After not playing in 2021, Richards treating CFL combine as a 'job interview'

TORONTO — Tyrell Richards has a lot riding on the 2022 CFL combine.

There certainly will be the weight of expectation on the former Syracuse linebacker, who was No. 4 in the CFL Scouting Bureau's January list of the top-20 prospects for the 2022 draft, which will be held May 3. But Richards is also anxious to prove he's a blue-chip prospect despite not playing football in 2021.

The six-foot-three, 230-pound Brampton, Ont., resident went into the NCAA transfer portal after the 2020 season when he accumulated a career-high 24 tackles (3.5 for a loss) and two sacks in eight games (three starts) for Syracuse. But while Richards had offers from other schools, he hadn't accumulated enough transferable credits to make the move.

Richards considered enrolling into a junior college before opting to spend 2021 training "for any opportunity that presented itself.'' Richards registered 54 tackles (9.5 for a loss) and six sacks in 31 career games at Syracuse.

Predictably, Richards will audition before CFL officials with something to prove.

"I kind of have to because many guys have film from last year," Richards said. "They have stats and have proven themselves in their last season … so I've got to do everything I can this weekend.

"I'm going to let it fly. This is a job interview so I have to go out there and be 100 per cent."

Also performing this weekend will be prospects for the CFL Global draft, which goes May 3.

Drew Allemang, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats assistant GM and director of Canadian scouting, said while the combine is an important evaluation tool, it's not something that necessarily makes or breaks a player's potential.

"We put enough weight on anyone's test results but it's not everything," Allemang told reporters during a