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.

When looking at photos of Jacob Ruby, the first thing you notice is his massive size. At 6-7 and 315 pounds, he definitely cuts an imposing figure.

But what really stands out is his ever-growing beard. 

"It kind of just happened - I started it two seasons ago," Ruby explained to TSN this week. "I told myself I wasn't going to touch anything until we went to the playoffs and win a national championship so, that didn't happen that year and then I told myself I would keep it through the next season and I've done that so people are saying I can't touch it because it's part of me so I guess it's staying for a while."

While he hasn't sported the beard too long, his imposing size has almost always been present. Growing up in London, Ontario, he tried to play every sport he could. But Ruby soon realized that football was where he was best suited.  

"I kind of outgrew hockey," he said. "Once I realized when I played football that it was a sport more suitable to my size and my build, I realized I could use that to my advantage in the sport and I kind of fell in love with it." 

After playing in high school and club teams in London, Ruby was recruited by American prep schools - noted for helping high school athletes attain athletic scholarships to Division I programs. He chose Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, a school that's seen 70 players drafted into the pros. The culture shock was immediate.   

"It was very different," Ruby recalled. "The first training camp practice we had at Fork Union, it was like 90-plus degrees out and just so hot - and the way they do everything with two-a-days. You come in two weeks before school for training camp - just the way they go about training camp - every detail for football is completely different."

From Fork Union he went to the University of Richmond, a Division 1-AA school where he started early and reamined as a starter through his collegiate career.

"It was challenging," said Ruby. "And then in my redshirt freshman year I started from then on out. I did play pretty early, so it was challenging to evolve to that level of play. 

"Once I got used to it, my body got right and I got bigger. I kind of took the mold of an offensive lineman and it went from there."

Being a four-year starter is very rare in NCAA football and Ruby credits his coaches for his learning and development in Virginia. "It was awesome," he said. "(Virginia) is the start of the deep South so it's a little different culture especially towards football. You start in Virginia and as soon as you go further South, football is that much more bigger so it was good.  

"Going to different stadiums, playing different teams and seeing how big of an event it is that you're playing in - it was really cool."

While being a four-year starter was impressive in its own right, playing at left tackle is even more so. Ruby - a converted tight end from high school - has decent athleticism for a man his size playing his position. And that athleticism helps at his position. 

"Tackle is harder than guard or centre because you're in space vs. congestion," explained TSN CFL Analyst and former left tackle Chris Schultz. "Good space blockers are tough to find  and good congestion blockers are much easier. You can always move a tackle to guard. A move from guard to tackle happens, but not often." 

Ruby wants to play at left tackle when he turns pro which - in the CFL - is normally a position reserved for import players. Ruby making it in the CFL as a tackle would definitely have a bearing on any team's roster numbers. 

"Left tackle is a ratio breaker because (of) how the league has changed the distribution of Canadian talent," added Schultz. "In my day, left and right tackle was 90 per cent Canadian. Now it is 90 per cent American. The reason is because it's a dominant one-on-one position. If you're not competent at left tackle, the quarterback pays a price. A good Canadian left tackle is gold."

Currently the tenth-ranked prospect for this spring's CFL draft, Ruby will be back in Canada at the CFL Combine in March where teams can evaluate him - and his beard - in person.