CFL Scouting Bureau: Calgary’s Sinagra headlines eight U SPORTS standouts on initial Top 20 prospects list

2019 Lieutenant Governor Athletic Award finalist and reigning Hec Crighton Trophy winner Adam Sinagra of the Calgary Dinos highlights a group of eight U SPORTS  players on the initial prospect list released by the Canadian Football League’s Scouting Bureau Thursday  in advance of the 2020 Draft.

Sinagra, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound quarterback from Pointe Claire, Que., was named the most outstanding player in U SPORTS football last season. The fifth-year arts student had 3,233 passing yards in 2018 to set a new U SPORTS record, as he led the Dinos to a perfect 8-0 season in Canada West play and the most potent offence in the nation, averaging 570.9 yards per game. Sinagra ranked second in the nation in passing touchdowns with 23 and led the conference with a passer rating of 126. He also earned Canada West Hardy Cup MVP Honours in the 2016 season as the Dinos advanced to the Vanier Cup.

“Adam’s confidence level and his leadership have really emerged…It’s something we didn’t see a lot of in his first two years where he was more of a quiet leader. Now, he says the right things at the right time and shares the information with his receivers and line,” said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris Jr. ” He learned what it’s like to prepare as a professional – the way he watches film, makes notes in meetings on our systems and our opponents has significantly changed…Everything he has learned has helped him be a better quarterback.”

Of the eight U SPORTS standouts who cracked the first Top 20 rankings of the season, the first two come from the highly-successful Laval Rouge et Or program with offensive lineman Ketel Assé at No. 7 and linebacker Adam Auclair at No.8, respectively.

Last season, Assé was named a First Team All-Canadian, while Auclair captured the Bruce Coulter Award as Vanier Cup Defensive MVP. Auclair also won the Presidents’ Trophy as U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

The first Scouting Bureau list also includes players from Alberta, Carleton, Montreal, Waterloo and Western.

Last May, Waterloo Warriors offensive lineman Jesse Gibbon was the first U SPORTS player selected in the CFL Draft when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats called his name at No. 2. After being left off last season’s first two prospect lists in August and December, Gibbon was ranked 14^th on the final list released in April heading into the Draft.

Gibbon was one of three U SPORTS players who went in the opening round, along with Laval defensive lineman Mathieu Betts at No.3 to Edmonton and Windsor offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais at No. 4 to Winnipeg.  In total, 52 U SPORTS players were selected in the 2019 CFL Draft out of 73 total picks (71.2 per cent).

The CFL Scouting Bureau releases its rankings three times each year, usually in the Fall, Winter and Spring. The Bureau is comprised of CFL scouts, player personnel directors and general managers from the league’s nine teams.