UBC has never had a player picked in the NFL Draft — could they have two by the end of the weekend? (2024)

Giovanni Manu had Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talking about UBC Thunderbirds football.

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Manu and fellow Thunderbirds offensive tackle Theo Benedet have been on the radar of NFL teams since the fall. Thirteen clubs came to the University of B.C. during the season to scout the pair, while 16 teams were represented when the T-Birds held a pro day headlined by Manu and Benedet at B.C. Place on March 29.

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Manu, who’s from Pitt Meadows, checks in at 6-foot-7 and 352 pounds. He ran a 5.03-second 40 yard dash at the pro day, which would have tied him for the 10th best time among the 70 offensive linemen who attended the NFL Scouting Combine in early March, and he would have been the second heaviest player there.

That spearheaded him making 13 visits with NFL clubs afterwards, including a trip to the Cowboys where he had a sit-down with Jones, who’s one of the best-known owners in all of pro sports.

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The first round of the NFL Draft is slated for Thursday night. The second and third rounds go Friday, and the draft finishes with the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday. The NFL Draft hasn’t featured a pick from Canada’s U Sports ranks since 2016.

“Meeting Jerry Jones is a moment I’ll never forget in my life,” Manu explained. “Just hearing him speak about the culture of the Dallas Cowboys was amazing and I could feel how passionate and caring he was for the organization and the sport of football, which was great.

“I spent about an hour talking with him and I just told him my whole life story and the way I approach football. Overall great guy and great experience.”

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Teams are permitted to bring in up to 30 players to their complex before the draft.

Manu is getting play from various publications as a sleeper pick to watch in the draft, making him a well-publicized best kept secret as it were.

UBC coach Blake Nill says that Manu’s efforts at pro day got him recognized and helped him to step out of the shadow of Benedet, a 6-foot-7, 295 pound North Vancouver native.

Benedet won the J.P. Metras Trophy as U Sports most outstanding lineman for a second straight season this year, becoming the first offensive lineman in the 49-year history of the award to capture it more than once.

He was the lone U Sports invite to the NCAA-laden East-West Shrine Bowl all-star game in 2023 and drew raves for his performance there.

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Benedet went on one visit after the pro day, meeting with the Indianapolis Colts, but Nill maintains “everyone already knows about Theo.”

Several teams sent area scouts to the UBC pro day. The Colts opted to have offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter there, while the Cowboys had tight end coach Lunda Wells on hand, as well as scout J.T. Dooley.

Whether that extra attention proves foreshadowing for either Benedet or Manu is to be determined.

For his part, Benedet says that his mindset currently is “to be ready for whatever opportunity comes my way,” and that his training “has already flipped to making a 53-man (NFL) roster.”

“There’s definitely some nerves and excitement mixed in,” continued Benedet, who ran a 5.14, 40-yard dash at the pro day. “It would be cool to see the program recognized with two guys picked.”

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Left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis going in the first round of the 2002 MLB Draft put rocket boosters on the profile of Terry McKaig’s UBC baseball program and you would think this could do the same for Nill’s team if all goes well this weekend.

UBC has never had a player picked in the NFL Draft. Offensive tackle Dakoda Shepley, who played his final season with UBC in 2017, is on the Cowboys’ roster. He signed as a free agent initially in 2018 with the New York Jets.

UBC went 9-3 last year, making it to the Vanier Cup national championship, where they fell 16-9 to the Montreal Carabins. The T-Birds are expected to have several players picked — including Manu and Benedet — in Tuesday’s CFL Draft. Benedet played right tackle and Manu left tackle for Nill this past season.

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“The football brand at UBC is at a point where we can separate,” said Nill, who had powerhouse teams at Calgary and St. Mary’s, and then won a Cup in his first season with the T-Birds in 2015. “We just need to have all hands on deck. I’m telling you this is getting close here.

“We are adding the right coaching pieces. We’re continually attracting athletes of national calibre and we develop them better than anyone.It’s close to being one of those programs that will remain at the top for awhile. We’re not quite there but we’re getting close.”

Manitoba Bisons defensive lineman David Onyemata, who was picked in the 2016 fourth round by the New Orleans Saints, is the last U Sports player picked in an NFL Draft. He played last season with the Atlanta Falcons after signing a three-year deal with the Falcons in March 2023.

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SEwen@postmedia.com

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