He’s only one player, but it felt like the Edmonton Elks made multiple additions to their roster with the selection of Enock Makonzo, in the first round, fourth overall, of Tuesday’s CFL Draft.
That’s because Makonzo is something of a Swiss Army Knife in the defensive backfield, where his versatile skillset allow the product of Lachine, Que., to flourish in a variety of roles.
As a redshirt senior at Coastal Carolina University last season, Makonzo played 216 snaps as an edge defender, 267 as a box linebacker, and added another 193 as a slot corner. In 13 games with the Chanticleers, the five-foot-11 spur made 71 tackles and 10 for a loss, forced three fumbles and had one fumble recovery, and allowed only 108 passing yards on 30 targets. He had 10 tackles as Coastal Carolina defeated Northern Illinois 47-41 in the Tailgreeter Cure Bowl last December for the first Football Subdivision bowl victory in program history.
Got our guy at No. 4⃣ 👇
ᴇɴᴏᴄᴋ ᴍᴀᴋᴏɴᴢᴏ courtesy @CoastalFootball#GoElks #CFLDraft pic.twitter.com/cUHYIVTaCm
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) May 4, 2022
Makonzo was a two-time All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention (2020 and 2021). He was named to the Pro Football Focus (PFF) College Football All-Sun Belt First Team selection in 2021 and the Phil Steele Sun Belt All-Conference Third Team in 2020. Over three seasons with the Chanticleers, he appeared in 27 games, totalling 150 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and five forced fumbles.
Prior to enrolling at Coastal Carolina, Makonzo attended New Mexico Military Institute, where he played two seasons for the Broncos in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference, recording 105 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss over 18 career games. As a sophomore in 2018, he earned second-team All-SWJCFC selection.
Makonzo was the top-ranked defensive back, and eighth player overall, listed on the CFL’s Scouting Bureau’s final report of the Top-20 prospects eligible for the 2022 CFL Draft.