The football industry is truly a people business. In scouting in particular, establishing reliable connections with others around the industry is of prime importance.
Scouts work to obtain as much information as possible to make educated decisions about which players they should acquire. Because of this, establishing and maintaining reliable connections at all areas and levels of football is extremely important. Those with the best connections are often most likely to acquire the most genuine and helpful information, after all.
One example of an instance where external connection assisted the Blue Bombers’ scouting department this offseason occurred when I received a text from someone who works in analytics in the NFL back in January about Texas A&M-Commerce defensive end Celestin Haba.
He asked if I had heard of Haba and suggested that the pass rusher could be a potential CFL fit based solely on his physical stature and analytical profile. With one of the highest rates of generating pass rush pressure in college football, Haba was flagged by this team’s analytics software, yet he was apparently under-the-radar in NFL scouting circles.
Being intrigued by this message from a trustworthy source, I quickly put on Haba’s 2022 season film and was intrigued by his springy get off, ability to dip the corner and bend the edge, and high motor to pursue ball carriers through the whistle.
A few hours after finishing my dive into the tape, I reached out to our Assistant GM/Director of U.S. Scouting Danny McManus to put Haba on his radar and ask if he had seen the pass rusher at any point this season. Coincidentally, Danny replied that he had just witnessed Haba have an excellent performance at the Tropical Bowl scrimmage the previous day and was planning on looking further into the Texas A&M-Commerce product.
With the two of us both liking what we saw from Haba, the young prospect was placed squarely on our radar thereafter. So, we tracked his pre-draft process and put him on the negotiation list after a strong Pro Day showing confirmed what we saw on tape from him athletically.
After signing Haba late in training camp, he instantly made an impression on our scouts and coaching staff due to his explosive first step quickness and pass rush plan. And after just one preseason game and two full practices with the team, the 23-year-old was able to crack the Week 1 active roster.
While he was expected to receive only rotational snaps in his first professional game, Haba was thrust into action in Week 1 due to injury. Despite having less than two weeks to learn our system, he did not overthink things, showing the first-step quickness, play speed and ability to bend the edge that was seen on his college tape and on the All-Star circuit. Haba’s game-sealing sack against future CFL Hall of Fame quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell in Week 1’s win over Hamilton at IG Field illustrated that combination of his abilities perfectly.
Many past and present Winnipeg Blue Bombers have stories that are similar to Haba’s, where a recommendation from a reliable source played a key factor in getting the player on our radar and up to the CFL. If not for recommendations from often unexpected sources, scouting departments around pro football might miss out on under-the-radar players like Haba.
