With the 2015 CFL Combine (Mar. 27-29) and CFL Draft (TBA) approaching on the offseason calendar, TSN.ca profiles some of the prospects who could be taken this spring.

Laurier defensive back Chris Ackie looks to have all the physical tools to be a professional football player.  Standing 6 feet 2 inches and weighing a solid 210 pounds he appears to be your prototypical defensive back, or even linebacker, in the CFL game.  With a vertical jump at 38 inches and a broad jump close to 11 feet, he also clearly has the athleticism to play at the next level. Yet Ackie believes he had his best two seasons in the CIS mainly because his intelligence on the football field.

“I always took it seriously but now I'm more focused,” Ackie told TSN. “I watch so much film, I watch hours of film at night.  It's not enough to be the best athlete, you have to have a football IQ.  Over the years I've developed my football IQ and I can kind of slow down the game and I can make a lot more plays.”  

Ackie’s increase prep work led to results on the field.  In 2013 he was a second team OUA All-Star with over 40 tackles.  This year he was a first team All-Star in the conference and a first team CIS All-Canadian.  Teams in the OUA tended to throw away from Ackie in games, as he had only one interception in his last two seasons, but he was never far from the action, nearly tripling his tackling totals from his first two seasons.   

“Chris became a team leader in the film department,” Laurier associate head coach and defensive coordinator Ron VanMoerkerke explained. “During the season he could always be found in the football offices watching extra film. Also, he would organize film for younger players at his home or in classrooms on campus.”

“I'll go into the office and watch film with a coach or bring a bunch of DB’s or linebackers and we'll watch film together; me kind of teaching them stuff is helping me as well,” Ackie explained. “I'll even work with my offensive coaches, watching film with them. It helps me because now I know how an offensive player is thinking.” 

Orginally from Toronto, Ackie, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Grenada, grew up in Cambridge, Ontario in a ‘big family.’ He credits his older brother Ron for getting him into the game.

“I started playing football when I was 10-years-old. One of the things was my brother played the year before me,” explained Ackie.  “Whatever you're older brother wants to do, you want to copy, so I wanted to play football right away so the next year I started playing and I fell in love with it.”

Since he started playing the game, Ackie’s dreamt of being a professional football player. His success in the game would eventually lead him to Wilfrid Laurier University in nearby Waterloo. Even though the school was close to home, that wasn’t the reason for attending the school.

“My parents would have supported me wherever I went,” Ackie said. “I got offers to go to school in Montreal but they were happy that I stayed close. The thing about Laurier was the coaches, especially our defensive coordinator, VanMoerkerke. He's one of the reasons I went to Laurier. Over the years he's put me in a position to be successful at no matter what position I've been at.  I've always been a good athlete, but to learn the game, Coach V's taught me a lot about the game.”

While Ackie’s emphasis on improving his football IQ is noteworthy, CFL teams will also be attracted by his size and athleticism. Currently ranked twelfth in the CFL prospect rankings, Ackie hopes to showcase this in March’s CFL Combine.

“I want to show them how versatile I am and how great of an athlete I am.  I want to show them I am not a person who can only play one position, I can play multiple positions and they can draft me.  They can draft me as an athlete and they can put me wherever they need me to go.  I just want to show them that I'm one of the best defensive players in the draft.”

But people shouldn’t forget that he brings more to the table than athleticism.

“They (CFL teams) will get a hard-working player that continues to develop. He easily could have gotten by on genetic gifts alone,” VanMoerkerke said “But he never missed a workout or a summer run. He is dedicated to improving and works hard to do so.” 

“My athletic ability is my greatest attribute as a player but also I've taken strides to become a really smart player,” Ackie said.  “I really know the game, when I came up first year I thought I knew the game but now that I'm in my fourth year I think I really understand the game”