STFX X-Men football offensive lineman Gregor MacKellar is amongst an elite group of 14 U SPORTS athletes identified by the Canadian Football League (CFL) on their spring prospect list in advance of the upcoming draft. MacKellar is a 6'5", 305 pound lineman from Timberlea, N.S. set to graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. A 2022 U SPORTS second team all-Canadian and AUS all-star, he started in all games for the X-Men and was a key component of their offense. He is the only AUS athlete to appear on the final prospects list.

CFL Scouting Bureau
Hec Crighton winner Ford headlines fourteen U SPORTS standouts on final top prospects list

TORONTO– 2021 Hec Crighton winner Tre Ford of the Waterloo Warriors highlights a group of 14 U SPORTS players on the final spring prospect list released by the Canadian Football League's Scouting Bureau on Tuesday in advance of the 2022 Draft.

Ford, a dual-threat quarterback, ranked No. 4 on the scouting bureau list- highest among U SPORTS athletes after appearing on the rankings in both the summer and winter installments.

Ford is the reigning Hec Crighton Award winner as the most valuable player in U SPORTS football and is a two-time OUA conference most valuable player finishing the past season in the top 10 of both passing and rushing in Canada.

Last season, the Recreation and Leisure student completed 118 of 186 passes (63.4%), throwing for 1465 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Averaging 244 yards per game in the air, he also finished fourth in Canada in rushing with 629 yards in six contests while scampering for three more scores. He led all U SPORTS rushers averaging 10.7 yards per carry in the 2021 season.

Calgary wide receiving duo Jalen and Tyson Philpot ranked No.5 and No. 6 in the final list ahead of the CFL Draft. The pair combined for 3463 receiving yards on 190 catches and 24 touchdowns over three seasons with the Dinos and were instrumental in Calgary's 2019 Vanier Cup victory.

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.

Last year, 31 U SPORTS standouts were selected out of 54 total picks (57.4 percent) over six rounds. Canada West led the way with 14 selections, followed by OUA with nine – with the Calgary Dinos having the most players picked with six, while the Tiger-Cats picked the most of any CFL team at five. 

In all, 16 of the 27 U SPORTS programs had at least one player chosen in the 2021 CFL Draft. 

The 2022 CFL Draft is scheduled for May 3. The first two rounds, including commentary and in-depth analysis, will be broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. ET on TSN and RDS – Canada's home of the CFL. RDS's draft show will also include a preview of the upcoming season. Exclusive coverage of Rounds 3-8 can be seen live on tsn.ca and the TSN app.

By the Numbers

• The Spring rankings include: 
  • Seven offensive linemen
  • Four wide receivers
  • Three defensive linemen
  • Two linebackers
  • Two defensive backs
  • One quarterback 
  • One running back
• 15 schools are represented in the rankings with five schools featuring multiple players:
  • University of Waterloo (No. 4 Tre Ford and No. 9 Tyrell Ford)
  • University of Calgary (No. 5 Jalen Philpot and No. 6 Tyson Philpot)
  • Western University (No. 7 Deionte Knight and No. 14 Zack Fry)
  • University of Saskatchewan (No. 10 Noah Zerr and No. 20 Nathan Cherry)
  • University of Alberta (No. 13 Rodeem Brown and No. 16 Peter Kozushka)
• 14 prospects are from U SPORTS; 6 are from the NCAA.
• Seven players are making their CFL Scouting Bureau debuts in these rankings.
• In 2021, 18 of the 20 prospects identified in the Spring rankings were selected in the CFL Draft.
• Of the nine first-round selections in the 2021 CFL Draft, five appeared in the Spring rankings.

2022 Spring Scouting Bureau List

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