Rams catching a draft
Tim Switzer
Leader-Post
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Rams quarterback Teale Orban is unsure of his plans for CFL draft day.
University of Regina Rams spring camp is doing no good for Brendon
LaBatte's psyche.
One might think it would help keep the 21-year-old offensive lineman's
mind off of Wednesday, when he could be selected in the CFL Canadian
college draft. In fact, it's doing the exact opposite.
"Playing football just makes me think about it even more," LaBatte said
with a chuckle Friday evening after the Rams finished their first
practice session. "It's nice physically to get out, but the stress ...
football is going to be on my mind for the next five days whereas it
would have only been on draft day before."
And unfortunately for LaBatte, when he thinks about the draft, he also
thinks back to the league's March evaluation camp, where the Weyburn
product didn't perform up to his expectations.
"It's tough to lie to somebody and say you did good when deep down you
don't feel like you did," said LaBatte, 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds. "I put
in a lot of work the last two years to show everybody what I could do
and I definitely didn't show them what I was capable of. I've ran faster
40(-yard dashes), I've bench pressed more -- none of those numbers were
PBs. When I left there, I was pretty mad at myself. On-the-field
(workouts) went pretty well so that kind of made up for it. It's
frustrating knowing I'll never get the chance to get all the teams in
front of me again."
Even so, his agent has been in contact with a few CFL teams and the
feedback has apparently been fairly positive.
"It's all a bunch of he said, she said stuff until Wednesday when we
find out what the truth really is," said LaBatte, a second-team
All-Canadian in 2007.
So now LaBatte just has to wait it out like other prospects before names
start being called.
The draft will be broadcast live on the CFL Web site, but LaBatte will
be nowhere near a computer when it begins. He just started a job at a
lumber yard and will likely be doing some heavy lifting when the
selections begin.
"I'm just going to go to work and hopefully sometime during the day I
get a little bonus," said LaBatte.
Rams quarterback Teale Orban, another potential draftee, is still
contemplating his plan for draft day.
"I'm in between either watching it intensely or completely getting away
from it all and doing something completely random," said Orban.
Last year, draft day turned out to be better than most expected for the
Rams. Wide receiver Chris Bauman went first overall to the Hamilton
Tiger-Cats, who also picked slotback Chris Getzlaf with the 33rd overall
pick. The Saskatchewan Roughriders picked up offensive lineman Ryan
Ackerman with the 28th selection. Getzlaf was later traded to Saskatchewan.
Given that, there is more of an expectation among this year's eligible
players to keep up the tradition.
"What we can take from (the 2007 results) is that, CFL teams are looking
at our team and it stands out now," said Orban. "It's not just one guy
making it in the last five years -- you've got three guys that get
legitimate shots and two guys that stick. It's not necessarily something
we're competing with, but to see that is good for the program in
general."
Orban and LaBatte, who both attended the pre-draft evaluation camp, are
the two mostly likely to be drafted Wednesday, but Rams head coach Frank
McCrystal thinks cornerback Andrew Rumbaugh might stand a chance as
well.
"If the CFL teams really look at it and examine the guys in the draft,
they will recognize that he has some physical attributes that would
allow him to compete at a training camp," said McCrystal.
NOTES: The Rams drew on the professional ranks for guest coaches for the
weekend camp. Roughriders defensive linemen John Chick and Marcus
"Chunky" Adams are helping out as are Getzlaf and former Rams linebacker
Mat Nesbitt, who signed with the Edmonton Eskimos in January ... Regina
Thunder offensive co-ordinator Gerry Thompson is also on hand working
with running backs ... Players will be on the field for two-a-day
practices today (9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) and Sunday (9:45 a.m. and 3:30
p.m.).
