How Good Is Jordan Herdman? (His Dad Played for the Argos)

[jerrym]

Here are video highlights of Jordan Herdman playing at SFU. He displays the strong drive and great confidence typical of dominant athletes.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iFW8r5GJpE

[jerrym]

As Canadian Jordan Herdman starts his senior year at SFU having already won the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year the last two years, the question arises where he might be selected in next year's CFL and even NFL draft. The fact that he is also an outstanding academic performer who is bright, hard-working and goal-oriented may increase his draft position.

Ask Jordan Herdman how he goes about setting his goals, and his answer gets right to the heart of the matter.
“I always say that you shoot for the best bar that you can,” explains the Clan’s hard-rock middle linebacker. “So just like in everything that I do, I shoot for the stars.”
What that’s added up to for Herdman is a unique distinction as not only the best overall football player in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, but it’s brightest as well.
For the second straight season, Herdman not only led the GNAC in tackles, with 14.8 tackles per game, he also produced the conference’s highest grade point average at 3.99, as a biomedical physiology major no less.
“My parents are hard-working people and I guess it just rubbed off on us,” continues the soft-spoken Herdman, whose twin brother Justin is both his defensive teammate and classmate in biomedical physiology, averaging 9.2 tackles and a 3.55 GPA. “My mom and dad stressed the importance of getting and education and how knowledge is power.”
Yet as gifted as he is, Jordan Herdman doesn’t just roll out of bed, show up at class and pull down straight A’s. “I talked with someone who shared a room with the brothers on a road trip and he said ‘I woke up at 3 a.m. and they were both in opposite corners of the room studying,” says SFU’s NCAA program coordinator Laura Reid. “There are no shortcuts. You just have to work really hard.”
And Herdman knows what he wants. “I hope to get into medical school and get into radiology,” he says. But before that happens, a pro football career will likely beckon. “I’ve dreamt about all of this my whole life,” he adds, “and it feels so good that it’s all coming together now.”

http://theprovince.com/sports/univer...hardly-average

[OV Argo]

As Canadian Jordan Herdman starts his senior year at SFU having already won the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year the last two years, the question arises where he might be selected in next year's CFL and even NFL draft. The fact that he is also an outstanding academic performer who is bright, hard-working and goal-oriented may increase his draft position.


http://theprovince.com/sports/univer...hardly-average

I wonder if Herdman might draw some NFL interest - not likely to be a top prospect being from Div II ball, but he might get a look - late round pick or undrafted FA ?

Rather see him in the CFL; might be good enough to come in and start at MLB right away for a team in need; hometown Bombers would be wise or lucky to get him maybe; wouldn't mind the Argos taking him either, but there might be lots of other needs draft time, and Herdman likely picked early.

[doubleblue]

Should be the top 15 prospect list coming out shortly. Don't know of many NCAA Canadian Seniors this year. RB Akeem Lynch 5'11 220 at Nevada would be a good one for the Argos to pick up, if he's not too big for Milanovich's back field.

[OV Argo]

Should be the top 15 prospect list coming out shortly. Don't know of many NCAA Canadian Seniors this year. RB Akeem Lynch 5'11 220 at Nevada would be a good one for the Argos to pick up, if he's not too big for Milanovich's back field.

The CFL should have their first (September) Scouting Combine list of top prospects for next year's draft out soon ?

I was going to put out my own list of a top 15 - try to do it soon on the CFL Forum here.

As far as US Div I college ball Canucks for the 2017 CFL draft - Elie Ankou - 6-3, 305 starting DT at UCLA; and massive (6-9, 336) O-lineman (starting guard) Mason Woods (Idaho), are maybe the top 2, but Herdman is top of this class IMO (unless he was to post very poor Combine testing #s).

[jerrym]

Jordan and his twin brother Justin are having another outstanding season at SFU in Division II NCAA football.

The bond between brothers is a unique one – part best friends, and part lifelong rivals.

However, for the SFU Clan football team's twin senior linebackers, Jordan and Justin Herdman, it definitely leans towards the former.

"He's my best friend, no question," said Justin. "I mean we've been together for almost every day the past 22 years. We spend almost all day together, and do the same stuff. We've always been by each other's side, so yeah, I would say we're pretty close."

Nearly as central to their relationship is the competition between the pair – driving the other to excellence.

"We definitely push each other in everything," laughed Jordan. "I want to beat him, and he wants to beat me, but it's more of a friendly competition. As much as we want to beat each other in whatever we do, I still want him to succeed, and he wants the same for me. At the end of the day, that helps us continue to get better."

Considering the duo are consistently mentioned among the top defensive players in NCAA Division II football, with Jordan taking home GNAC Defensive Player of the Year two years running, their system appears to be working. ...

http://athletics.sfu.ca/news/2016/9/...u-defence.aspx

[jerrym]

Jordan Herdman has broken the all-time career tackles record for the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference this season.

Herdman, the two-time defending GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, etched his name into the GNAC Career Record Book Saturday with four solo tackles and five assists, breaking the all-time total tackles record of 385 set by Central Washington's Buddy Wood from 2005 to 2009. Herdman began the season with 315 tackles and after Saturday's game now has 393. Last weekend, Herdman became the GNAC's all-time leader in assisted tackles too.

http://athletics.sfu.ca/news/2016/9/...u-defence.aspx

[jerrym]

While Herdman hopes to be drafted by the CFL or NFL, with his 3.99 Grade Point Average he is also considering going to medical school. Should he choose football his discipline in using time management so effectively both on and off the field and his innate skills are likely to make him a highly successful player.

Fourth-year student Jordan Herdman is faced with a tough decision in his final year at Simon Fraser University—should he play professional football or become a physician?
Both are very real possibilities for Herdman, a middle line backer for the SFU Clan, and the two-time (2015 and 2016) Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Defensive Player of the Year.
That’s because he’s as successful off the field as he is on it. He’s just completing a major in biomedical physiology (BPK), with a 3.99 grade point average (GPA) out of a possible 4.33, leading all football players on the GNAC All-Academic team.

https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2...ed-school.html

[jerrym]

Jordan Herdman led the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in tackles for the third consecutive year with 113 while his twin brother Justin finished seventh with 73 tackles.
http://files.streamlinehosting.net/g...s.htm#conf.wi2

Both have decided to pursue a professional football career before becoming doctors. Their coach, former BC Lion Kelly Bates, foresees them being very successful in the CFL.

Jordan, the middle linebacker who was named a pre-season first team All-American by The Sporting News, is so talented that he has established virtually every tackling standard in the GNAC record book, including most tackles in a career (420), season (165) and a game (27).
Justin, an outside linebacker, has been just as important, funnelling the traffic Jordan’s way and still finding a way to make 207 career tackles.

Humble and respectful beyond reasonable belief, the Winnipeg siblings are also among the top of their class as pre-med students studying biomedical physiology. ...
Simon Fraser head coach Kelly Bates, a former Lion, has seen the work Elimimian and Bighill put in. And it’s no coincidence that he sees the same thing with the Herdmans, whom many feel will enjoy ultra-productive CFL careers of their own. ...
And Bates will tell you that the reason they are both so good is because they revel in their twin-ness, in the end embracing it as the biggest part of their identity.
“My brother is the one who makes me better,” begins Jordan, the reigning two-time GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, who has roomed with Justin the past four seasons. “I wouldn’t be here without him because he is the person who has the same mindset and the same goals as me. We push each other because in everything we do; we are always in competition.”
The brothers — Justin, who is two minutes younger than Jordan — are going to test the professional football waters before eventually taking out their stethoscopes.

[jerrym]

Jordan Herdman was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II All-American Second team in December.

Also nominated for the Cliff Harris award as the best defensive player in DII Football earlier this week, the 6’-2”, 235-lb Herdman re-wrote the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) record books in 2016, claiming the all-time marks in in tackles (428) and assisted tackles (223).

Finishing with a conference-leading 113 total tackles (56 solo, 57 assisted), Herdman fell three solo tackles shy of equaling the GNAC career record of 208, set by Central Washington's Blake Walker from 2001-2004.

https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2016/jordan-herdman-named-to-the-afca-division-ii-all-american-second-team.html

[jerrym]

Below is a career highlights reel for Justin Herdman, a middle linebacker who sheds tackles, finds the ball and hits hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3RoHFBh2rU



Here is a highlights video for the other twin brother, Justin, illustrating his speed and agility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itUuVYDw_xI

[OV Argo]

Bummers - sitting pretty in the draft - should IMO be quite interested in picking Herdman #1 overall - Winnipeg guy and all, plus maybe becomes a multi year starting CFL MLB with that kind of resume. And still be able to address other positions - like typical O-Line draft thinking, plus another position with #s 6 & 15 picks.

They get a good DT from this crop - to go with Shologan, Thomas (plus maybe Butcher from last year's draft) and they have the capability go with an all - National D-line (they have Westerman & Corney at DE plus maybe a shot to sign former draft pick Andy Mulumba who has been bouncing around the NFL).

Herdman (if he would pan-out) plus Loffler down the middle of their D would be nice.

[jerrym]

Here's an article on the Herdman twins, their CFL/NFL dreams, and their father, James Reed, who played in the NFL, as well as for the Bombers and Argos.

Israel Idonije and David Onyemata may have made football history in Manitoba.
But Jordan and Justin Herdman are looking to rewrite it.
The twin brothers, a linebacker tandem at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver the last few years, might be the best-kept sports secret in Winnipeg, quietly banging on the doors of the NFL in relative anonymity.
“Nobody's really paid any attention to these guys,” former Winnipeg Blue Bomber linebacker James Reed was telling me the other day.
“These guys” are Reed's sons, born in Winnipeg two minutes apart on July 21, 1994.
Reed never left town after playing for the Bombers in the early 1980s.
One of the products of his stay, his son Jordan, will play in Saturday's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., the game for draft-eligible U.S. college seniors.
Jordan is among just a few players from Canadian universities, and the first Manitoban, to ever take part.
There's a very real chance he'll become the first Manitoba-born player ever drafted by the NFL.
Manitoba's two NFL trailblazers, Idonije, who went undrafted, and Onyemata, a fourth-rounder, were University of Manitoba products born in Nigeria.
Reed's twin boys grew up playing on a field in St. James, learning the game from their dad from the age of three.
“That's always been my dream, to play in the NFL,” Jordan said from Mobile, where he's made quite an impression practising against the top U.S. college players this week. “To be drafted would be a great honour. I've been working so hard since I've been a little boy just dreaming of playing football. So that'd be amazing.”
But that's only half the story.
While Jordan takes part in one of the most scouted events on the college football calendar, his brother Justin is at a football academy in Somerset, New Jersey, getting himself ready for whatever team calls.
Projected as a free-agent signing after the draft, Justin has already been invited to the CFL combine in March.
But he's dreaming as big as his brother. And he has his dad's experience to fuel him.
“With the Eagles, he walked on, undrafted,” Justin said, repeating one of his favourite stories from Reed. “And he got an opportunity. He said it was one of the hardest camps in the NFL at the time. And he made the team. ...
​James Reed says he's enjoyed keeping a low profile since retiring from football.The former Blue Bomber middle linebacker, now 61, was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, but grew up in San Francisco.
Yet he never thought twice about putting down roots in Winnipeg when his football career was over.
“When I first came here, I said as long as you give me a big coat, I'll stay,” Reed said. “And they did.”
The Bombers top defensive player in 1981, Reed is still working as a hydrovac truck operator for a local construction firm.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/01/2...the-old-bomber

[jerrym]

According to football metrics, Jordan Herdman has had an outstanding week.

One category of advanced football metrics illuminated Jordan Herdman’s profile during Senior Bowl week, a college all-star showcase crawling with NFL coaches, agents and front-office personnel. That’s if you believe in the value of a measurable called “total player workload” — a gauge of combined movements through the duration of a football practice.
While not the fastest linebacker in “max velocity” or the leader in “total explosive movement” — measuring acceleration, deceleration and change of direction — Herdman, a 22-year-old from Simon Fraser University, topped all linebackers in “total player workload” at a practice session in Mobile, Ala. ...

Practice is what the Senior Bowl is all about. For three days, NFL and CFL people gather in Mobile to monitor graduating seniors being timed and tested and performing in one-on-one drills. They get to check the worth of “initial grades” put out by major scouting services which drive the conversation about a pro prospect. Personal interviews are an important part of the process. Of the participants in last year’s game, 87 were selected in the NFL draft, including four in the first round. While the Winnipeg native isn’t projected to be among them at this point — Herdman is slotted No. 16 in the latest Canadian college rankings put out by the CFL — his agent, Joe Linta, believes Herdman has the physical attributes to play in the NFL.
A Yale-educated former defensive tackle who negotiated a six-year, $120.6 million deal for Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco, Linta mainly has built a reputation for finding gold in small-time college programs passed over by NFL scouting services. “I was shocked how good he was,” said Linta, who first caught a glimpse of Herdman on YouTube last year and decided to fly him in to New Jersey for a workout. “What you see on film is not always what you see in person. I wanted to at least kick the tires. He dominated at the Division II level. But, absolutely, yes. I believe Jordan could be a starter if he was playing for Penn State or Boston College. He’s done well here this week.” ... “It’s funny, but no one cares about the game as much as the practices,” Linta concedes.
A late addition (Jan. 19), Herdman got an invitation to Mobile through Linta’s connections to Phil Savage, executive-director of the Senior Bowl and a former general manager of the Cleveland Browns. Senior Bowl officials also checked out Herdman to see if he belonged. They agreed with Linta that he did. Herdman was added as an inside linebacker for the North team, coached by the staff of the Chicago Bears. The Browns coached the South team. ...
Following the Senior Bowl, Herdman was scheduled to return to the TEST athletic complex in Martinsville, N.J. to meet up and his twin brother, Justin, another SFU linebacker. Both are training in New Jersey with U.S. collegians prepping for the NFL Scouting Combine and campus Pro Days.
“He’s definitely a draftable guy who may not get drafted,” Linta says of Jordan Herdman. “But he’s on everybody’s radar now. Worst case scenario: He’ll be signed within five minutes (after the NFL draft ends). He’s got such explosive ability and power.”
If Herdman was a hidden gem before, he’s not so invisible anymore.

http://theprovince.com/sports/footba...ior-bowl-stage

[jerrym]

The NFL's increased interest in Jordan Herdman has led to their having their Pro Day at his university. His agent, Joe Linta, calls him "the chosen one", the unknown prospect who breaks through.

NFL Pro Days have been commonplace in the U.S. for years, with pro scouts flocking to campuses around the 50 states throughout March and April to see prospects. Now they’re moving north of the border, popping up at Canadian universities with increasing regularity over the last few years.

Last year personnel men from 17 NFL franchises traveled north to Winnipeg for an up-close look at.He impressed so much that the Saints traded up to select him in the fourth round. ...

After Herdman uploaded a highlight reel of his senior season to YouTube, NFL agent Joe Linta flew him to New Jersey for a workout and signed him as client. Though Herdman wasn't included on the National Football Scouting and Blesto prospects lists, the two main scouting services used by most every NFL team to help identify NFL talent, Linta feels strongly about his NFL chances.
“Every year I have a prospect I call ‘the chosen one,’ a guy that was under the rock, under the radar, that I decide to devote a lot of time, effort and money to," says Linta, who represents a list of clients including Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. “Tyler Varga was a ‘chosen one.' Kyle Juszczyk, who went to the Pro Bowl this year, was one. Last year we had a kid, Ryan O’Malley [tight end] from Penn, who is playing for the Raiders now. "[But] you never really know you’re right until September. If [Herdman's] playing football for money in September than I will have been proved correct."
After Linta sent his latest chosen one's film to Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, the one-time Cleveland Browns general manager sent a scout to observe a Herdman workout at TEST Sports Club in New Jersey and then extended an invitation to the high-profile college all-star game.
Once game-week practices began, Herdman quickly showed he could play at the level of the NCAA’s best pro prospects. "I remember the second day I made some good plays and I was talking to five scouts at one time shooting questions at me after the practice, all with their pens out writing notes down," Herdman recalls. "'What are your top games? What’s your family life like? How were you raised? What did you take in school? Any injuries?' I’ll always remember that."
During the Senior Bowl game itself on Jan. 28, Herdman made his prescence felt by delivering what might have been the hit of the game. ... "I remember [Chicago Bears head coach John Fox, who was coaching the North team] saying, 'Good job' and 'Great hit,'" Herdman says. “It really showed everybody my style of play, which is really physical and violent."
That jarring tackle provided a lasting memory for observers who watched it live or on film. Coming into the Senior Bowl, Herdman had only spoken with two NFL teams — one team scout came to Simon Fraser’s final game of the 2016 season against Western Oregon. By the end of the event he had talked with representatives from nearly every squad. After watching his film, a personnel evaluator said: “Herdman’s a beast.”
That increased interest led to the Pro Day date being set at Simon Fraser for March 10, strategically planned to take place one day before the University of Washington's event as many NFL scouts will already be traveling to the northwest. It would be deemed successful by Linta if 16 or more NFL teams make the trip to the Burnaby, B.C., campus. ...

But an NFL draft spot is far from guaranteed. One pro scout called Herdman "physical, smart and instinctual," but questioned whether teams will jump at him due to the fact that he comes from a smaller school and lacks elite size for his position. At the Senior Bowl, he measured five-foot-10 and three-quarters and weighed in at 238 lb.
Linta says there may be a little uncertainty about his client because he wasn't on the scouting-service lists — "he's late to the dance" — but is confident one team will bite, whether at the draft or with a post-draft free-agent deal. “If a personnel director says to me, 'Well, our scout rejected him,' my response would be, 'Your scout’s wrong and here’s why — A, B, C and D'.... I think I’ve commanded the respect of these personnel directors that will at least look at the kid," Linta says. "They may not all like him, but this isn’t a beauty contest — there are 32 teams and I’m trying to find one that likes him, because you can only play for one team last I checked.”

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl...hts-nfl-draft/

[ArgoGabe22]

I hope the Argos take a chance on him. Depends on his NFL interest but Popp likes taking these kind of unknowns.

[jerrym]

Jordan Herdman continues to rapidly climb the draft board.

To say that Simon Fraser linebacker Jordan Herdman came out of nowhere would be an understatement. After beginning the season unranked on draft boards, the Winnipeg native smashed records in the NCAA Division-II Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), earned an invite to the NFL’s Senior Bowl, and shot up Canadian Football League prospect rankings.
He once registered 26 tackles in a single game. Twenty. Six. He’s big, smart — he held a 3.9 GPA as a senior in biomedical physiology — aggressive, and eligible for this May’s CFL Draft.
“I’m instinctive on the football field, violent,” assesses Herdman, who holds the GNAC records for career tackles (428), assisted tackles (223) and single-game tackles (27). “I can shed blocks and get to the football. I’m really just a high-motor player.”
While his numbers spoke for themselves, some doubts remained. Coming from a D-II conference, even one like the GNAC with a successful track record of sending players to the professional ranks, some questioned whether he would be able to compete at the next level.
But, after signing with NFL super-agent Joe Linta, Herdman earned an opportunity to answer those questions at the Senior Bowl. Once there, he made his mark. ...
After signing with NFL super-agent Joe Linta, Herdman received an invite to January’s Senior Bowl. Once there, he made his mark.
“Going into that game my goal was to just show people that I deserved to play at that level, and I felt I took advantage of that opportunity,” says Herdman, who earned significant interest south of the border with his performance during Senior Bowl week. “It wasn’t too much of a jump for me, (as) we’d played some D-I schools at SFU and I’d trained a lot — I felt like I fit in perfectly.”
Herdman brought far more than his record-setting statistics to the football field last season as a senior with SFU’s rebuilding program. “He played a very integral role in our defence,” says SFU defensive coordinator Bryan Wyllie. “He ended up being a guy that corrected a lot of things, whether it was mistakes by other guys or conceptually where our guys weren’t quite good enough.”
His former coordinator in Burnaby believes that Herdman’s mind is one of the most underrated parts of the linebacker’s game. “The transition to the pros will be easy for him mentally, because now he has all his time to focus on film and concepts,” explains Wyllie, who also serves as the linebackers coach at SFU. “He’s the guy who erases problems with his athleticism and football IQ — he’s not going to have any issues picking things up at the next level.” ...
Playing on a linebacking corps that also included his brother, Justin (another legitimate CFL draft prospect), Herdman led by example on and off the field at Simon Fraser.
“Those two guys together ended up being huge for us, in terms of leadership and the work ethic they brought to the table,” reflects their defensive coordinator. “To have two guys do what they did for us on- and off-field, and in the classroom, made everything a lot smoother during a tough (rebuilding) season.”
According to CFL.ca’s in-house talent evaluator — Ticats play-by-play man and former McMaster quarterback Marshall Ferguson — Herdman projects similar to another beast of a linebacker on the west coast. ...
“To me, he just screams (BC Lions linebacker) Adam Bighill,” says Ferguson. “He’s a fire hydrant — a smaller, shorter linebacker that just makes plays he shouldn’t.”

http://www.cfl.ca/2017/03/07/sfs-her...-sides-border/

[jerrym]

MLB Jordan Herdman is holding his pro day in North Vancouver today after raising major interest in the Senior Bowl earlier this year.
He will go through the usual workouts after training for 8 weeks, but has been focusing on the 40 yard dash, in which he hopes to lower his personal best from 4.8 seconds to 4.6 or 4.7 seconds.
Dan Ralph's article below notes that Herdman's performance in the Senior Bowl "helped to dispel the notion that Canadians who opt to play football on home soil can't compete with the best in American colleges".
Herdman himself said "I think there might be a little stigma there. When I go (to the U.S.) you can hear the crowd and players and what they say, but i think there's still great talent coming from Canada".

https://www.pressreader.com

[AngeloV]

Dan Ralph's article below notes that Herdman's performance in the Senior Bowl "helped to dispel the notion that Canadians who opt to play football on home soil can't compete with the best in American colleges".
https://www.pressreader.com

Don't know how that was accomplished considering he plays in a league of American based schools, except for his own. That notion was more likely dispelled when Mike Schad went straight from the CIS to the NFL a long time ago. Tyrone Williams being another one although he stayed mostly on the PR. And of course Cory Greenwood and most recently Laurent Duvernay-Tardif are prime examples of this.

[jerrym]

Dan Ralph's article below notes that Herdman's performance in the Senior Bowl "helped to dispel the notion that Canadians who opt to play football on home soil can't compete with the best in American colleges".
Herdman himself said "I think there might be a little stigma there. When I go (to the U.S.) you can hear the crowd and players and what they say, but i think there's still great talent coming from Canada".

https://www.pressreader.com

Don't know how that was accomplished considering he plays in a league of American based schools, except for his own. That notion was more likely dispelled when Mike Schad went straight from the CIS to the NFL a long time ago. Tyrone Williams being another one although he stayed mostly on the PR. And of course Cory Greenwood and most recently Laurent Duvernay-Tardif are prime examples of this.

Hedrman's comment "I think there might be a little stigma there. When I go (to the U.S.) you can hear the crowd and players and what they say, but i think there's still great talent coming from Canada." suggests that many in the US still have a low attitude of Canadian players. IMO, Herdman will be another incremental step in changing this view if he succeeds in the NFL. After all, his performance was discounted until his performance in the Senior Bowl.