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Is this running back worth a look in 7th round or as a undrafted player in draft?
Canuck catches eye of NFL scouts
Friday, March 13, 2009
By PERRY LEFKO
Sportsnet.ca
Jamall Lee Jamall Lee may have raised his profile as a possible National Football League draft pick or free agent after his record-setting performance in last Sunday's Canadian Football League Combine.
Lee, who is rated second by the CFL's Scouting Bureau for this year's draft, May 2, recorded a Combine record time of 4.39 seconds, shaving the previous mark set by Jean-Frederick Tremblay, a wide receiver with Laval, in 2004.Lee's time ranked ahead of all the running backs who tested at this year's NFL Combine. In fact, it is six-100ths of a second better than the next fastest time. Overall, his time would rank as the fifth fastest of all the players who tested at the NFL Combine - eclipsed by four receivers.
"That (time) would catch anybody's eye," said an NFL scout who asked that his name not be used. "With the speed that he shows - and his athletic ability period - that warrants looking at him. With the number of running backs there are it's awfully difficult to get drafted in only seven rounds, so I would think he would be a free agent type of guy."
Edmonton Eskimos' running back Jesse Lumsden, whom Lee is often compared to in size, ran the 40 in a time between 4.4 and 4.5 seconds in private workouts in his draft year in 2005. While Lumsden passed through the NFL draft without any team taking him, the Seattle Seahawks signed him as a free agent.
Bishop's head coach Leroy Blugh said he has been in contact with one NFL team for two years about Lee and another this year. He did not identify the teams because they don't want it publicized, but said he expected more teams to express an interest following the record-setting workout.
"I would suspect that he's going to get a whole lot of attention, maybe even get drafted," Blugh said. "I think they'd be ridiculous not to. My voice message is blinking like crazy, so I'd imagine there's people (from the NFL) calling looking for tape. The kid's legit."
Lee's representative Zeke Sandhu, who works for Bruce Tollner's REP 1 Sports Group that includes clients such as quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh and Buffalo's Trent Edwards, is confident the Canadian running back will receiver a serious look down from NFL teams.
"With his size and speed and his ability he's going to garner some attention down south," Sandhu said. "For us, it's just as good as any other kid we could get out here... People (in the NFL) were interested because they had a chance to see him and they saw his size and his ability and his quickness showed and his speed showed while he was on the field. But like anything, this helps answer a lot of things because it is an electronic 40-time. It's obviously going to be looked at and more people will definitely be interested."
Lee, 22, is keeping his expectations modest at the moment.
"To me it doesn't matter where or how high I'm drafted," he said. "I'm not too worried about where I get drafted. I would just feel it's a blessing to get drafted and to get a shot."
Blugh noted that Lee showed off his athleticism in other tests, including a 44-inch vertical jump, a broad jump of more than 10 feet, 19 bench pressing reps of 225 pounds. Add in Lee's size, 6-foot-2, about 225 pounds, and Blugh said the youngster is an impressive talent.
He noted Lee's accomplishment of 4,296 career rushing yards, which is a record in the Quebec conference, is noteworthy because of the quality of teams he faced. For example, Laval is annually among the powerhouses in the nation.
"This is a very tough conference to put numbers up," Blugh said. "You just can't run in here and expect 100-yard games against some of the teams you play against. You've got to bust your *** for every yard you get. He's done that when everybody and their dog knows about this guy. They're loading the box and he's still racking up the yards. He made a lot of things happen on their own."
Lee's father, Orville, had a great career at Simon Fraser and became the first pick overall by the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 1998 CFL Draft and led all teams in rushing that year en route to becoming the Rookie of the Year and a finalist for Outstanding Canadian.
"Orville was a very good running back as well and did a lot of great things, it's just the styles are a little bit different," said Blugh, who played against Orville Lee. "Orville was very fast, but you could tell he's working hard. He looked like he was putting everything into what he did and you could see that and he did it very well. J. Lee just looks effortless. It doesn't look like he's trying at all. You don't think he's running fast, but he's flying. You don't think he's that powerful, but for a guy at that size with as long a reach as he has to be (benching) 19 times at 225, that's pretty amazing. He's got to move that weight a long way."
Jamall didn't have expectations of following his father as a professional football player.
"He never pressured me into playing football. He never put that on me," Lee said. "I think that was beneficial for me because it let me decide what I wanted to do. He just said whatever I do decide to do in life to take it serious and to give it one hundred percent. Coincidentally, that is what I'm doing right now."
He acknowledges the next few weeks leading up to the NFL and CFL Drafts will be exciting.
"I've had a lot of help around me," he said. "A lot of close family friends have been in that situation. My agent works with NFL teams and has guided me a lot, too. I think I'm as prepared as someone my age can be and I'm thankful for that. With everything that's happening, it's definitely been a dream."
Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.
Canuck catches eye of NFL scouts
Friday, March 13, 2009
By PERRY LEFKO
Sportsnet.ca
Jamall Lee Jamall Lee may have raised his profile as a possible National Football League draft pick or free agent after his record-setting performance in last Sunday's Canadian Football League Combine.
Lee, who is rated second by the CFL's Scouting Bureau for this year's draft, May 2, recorded a Combine record time of 4.39 seconds, shaving the previous mark set by Jean-Frederick Tremblay, a wide receiver with Laval, in 2004.Lee's time ranked ahead of all the running backs who tested at this year's NFL Combine. In fact, it is six-100ths of a second better than the next fastest time. Overall, his time would rank as the fifth fastest of all the players who tested at the NFL Combine - eclipsed by four receivers.
"That (time) would catch anybody's eye," said an NFL scout who asked that his name not be used. "With the speed that he shows - and his athletic ability period - that warrants looking at him. With the number of running backs there are it's awfully difficult to get drafted in only seven rounds, so I would think he would be a free agent type of guy."
Edmonton Eskimos' running back Jesse Lumsden, whom Lee is often compared to in size, ran the 40 in a time between 4.4 and 4.5 seconds in private workouts in his draft year in 2005. While Lumsden passed through the NFL draft without any team taking him, the Seattle Seahawks signed him as a free agent.
Bishop's head coach Leroy Blugh said he has been in contact with one NFL team for two years about Lee and another this year. He did not identify the teams because they don't want it publicized, but said he expected more teams to express an interest following the record-setting workout.
"I would suspect that he's going to get a whole lot of attention, maybe even get drafted," Blugh said. "I think they'd be ridiculous not to. My voice message is blinking like crazy, so I'd imagine there's people (from the NFL) calling looking for tape. The kid's legit."
Lee's representative Zeke Sandhu, who works for Bruce Tollner's REP 1 Sports Group that includes clients such as quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh and Buffalo's Trent Edwards, is confident the Canadian running back will receiver a serious look down from NFL teams.
"With his size and speed and his ability he's going to garner some attention down south," Sandhu said. "For us, it's just as good as any other kid we could get out here... People (in the NFL) were interested because they had a chance to see him and they saw his size and his ability and his quickness showed and his speed showed while he was on the field. But like anything, this helps answer a lot of things because it is an electronic 40-time. It's obviously going to be looked at and more people will definitely be interested."
Lee, 22, is keeping his expectations modest at the moment.
"To me it doesn't matter where or how high I'm drafted," he said. "I'm not too worried about where I get drafted. I would just feel it's a blessing to get drafted and to get a shot."
Blugh noted that Lee showed off his athleticism in other tests, including a 44-inch vertical jump, a broad jump of more than 10 feet, 19 bench pressing reps of 225 pounds. Add in Lee's size, 6-foot-2, about 225 pounds, and Blugh said the youngster is an impressive talent.
He noted Lee's accomplishment of 4,296 career rushing yards, which is a record in the Quebec conference, is noteworthy because of the quality of teams he faced. For example, Laval is annually among the powerhouses in the nation.
"This is a very tough conference to put numbers up," Blugh said. "You just can't run in here and expect 100-yard games against some of the teams you play against. You've got to bust your *** for every yard you get. He's done that when everybody and their dog knows about this guy. They're loading the box and he's still racking up the yards. He made a lot of things happen on their own."
Lee's father, Orville, had a great career at Simon Fraser and became the first pick overall by the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 1998 CFL Draft and led all teams in rushing that year en route to becoming the Rookie of the Year and a finalist for Outstanding Canadian.
"Orville was a very good running back as well and did a lot of great things, it's just the styles are a little bit different," said Blugh, who played against Orville Lee. "Orville was very fast, but you could tell he's working hard. He looked like he was putting everything into what he did and you could see that and he did it very well. J. Lee just looks effortless. It doesn't look like he's trying at all. You don't think he's running fast, but he's flying. You don't think he's that powerful, but for a guy at that size with as long a reach as he has to be (benching) 19 times at 225, that's pretty amazing. He's got to move that weight a long way."
Jamall didn't have expectations of following his father as a professional football player.
"He never pressured me into playing football. He never put that on me," Lee said. "I think that was beneficial for me because it let me decide what I wanted to do. He just said whatever I do decide to do in life to take it serious and to give it one hundred percent. Coincidentally, that is what I'm doing right now."
He acknowledges the next few weeks leading up to the NFL and CFL Drafts will be exciting.
"I've had a lot of help around me," he said. "A lot of close family friends have been in that situation. My agent works with NFL teams and has guided me a lot, too. I think I'm as prepared as someone my age can be and I'm thankful for that. With everything that's happening, it's definitely been a dream."
Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.