hard blocks where you need to be a little more quick or athletic to do so.”
After converting from the defensive line, Klassen has started the past two seasons at right tackle for the Rams.
“My coaches feel that I’m consistently doing the right things mentally, my assignments are always sound. The guys I’m blocking are hardly ever making the play.”
According to Klassen, the coaching and game experience he has received has made him the player who is garnering attention from CFL teams.
“Once you play for a certain amount of years, if you get beat by a certain move, you recognize that. So for me, the last couple of years the biggest thing is, I can look at how the defensive lineman is lined up. Where his feet are, how much of an angle he is, how tight or how wide is he off me, and all those play into how I think he’s going to rush me.”
In a sport where hearing an offensive lineman’s name called is usually negative, Klassen knows what he needs to do for his name to stand out at the combine.
“I want to test well in all the events, but at the end of the day, I am a football player. I could probably show my best to teams on both Saturday and Sunday practices. That comes down to winning my one-on-ones, having good inside run and team periods.”
“I think I’m very coachable and hardworking. That’s how you can tell if a player is a player. But you know, it would be nice if I could put up a five-flat 40, but we’ll see,” Klassen added.
Klassen and the rest of the prospects will be on the field at AffinityPlex Friday, March 21 through that weekend.
“Every team, every scout, everybody’s going to see something a little bit different. So it will be interesting to see what happens.”
