Scouts rate Medeiros highly

Fraser Caldwell

Sports Editor

Very few athletes are presented with the opportunity to realize a childhood dream, but McMaster’s Jason Medeiros may soon be one of them.

That’s because Medeiros – a standout offensive lineman for the Marauders’ Vanier Cup winning football team – has been ranked tenth in the CFL’s latest pre-draft scouting report.

Having already accepted an invitation to the league’s Evaluation Camp to be held in Toronto in March – alongside McMaster teammates Kyle Quinlan and Brad Fochesato – Medeiros looks to be well on his way to the professional ranks.

For his part, the lineman is clearly over the moon with the value CFL scouts have placed on him. He insists that professional consideration in any form would have been enough. Instead, he has been anointed as one of the most promising prospects on offer across Canada.

“I really wasn’t expecting to be ranked at all,” Medeiros confessed. “Coming into this season, I knew that I had to do well because it was my draft year. Just to get noticed at all would have been fantastic, but to be ranked this high is unbelievable.”

Medeiros is excited to represent McMaster at the highest level, and believes that the inclusion of three Marauders at the league’s evaluation camp is a testament to the strength of the program as a whole.

“Representing your colours at this level is something you always dream that you can do, and I’m sure that Kyle and Brad feel the same way,” said the veteran lineman. “It’s amazing to be able to represent Mac like this, because we’re an organization and a team that competes at the highest level.”

Marauders’ Assistant Head Coach Jon Behie called the plays for Medeiros and his fellow offensive players this past season, and believes that the recognition that the lineman has garnered reflects well on the program as a whole and provides an example for younger teammates.

“It feels great when one of our guys is recognized,” said Behie. “It’s something that our entire program can be proud of, and also gives our younger guys something to aspire to. The same goes for Kyle and Brad being invited to the CFL evaluation camp as well.”

The lauded play-caller is unsurprised by Medeiros’ position on the scouting list, citing a sterling season from the lineman as ample reason for his being placed in the upper echelon.

“I’m not surprised by Jay’s being ranked tenth,” said Behie. “He had as good a calendar year as a CIS player could have had in 2011. He tested and played well at last year’s East-West Bowl, and was part of the Senior Men’s National Team over the summer.

“It certainly helps that CFL scouts saw him more than hold his own against some of the best defensive lines in the country, including Queen’s, Western, Acadia and Laval. But as great as being ranked tenth on that list is, Jay knows that in the end it really doesn’t matter all that much.

“He still needs to work hard leading up to the E-Camp and have a great showing that weekend.”

One thing is certain: Medeiros will not lack for motivation as he strives to crack a CFL lineup. Having long dreamt of a shot at playing professionally, the lineman is thinking of nothing else as the evaluation camp looms.

“It’s one of those dreams that you have ever since you were a little kid,” said Medeiros. “When you’re at the level that you’re ready to make the jump, it’s the only thing that you think about.

“I wake up thinking about the CFL. I eat and sleep it. It’s all I do.”