Hamilton Tiger-Cats banged up at linebacker against Alouettes for season-opener

Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be without their two top linebackers when they host the Montreal Alouettes on Wednesday night, according to the official depth chart they released on Wednesday morning.

Wynton McManis, who was ruled out on Tuesday, has officially been placed on the one-game injured list after missing practice this week with a knee injury. Braxton Hill, who was a limited participant in practice and listed as questionable for Friday’s game, has also been placed on the one-game injured list. The 26-year-old is suffering from a calf injury.

With both projected starters out, Hamilton will look to Ryan Baker at middle linebacker and Jordan Crook at weak-side linebacker.

Baker, a fifth-round draft pick out of UBC, has made 51 defensive tackles and 14 special team tackles over 31 career games with the Tiger-Cats. The North Vancouver native made eight starts for the team as a rookie in 2024 but exclusively filled a depth role last season behind Devin Veresuk, who has since departed for the NFL.

Crook is a CFL rookie out of Arizona State University, where he made 101 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass knockdowns, and one interception over 13 games in 2025.

On the offensive side of the ball, things have stayed relatively consistent from last season in Steeltown.

Larry Rountree III won the starting job at running back in place of Greg Bell, while free-agent additions Keric Wheatfall and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. earned starting roles in the receiving corps, and Trevor Reid and Chris Kolankowski are new starters along the offensive line.

The rest of the unit, including franchise quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and star receiver Kenny Lawler, is the same.

Defensively, there were questions about how Hamilton would fill the field-side of its secondary following the departures of DaShaun Amos and Jonathan Moxey. Quavian White has won the starting job at field-side halfback, while Gregory Junior has been listed as the starting field-side cornerback.

White played two regular-season games with the Tiger-Cats last year, making one special teams tackle. The 25-year-old played collegiately at Georgia State University, where he tallied 200 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, and 42 pass knockdowns over 52 games. He also had an NFL stint with the Arizona Cardinals.

Junior is a CFL rookie but was once a sixth-round NFL draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars. The six-foot, 203-pound native of Crossett, Ark. made 17 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and one knockdown over 10 regular-season NFL games before deciding to come north.

Hamilton’s defensive line has remained virtually unchanged from 2025, while Reggie Stubblefield, Stavros Katsantonis, Jamal Peters, and Destin Talbert all remain starters in the secondary.

Marc Liegghio has returned as the placekicker, while returner Isaiah Wooden Sr. recently rejoined the team after a stint in the NFL. Mitch McCarthy won the punting job, replacing Nik Constantinou.

The Tiger-Cats have also placed five players on the six-game injured list: American receiver Shemar Bridges, Canadian offensive linemen Jonathan Denis and Arvin Hosseini, American defensive lineman TyJuan Garbutt, and Canadian defensive back Devynn Cromwell.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-0) will host the Montreal Alouettes (0-0) at Hamilton Stadium on Thursday, June 4 with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT. The Alouettes are coming off a Grey Cup loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while the Tiger-Cats lost last year’s East Final to Montreal.

The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for a high of 26 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 in Montreal and Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.