E-Camp and the 2010 CFL Draft

This past weekend 56 players descended upon Toronto for the annual CFL Evaluation Camp (known as E-Camp). The E-Camp is similar to the NFL's Scouting Combine, where players who are draft eligible perform various tests for scouts in the run-up to the draft. The 2010 CFL Draft takes place on May 2nd.

I must admit that since I am not an avid follower of CIS Football, I am not overly familiar with the draft-eligible players, and because of that I will defer to the experts. Duane Ford has been covering the E-Camp all weekend and has written various articles, all of which can be found on the CFL page of TSN's website.

Despite the fact that I am not familiar with the players I can comment and give opinions on the process.

There is one thing I really like about the CFL E-Camp Draft, and that's that it is entirely Canadian. Only players who are designated as "Non-Imports" are camp and draft eligible. This means that no American players can attend the camp or be drafted. I like this, as it allows CIS players an exclusive audience with teams' management to showcase their skills.

There is one major aspect that I don't like: I'm not a big fan of judging football players based on what they do while wearing shorts in a climate-controlled environment. The E-Camp took place at Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto, which during the winter months is covered with a giant bubble. Football is played in the elements, with pads on, not in 22º weather, with shorts on. The best way to evaluate players is by seeing what they do on the gridiron.

While the E-Camp has its positive and negative aspects, I still like it simply because it's more football to talk about. It also means that the draft is right around the corner, which means that training camp isn't far off, which means before I know it, I'll be sitting at Ivor Wynne watching the Cats kick off the 2010 season.