The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have named Jamie Newman as their starter for the Labour Day Classic against the Toronto Argonauts on Monday.
The rookie has dressed for eight games as a backup this year and played meaningful snaps against the Argos in August, completing two passes for four yards. He has also carried the ball 10 times this season for 56 yards and three touchdowns.
The six-foot-four, 230-pound passer played 19 games over three seasons at Wake Forest University after redshirting his freshman year. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,959 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions along with 245 carries for 826 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2021 but was waived before training camp got underway.
Dane Evans is listed as the team’s third-string quarterback behind Newman and second-year passer Jalen Morton. He was a full participant in practice this past week despite a right shoulder injury.
The 28-year-old has thrown for 2,473 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions this season, contributing to Hamilton’s league-worst turnover ratio of minus-21. He started this past week’s 37-20 loss to Toronto and completed 19-of-30 pass attempts for 244 yards and three interceptions with one lost fumble.
Former Montreal Alouettes’ quarterback Matthew Shiltz has gone 1-1 as a starter with Hamilton this season but is expected to miss the next four-to-six weeks due to a wrist injury.
The Ticats (3-8) are scheduled to host the Argos (5-5) in the annual Labour Day Classic on Monday, Sept. 5 with kickoff slated for 1:00 p.m. EDT.
