TORONTO

Chad Owens had some strong words for CFL defensive players on Sunday, basically saying the league's new rules are going to determine which of them are the real deal.

The Argonauts receiver-returner is one of the league's most dynamic players with the ball in his hands, and now he's going to have even more room on the vast CFL field to make big plays. Under the new proposed rules, which still have to be approved by the board of governors, contact will no longer be allowed five yards past the line of scrimmage, and on punts the five ineligible players on the cover team will have to remain behind the line of scrimmage until the ball is punted.

Naturally, Owens said it was about time the rules changed.

“I look at it as the right things to do,” Owens said Sunday while watching the next generation of players strut their stuff at the CFL combine. “I know DBs, they're probably upset about it. They're going to hate me for this, but they got away from their technique. They got away from trusting their feet and really having to cover somebody. It takes no skill to grab someone. It takes no skill to do those things.

“And yeah, we got the waggle. Whatever. That's the Canadian game. If I get open, I deserve to catch a ball.”

Owens, who was the CFL's most outstanding player in 2012, said the clutching and grabbing had even plagued the practice field lately. Grabbing offensive players started to come naturally to those on defence, leading to injuries.

The Flyin' Hawaiian believes the truly good defensive players are going to be identified thanks to the new rules.

“Now it's going to be a test of true skills, true coverage skills and maybe a lot more zone coverage,” Owens said. “Because if it's man (coverage), it's hard to play off man in this league with the waggle. You're going to be forced to come up and press. It's going to be some fun battles that way, too. You're going to see a true test of coverage skills, so I'm looking forward to it.”

Owens then leaned into the microphone to declare that he still has plenty of respect for the boys on the other side of the line of the scrimmage.

“Defences will win championships, because if you don't let the team score ... kudos to the defence,” he said. “So defences, remember that: It's an offensive game, but we'll still give you guys that slogan. Defences win championships.”

SLIP 'N' SLIDE

Several players were unable to finish the shuttle and 3-cone drills on Sunday because of the slippery turf under the bubble at the University of Toronto's Varsity Centre. Many more hit the ground while trying to stop and start, leading to second chances for some of them.

“I would've worn other cleats than these ones, because they always worked for me on longer turf,” Laval offensive lineman Danny Groulx said. “But this one was really short. It was really slippery.”

It was so bad that both of Groulx's knees were bleeding after the testing and one-on-one drills, but he wasn't the only one who might have lost a little bit of time or slipped while trying to make a block due to the slick conditions.

“It's unfortunate,” he said, “but it's not the end of the world.”

DIFFERENT STORY

The one-on-one drills between offensive and defensive linemen is usually a one-sided affair for the boys on defence, but this year the hogs had their day in the sun.

Calgary's Sukh Chung and Sean McEwen, along with Groulx, proved their worth as top 10 prospects on Sunday by doing well in an event that is viewed as tougher for the offensive linemen. They weren't the only ones who fared well, backing up the belief that this year's draft class is full of topnotch hogs.

“One-on-ones are a D-line drill. When you haven't seen any film on the D-linemen, you don't know their moves,” Chung said. “When you prepare for a defensive line in a week of preparation for a game you know their tendencies and you know their moves.

“Here it's fresh and it's really just reaction, and you just gotta stick to the basics and don't fall for the simple stuff.”

One defensive lineman who got through more than once was Western's Rory Connop, who also took some reps on the offensive line in an effort to show some versatility.

“I just thought it'd help,” Connop said. “Might as well. Overall it went pretty good.”

kirk.penton@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/PentonKirk

TESTING, TESTING

The top performers on Day 2 at the CFL combine:

40-yd Dash Secs.

DB Tevaughn Campbell, Regina 4.36

RB Shaquille Murray-Lawrence, UNLV 4.41

DB Kahlen Branning, Regina 4.53

Shuttle Time

LB Byron Archambault, Montreal 4.18

WR Nic Demski, Manitoba 4.19

DB Dexter Janke, Okanagan Sun 4.25

3-Cone Time

WR Nic Demski, Manitoba 6.91

WR Philip Enchill, Montreal 7.06

DB Chris Ackie, W. Laurier 7.09

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