Ticats have solid Canadian backbone

Examining the team’s strengths and needs in advance of Thursday’s CFL Draft

With the CFL Draft Thursday, the best way to get a sense of what the Hamilton Tiger-Cats might do is to assess their current Canadian talent.

With that in mind, here’s a quick look at the team’s potential Canadian starters, backups and special teams depth while also taking a look at what they might need. Where they’ll likely play their seven Canadian starters:

Offensive line (3): centre Mike Filer, guards Ryan Bomben and Brandon Revenberg

Receiver (1): Shamawd Chambers

Defensive tackle (1):

Ted Laurent

Defensive end (1): Justin Capicciotti

Safety (1): Courtney Stephen Backups and other possible

starters: OL Landon Rice, RECs Felix Faubert-Lussier and Mike Jones, LBs Nick Shortill and Terrell Davis, RB Mercer Timmis, DT Justin Vaughn, DE Connor McGough, DBs Jay Langa and Mike Daly.

Analysis: A solid group of veteran starters led by Bomben and Laurent, both perennial all-stars, as well a stud-in-themaking Revenberg who can play multiple spots. Chambers has yet to fully realize his potential but showed flashes after coming over in a trade from Edmonton while Capicciotti had seven sacks last season after a down year in 2016. Stephen played in all 18 games for just the second time in his career in 2017 and has eight interceptions over the past three years.

Hamilton also has a solid group of backups and ratio flexibility in case of injury. Rice can play both guard and tackle — perfect for a sixth man — while speedster Jones was a starter for a good chunk of last year. Linebackers Shortill and Davis are both excellent special teams players who could start if needed though it would require taking a quality American off the field. Vaughn started one game at tackle last season and McGough was a rotational player in his rookie season while leading the team in special teams tackles. There might be some concern starting either of those two for extended stretches in their sophomore campaigns, however. Needs and possible draft targets: With veteran C.O. Prime still unsigned, the Ticats don’t have a fullback on the roster and while the team does have some offensive lineman in development, including last year’s No. 13 overall pick Braden Schram, grabbing another surefire prospect up front makes sense — especially with Bomben and Filer going into the last year of their deals.

Depth at receiver could be an issue as well. The final word: The Ticats have a whopping five picks in the top 20 of the draft, including three of the first 11 so they have a golden opportunity to both address some current needs and plan for the future. They are in good enough shape going in that they can draft the best player available and take some gambles on prospects with NFL potential.