A combination of factors could have worked to Jayden Dalke’s disadvantage as the CFL’s 2022 National Combine loomed.
His final season with the University of Alberta Golden Bears was impacted by surgery on one knee and repeated injuries to the other.
But the adversity did not deter him from taking part in the Combine and impressing the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ football-operations staff to the extent that he was selected in the sixth round (54th overall) of last year’s draft.
“He’s one of my favourite Combine stories, because we can measure everything out there from a physical standpoint, but you can’t measure intangibles like heart and toughness and that’s what sets Jayden apart from some others,” Roughriders assistant general manager Kyle Carson says from Edmonton, where this year’s Combine began Wednesday and continues until Sunday.
“That’s a big reason why he has been and will continue to be successful.”
Stressful times characterized Dalke’s 2021 Canada West season.
In July of that year, he underwent surgery to remove the meniscus in his right knee. Once the games began, he was wearing a knee brace.
Subsequently, he tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, but missed only one game after being fitted with another brace.
“Honestly, I thought it was potentially my last season of playing football,” Dalke reflects. “I didn’t want to go out and not give everything I had. I didn’t want to go out with an injury.”
So he continued to play, only to re-tear the left MCL in a playoff game.
“I wasn’t able to fully trust (the left knee) and prepare entirely going into my Combine,” he says, “but I knew that I wanted to declare (for the 2022 draft) and see where everything fell.”
Dalke’s ranking fell, in the appraisal of some observers — those who took note of, say, a 4.86-second clocking in the 40-yard dash — but the perception soared from another perspective.
“He didn’t run the fastest 40 time in the world, which was the main reason he slipped to the sixth round,” Carson notes. “But then you come to find out that he was participating in the Combine with a not-fully-healed MCL tear from the year before, which for us also spoke to his grit.”
Courtesy University of Alberta athletics
Many people who spoke to Dalke before the Combine advised him to err on the side of caution during a three-day event that began March 24, 2022 in Toronto.
“My MCL had flared up and everybody was advising me not to do any of the running because, if I did get drafted and was invited to a main camp, I didn’t want to be set back based off of any testing at the Combine,” Dalke says.
“The day of the Combine, I went through a couple of warmups. We did the verticals the day before and I decided I was going to attempt to run the 40, at least, just because I know that’s a big metric for a lot of recruiters.
“Honestly, for me, it was more about the interviews. I wanted to let people know my situation, first off, and give them an explanation as to why I wasn’t participating in everything.
“I also wanted to get to know what coaches and recruiters are like in the CFL. That was the coolest part for me — getting to interview with all these different teams and meet with all these different coaches, because I had zero clue going in about what they were like.”
The interview process proved to be illuminating for all parties.
“The thing that stood out to me about the process of selecting Jayden was his physicality and energy that he brought when you studied the film,” Carson says.
“Then, when we interviewed him and we watched him at the Combine, it was obvious that he loves football and he loves to compete. He was all smiles out there and just having fun. Something you like to see as a scout is that they enjoy what they’re doing.”
Post-Combine, post-draft events were also to the Roughriders’ liking.
Dalke made a strong impression at his first CFL training camp and ended up making the Roughriders’ roster.
Better yet, he participated in all 18 regular-season games, putting the injury woes of 2021 in the rear-view mirror while registering 15 defensive tackles and adding 11 stops on special teams.
Dalke is quick to credit members of the Roughriders’ training staff, such as strength and conditioning co-ordinator Clinton Spencer, for the individual good fortune in 2022.
“There were a couple of nagging little injuries, but I knew it was nothing that was going to stop me from being on the field whenever I had the chance,” Dalke says.
“Eighteen games was a long season. What my body was used to was probably eight (games) going into that, so I was very pleased with it and pleased with the result overall for my year. I was stoked to make it through and I’m excited to get back.”
Especially with the Roughriders’ first-team safety’s spot up for grabs.
“I have very high expectations for myself,” Dalke concludes. “Obviously, I want to contribute in the two out three parts of the game that I can. I want to be able to make a big impact on special teams and, if I’m called upon to do so, I want to be able to prove myself as a potential starter on defence in the CFL.
“I just want to make sure that I can be there and be called upon for my team when I get the opportunity.”
