Making it to the NFL is a longshot. Making it to the NFL when you hail from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada is borderline statistically impossible. Rookie wide receiver Elic Ayomanor defied those odds when the Tennessee Titans drafted him with a fourth-round selection in April. Despite his background, it wasn't a massive surprise. In fact, Ayomanor was considered a potential second-round pick who slid further than expected.
Ayomanor's origin story tells the unlikeliest of tales. Hailing from Medicine Hat, a town roughly 90 miles north of the Canadian border, meant he faced an uphill battle. Research indicates Ayomanor is just the second Medicine Hat native to go pro in the NFL. Offensive tackle Daniel Federkeil played four NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts after going undrafted in 2006, even winning a Super Bowl. Federkeil went on to enjoy a lengthier stint in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders.
It was Justin Dillon, owner of 730 Scouting, who first discovered Ayomanor's budding talents. Dillon runs a Canadian-based scouting service that succeeds in getting Canadian-born players to U.S. programs. He relies on “spotters” in every major Canadian province to initially place prospects on his radar.
Dillon has played a sizable role in ensuring Canadian talents don't go unnoticed across the border. His resume is star studded, including Josh Palmer, Chase Brown, Sydney Brown, Nathan Shepherd, Isaiah Adams (Arizona Cardinals, 2024 third-round pick), and dozens more.
Academics, character, and skill are some must-have traits Dillon looks for. Ayomanor popped immediately.
Ayomanor is Dillon’s latest success story.
Dillon and Ayomanor recently spoke exclusively with Titan Sized to detail the initial scouting process, the adversities encountered when making the move from Canada to the U.S., and more.
This is the Elic Ayomanor story.
"I knew right away"
"When I was first introduced to Justin [Dillon], I was told he'd help get me in front of U.S. coaches," Ayomanor exclusively told Titan Sized. "It was an opportunity to be seen by D-I coaches. I didn't need to hear much more than that. Because I was so young, the conversations with Justin were being spearheaded by my mom [Pam Weiterman] to fully understand the process."
“Elic Ayomanor was as impressive as any Canadian kid I’ve ever scouted,” Dillon told Titan Sized. “There’s been a handful of times where I watched a few plays on film and knew right away. I didn’t need to watch the entire film. I was a handful of plays in and I already knew he would acclimate to the U.S. game.”
Canadian high-school football follows CFL rules — including 12 men on the field, three downs (instead of four), larger goalposts, and other notable differences. For Dillon, it’s crucial to evaluate certain traits that indicate a seamless transition could be made to the U.S.
“I’ve had great success with wide receivers," Dillon said. "I worked with Josh Palmer and Jared Wayne (2023 Houston Texans undrafted free agent). You have to look for movement skills, whether or not he’s a natural hands catcher. Speed is the key. The U.S. game loves speed. Is he shifty in space? It’s a long checklist. Elic Ayomanor checked every box.”
“Like most Canadians, I started playing hockey and basketball and running track at a young age," Ayomanor told me during a previous conversation. “At some point, one of my best friends introduced me to football. The more I played football, the more I fell in love with its intricacies.”
Though Ayomanor possessed the profile of a moldable talent from a young age, naturally, there were areas of his game that required sharpening and attention to detail. Lacking the resources of a U.S.-born prospect, Ayomanor was particularly raw as a route runner. Dillon compared him to Palmer, who he called “the best Canadian Football player I’ve ever seen.” Palmer, a 2021 third-round pick, has produced 2,287 receiving yards in four seasons, and recently signed a lucrative contract with the Super Bowl-contending Buffalo Bills.
Ayomanor wasn’t initially on Palmer’s level, but Dillon saw the potential.
"Elic Ayomanor was as raw as raw gets, but the athletic ability was there"
“The biggest knock on Canadians is they don’t run good routes," Dillon noted. "It’s not their fault. They’re not taught the nuance of running complete routes at a young age. Elic Ayomanor was raw as raw gets, but the athletic ability, the speed, it was way above average, even at that age. You saw burst and explosiveness. You could already see his ability to make people miss in a phone booth.”
Realizing that Ayomanor, who paired athleticism with character, could play in the U.S., Dillon played a role in getting him to the The Peddie School in New Jersey, a college preparatory school located in Hightstown, Mercer County, which was coached by former Northwestern quarterback Chris Malleo at the time.
Ayomanor displayed the necessary motivation when he made his big move at just 14 years old. "He was hungry," Dillon said. "He was locked in and 100% willing to make the sacrifices."
“At that point, I was just hungry for the opportunity,” Ayomanor added. “I grew up watching these videos of American football, kids who went D-I and stuff like that. To me, I felt like it was my time, my opportunity to shine. I didn’t think twice about it. I wanted to make the move. I didn’t even see it as a sacrifice, to be honest with you. I saw it as an opportunity I was blessed to have.”
"I sent his film to every prep school," Dillon added. "It came down to Deerfield Academy and Peddie. He chose Peddie because they were one of the top [prep] programs at the time."
"My goal was to someday play in the NFL"
"The day that I decided to move to New Jersey for my sophomore year was the day that I began taking football very seriously as my future goal," Ayomanor said. "Right then and there, my goal was to someday play in the NFL."
Ayomanor quickly realized the roadblocks ahead. Known as a big-time prospect back in Canada, he joined a top-notch program at Peddie that would eventually produce D-I athletes at every position. Ayomanor had to technically refine the rougher edges of his game to fit in appropriately. Dillon encouraged the staff at Peddie to take a patient approach with his development. It paid off. Despite the challenges and competition, he got off to a good start as a sophomore before breaking his collarbone.
“That first year was especially hard for me,” Ayomanor said. “I was used to being the best player on every team I’d ever played on. When I got to Peddie, I was easily the worst player on the team in my opinion. We had 26 guys on the team and all of them went D-I. At that point, I was the worst player there. It was a shock to the system. I also dealt with the culture shock of moving from Canada to the U.S. That was a tough year. I needed to get better in a lot of areas. I put my head down and went to work.”
The following year, fresh off an injury, Ayomanor decided to reopen his recruiting when Coach Malleo left Peddie. As fate would have it, he chose Deerfield, the top contender when he initially committed to Peddie. Coach Brian Barbato would be key to Ayomanor’s development, but new challenges would present themselves. His junior season was canceled due to COVID, and his senior season was shortened because of a knee injury.
Ayomanor had to get creative.
"The phone wouldn't stop ringing"
“Together, Elic Ayomanor, myself, and Coach Brian Barbato put together a route tree video,” Dillon said. “That route tree video went viral within the coaching community. We didn’t put it out publicly. Coach Barbato and I tapped into our contacts. We sent it everywhere. The phone started ringing right away.”
"It was a compilation video of me running routes versus open air, or against one of our defensive backs who had a bunch of D-I offers at the time," Ayomanor added. "We posted it on social media and tagged a bunch of people. I think my mom tagged every D-I coach (laughs). I started getting offers out of nowhere. My stock exploded."
The offers began rolling in for a Canadian-born prospect who played nine high school games in the U.S. Athleticism, size, and speed were evident on tape. Ayomanor received offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Tennessee, Duke, Kentucky, Virginia, Ole Miss, Cal, Penn State, and others.
“They saw what I had been seeing for a long time,” Dillon said. “It felt like the offers would keep rolling in forever.”
A dream realized
Ayomanor took multiple recruiting visits, to Cal, Tennessee, and Duke, among others, but had his sights set on a specific program dating back to being a bug-eyed kid dreaming about his NFL prospects.
“The first time I ever spoke with Elic and his mom [Pam Weiterman], they expressed their interest in attending Stanford,” Dillon recalled. “At the time, I had a Canadian at Stanford by the name of Wesley Annan. I always remember that. They wanted Stanford from the beginning.”
A past relationship paid off. Dillon’s first-ever client was Tevaun Smith, who attended Iowa under wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy (Smith would go on to play professional football both in the NFL and CFL). As fortune had it, Coach Kennedy landed at Stanford at the opportune time.
“I sent Coach Kennedy Elic’s tape, including that route tree video. My phone pinged two minutes later (laughs). Who the hell is this kid? That’s Elic Ayomanor, a top wide receiver.”
When preparation meets talent
“When I moved to the U.S. and figured out what college football was all about, I immediately made Stanford my goal,” Ayomanor added. “My mom was big on academics. I wanted to pair academics with athletics. To me, Stanford and Notre Dame are the premier programs in the nation when it comes to that. I got offers from both of them, but Stanford was my dream school.”
Ayomanor lived out his dream, choosing Stanford out of the mass list of potential suitors. Despite taking another step in his illustrious journey, adversity just wouldn't stop rearing its head for Ayomanor. He suffered a severe knee injury — tearing his ACL, MCL and meniscus — before his freshman season of 2022, forcing a redshirt year.
As per usual, Ayomanor overcame that adversity. Across the next two campaigns, he'd establish himself as one of the most productive, reliable wideouts in college football. Ayomanor recorded a combined 125 receptions for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023 and 2024 before announcing his intention to enter the 2025 NFL Draft.
"Everything came together for me at Stanford, but a lot of preparation went into that success," Ayomanor added.
The Titans selected him with the 136th selection and he's heading into training camp in a unique situation for a fourth-round pick. Ayomanor possesses a realistic path to a starting role, with the Titans searching for someone to play the "X" position in Brian Callahan's offense for No. 1 overall quarterback Cam Ward.
From 2020 to 2024, a total of 79 wide receivers were selected on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. Only six of them surpassed 500 receiving yards in their rookie campaign. Ayomanor’s potential path to meaningful snaps could make him the seventh.
“I can play every wide receiver position, but I'm definitely a bigger guy," Ayomanor said about playing X receiver. "I’m very fluid in and out of my breaks. I think I can play in the slot if that’s what I'm asked to do, but I definitely have the size and traits to play X receiver."
Ayomanor is prepared for the challenges ahead. He's no stranger to adversity. Work ethic and sheer determination took Ayomanor from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada to two decorated prep programs before Stanford. Now in Tennessee with the Titans, he'll continue attacking the process with the same will and vigor.
"I’m going to keep the same habits that got me here," Ayomanor concluded. "I’m going to do what I know, and that’s working hard. I respect the process. That’s what I’m going to do throughout my entire career."
You’d be a fool to expect otherwise.