At the CFL Evaluation Camp held at Varsity Centre from March 4–6, 55 CIS football players were given the opportunity to show scouts and coaches their best stuff.
The only player invited from the University of Toronto was 6’2”, 198-pound defensive back Hugo Lopez, and he definitely turned some heads.
Lopez had been training hard for the past few months in preparation for the camp, practicing twice a day and pushing his body to the limit. In the end, Lopez, said he feels it was well worth it, as he lived up to some expectations and exceeded the rest.
“I think I did great. I lived up to my athleticism like people thought I would do,” he said. “Some of my numbers were what I thought they would be, and some were better.”
His numbers were indeed impressive. He ranked third overall in the broad jump (10’6”), fourth overall in the vertical jump (40”), fourth overall and first among defensive backs in the shuttle (4.10s), and was tied for the fastest 10 yard dash overall (1.56s) and eighth overall in the 40 yard dash (4.65s). As for his direct competition, he ranked in the top four in every single category out of his nine-man group of DBs.
Many coaches at the camp were impressed with his numbers as well. Each of the eight teams can interview up to a maximum of 20 players from the 55-player camp, and Lopez was interviewed by four of them: the Toronto Argonauts, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Montreal Alouettes, and the Edmonton Eskimos.
“I connected the most with the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tigercats,” said Lopez.
While his boyhood dream has been to play for the Argos, he would never look down at the opportunity to play for any CFL club, including Toronto’s rival Hamilton.
“The main thing is to stay local, and Hamilton is sort of local,” he said. “It does kill the dream of being an Argo, but I don’t care where I get picked up as long as I get picked up and get paid for what I love doing.”
Before the camp, Lopez expected that most teams would ask him to play safety, rather than cornerback, the position he has been playing for most of his career.
“They’re giving me insinuations that with my height and weight, there’s a little bit too much weight moving around at corner because they’re speedy little guys.”
Lopez was fairly accurate in his prediction, except for one team.
“Hamilton still wants me as a corner because they are looking for four Canadian individuals to add to their roster, and are looking for a Canadian cornerback,” he said.
Lopez felt that though the camp was an overall success for him, but knows that he still needs some work to do for that success to translate onto the field in the CFL.
“My whole college career I have had different coaches,” he said. “Either they were released, or I switched schools, so I really haven’t had a pat down technique on covering one-on-one. I depend too much on athleticism, and less than technique, but at the next level every player is an athlete.
“I’ve got to work on technique, and it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. We’ve got a new coach, Donovan Carter, he’s got a lot of CFL experience, and I do like his technique. I feel comfortable with his technique, but I need a lot of practicing and a little more coaching. I think the best way is to keep on practicing with the guys and a little more one-on-one sessions.”
As for the camp itself, Lopez said that it was a valuable experience that he will be able to use in the future, whether it is on the field or on the job.
“It was amazing, talking to all those coaches, meeting all those players from around the nation, as well as meeting NCAA players and seeing their views on things,” he said. “The interview process was also a good experience. The Toronto Argos’ and Edmonton Eskimos’ interview process was pretty brutal. The Argos had an eight foot table, lights, cameras and eight coaches in your face just interrogating you.”
The hard work Lopez put in coming into the camp has paid off in his opinion and no matter what happens in the future, his participation in the camp will remain a fond memory.
“I was definitely ready for the camp, and I proved a point,” he said. “E-Camp is an incredible experience and I’ll never forget it.”
The CFL experience hopefully doesn’t end there, however, as the CFL Entry Draft is slated to take place on May 8 and Lopez is very optimistic about his chances.
