With the 2011 CIS football season now under way, the Canadian Football League Scouting Bureau has published its top-15 ranking of prospects eligible for the 2012 CFL Canadian Draft.
The No. 1-ranked player is Ben Heenan, a six-foot-four, 310-pound offensive lineman from Saskatchewan.
Other top-five ranked offensive linemen include: Austin Pasztor from Virginia and Kirby Fabien from the University of Calgary. Wilfrid Laurier wide receiver Shamawd Chambers and Laval linebacker Frederick Plesius round out the top five.
Other noteworthy storylines include McGill University kicker/punter Austin Anderson and Oregon State defensive back Keynan Parker who grew up with in-house position coaches, as both their fathers had successful professional football careers.
James “Quick” Parker, father of Keynan, is a former defensive player for the Edmonton Eskimos, BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts. He won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1982, 1984 and 1986, and was a six-time All-Star and four-time Grey Cup champion. While playing for the BC Lions in 1984, Parker registered 26.5 sacks in a single season, which remains a CFL record. In 2001, Parker was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Former NFL kicker Gary Anderson, father of Austin, was the first kicker to have a perfect regular season, connecting on all 35 field goal attempts and 59 converts in his 1998 season with the Minnesota Vikings. In 2000, Anderson became the NFL’s all-time leading scorer.
Here is the full list:
- Ben Heenan, OL, Saskatchewan
- Shamawd Chambers, WR, Wilfrid Laurier
- Austin Pasztor, OL, Virginia
- Frédéric Plesius, LB, Laval
- Kirby Fabien, OL, Calgary
- Ismaël Bamba, WR, Sherbrooke
- Bryce McCall, DB, Saskatchewan
- Simon Charbonneau-Campeau, WR, Sherbrooke
- Tyson Pencer, OL, Washington St. (now playing with Okanagan Sun)
- Hasan Hazime, DL, Akron
- Matt Norman, OL, Western
- Austin Anderson, K/P, McGill
- Christo Bilukidi, DL, Georgia St.
- Keynan Parker, DB, Oregon St.
- Courtney Stephen, DB, Northern Illinois