Five members of the York University Lions football team will participate in the Canadian Football League (CFL)'s regional combine in Toronto on March 20. The CFL Combine is a three-day program in which athletes from Canadian universities and Canadians in the NCAA are evaluated by the league's general managers, coaches and scouts.
Running backs Errol Brooks, Connor Anderson and Zack Davis, as well as defensive end James Tuck and receiver Will Austin, will all test their skills at the regional combine in search of an invite to the national combine.
Brooks is coming off a tremendous season with the Lions. He was named an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) first-team all-star after finishing third in the conference in total rushing yards (701) on just 101 carries for an average of 6.94 per carry. He also added 160 receiving yards on 13 catches, for a total of 107.6 offensive yards per game. During the season, he scored five touchdowns, four on the ground and another in the air.
Anderson played in six games in his debut season with the Lions and finished on a high note with a strong final two contests. He rushed for 141 yards on 31 carries on the season and scored a pair of touchdowns.
Davis was the Lions' long snapper and also appeared at fullback for four games, finishing with two receptions for 25 yards and 2.5 tackles on special teams.
Tuck has started all 16 games over the last two seasons and become one of the team's top pass rushers. In 2012 he was the team's defensive MVP after ranking seventh in the OUA and leading the team with 6.5 sacks, and he added another 4.5 this year. He was also the Lions' leader with 41.5 tackles this season and was second on the team last year with 33.
Austin is one of the top receivers ever to play at York University. He started all 16 games over the last two seasons and finished his career ranked second in program history with 1708 receiving yards. This year he led the Lions in total receptions (30), yards (460) and receiving touchdowns (three), and last season he was seventh in the OUA with 587 receiving yards en route to earning conference second-team all-star honours.
Regional combines will also take place in Edmonton on March 17 and Montreal on March 19, and the national CFL Combine presented by Reebok will take place in Toronto from March 21 to 23 at Varsity Stadium.