The Green Bay Packers worked out 3 CFL players on Monday and 2 on Tuesday. On Monday Green Bay worked out wide receiver Samuel Emilus of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, cornerback Kenneth George of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and defensive back Carthell Flowers-Lloyd of the Tiger-Cats.
On Tuesday the Packers worked out linebacker Josh Woods of the BC Lions as well as Reggie Stubblefield who played both linebacker and defensive back this past season for the Montreal Alouettes.
Samuel Emilus was a first-round draft pick by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2022’s CFL Draft. He played his first 3 collegiate seasons with Massachusetts where he had 59 receptions for 653 yards and 7 touchdowns over 22 games with 12 starts. He played his final season at Louisiana Tech where he had 16 receptions for 245 yards and 3 touchdowns over 8 games with 3 starts in 2021.
Last season he emerged as a star starting in all 18 games for the Roughriders and contributing 70 receptions for 1,097 yards and 6 touchdowns. He was recognized by Pro Football Focus as their selection for Breakout Player of the Year. According to PFF, he had the 2nd most contested catches with 13, the 6th most missed tackles forced with 17, and fourth in explosive receptions with 32. He played nearly every snap possible appearing in 1,009 snaps out of 1,035.
Emilus played a major role making multiple impressive plays in the week 11 victory over the BC Lions making 5 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. He had 7 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown in his final game of the season against Toronto.
Emilus has also worked out for the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, the Tennessee Titans, and the Arizona Cardinals.
CB Kenneth George – Tennessee (26 y/o, 5’11, 203 lbs)
Kenneth George played his first season of college at Trinity Valley CC before transferring to Tennessee. At Tennessee, he appeared in 32 games with 10 starts compiling 36 solo tackles, 16 assisted tackles, 10 passes defended, 2 fumble recoveries, and an interception.
George signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2022 following attending their rookie minicamp and was waived in August.
As a CFL rookie this past season George started every game for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats contributing 43 tackles, 7 passes defended, 2 interceptions, a sack, and a forced fumble. He added 4 tackles and a pass defended in Hamilton’s playoff game.
Carthell Flowers Lloyd played his first 31 collegiate games with 1 start for Eastern Michigan where he had 12 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles. He transferred to Stony Brook where he played 21 games with 20 starts in 2021 and 2022 compiling 85 solo tackles, 57 assisted tackles, 23 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, an interception, and a touchdown.
He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2023 for his first season of football appearing in all 18 regular season games and contributing 31 special teams tackles. He was named by Pro Football Focus as their selection for Most Oustanding Special Teams Player this past season as he led the league in special teams tackles and had a blocked punt. Hamilton had the lowest return yards allowed per attempt last season in the CFL.
Flowers-Lloyd also worked out for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, and Tennessee Titans this off-season.
LB Josh Woods – Queen’s (25 y/o, 6’2, 234 lbs)
Josh Woods played his collegiate football for UCLA where he played in 32 games with 24 starts from 2015 to 2019 amassing 69 solo tackles and 42 assisted tackles. He started in all 12 games in 2019 contributing 28 solo tackles, 23 assisted tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, a team-leading 4.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, and an interception. He was the recipient of the Rose Gilbert Courage and Character Award in 2019.
Woods has played in 37 CFL games with the BC Lions over the past three CFL seasons tallying 69 tackles. He got his first CFL start this past season as he started in 4 of the final 6 regular season games for the Lions as well as both of their playoff games. Over his 4 regular season starts he had 21 tackles and an interception. He also had a pick 6 in week 19 against Hamilton.
Woods was impressive in the playoff victory over Calgary in the Western Semi-Final as he led the team with 11 tackles. He also had 2 QB hurries, a run stop, 4 stops against the pass, assisted with another stop against the pass, and had a pass defended. Woods led the team in tackles again in the Western Final loss to Winnipeg during which he had 12 tackles, 4 run stops, 2 run stop assists, and a stop against the pass.
Woods finished tied with Reggie Stubblefield for first in tackles in the CFL post-season. He was named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week in weeks 11, 13, and in the Semi-Finals week.
OL Reggie Stubblefield – Queen’s (23 y/o, 6’4, 280 lbs)
Reggie Stubblefield played his first 32 games with 18 starts of college football at Prairie View A&M where he accumulated 88 solo tackles, 62 assisted tackles, and 5 interceptions. He played his final season of college with Kansas State where he had 27 solo tackles, 7 assisted tackles, a sack, 7 tackles for loss, and 1 sack over 12 games with 6 starts. He attended rookie minicamps in 2022 with the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs.
Stubblefield joined the Montreal Alouettes ahead of the 2023 season and was among the players released during final roster cuts. He was told if a spot opened up they would bring him back and he was signed by the Alouettes and was brought back to the practice roster 3 weeks later. Stubblefield started in the final 12 games of the regular season for the Alouettes and all three playoff games. His first 6 starts were at defensive back before moving to SAM linebacker. Over the regular season he he had 38 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions, and led the team in passes defended with 9.
Stubblefield was recognized by Pro Football Focus being named to their CFL All-Star Team and their choice for Rookie of the Year.
Just look at this season from Montreal rookie DB @1ReginaldS
– 91.6 coverage grade – 23 catches allowed, 213 yards, 0 TDs and just 9 first downs + 3 INTs – Led the CFL in forced incompletion rate (27.5%), yards allowed/target (4.2) and QB rating when targeted (32.6)
Over the 3 playoff games, Stubblefield contributed 23 tackles, a sack, and an interception. By my count, he had 2 run stops, and 2 run stop assists, made 5 stops against pass plays, and defended 4 passes. He finished the postseason tied for first in tackles in the CFL playoffs with Josh Woods.
Jonathan Clink joined CFL News Hub in early April of 2023. His primary responsibilities are covering the BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes.
He self awarded himself the CFL Rookie Journalist of the Year in 2023 following the 2023 CFL season. He also proclaims himself to be a "really cool guy". He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and lived a large portion of his childhood in Northwest Ontario. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and misses being being able to have 4 months of skating every winter.
Clink has written over 240 articles for CFL News Hub. He was the publication's boots on the ground at the 2023 Grey Cup in Hamilton.
Clink has always had an obsession for sport and has a background in other sports as well having played hockey all his life and soccer, basketball, and lacrosse in high school. As a young child he used to log his hockey statistics after every game which is either an indication that he was destined for the role or perhaps and indication that he is rather strange.
