The Ticats didn’t make many adjustments to their roster this week, but a couple they did make are pretty significant ones.
On Wednesday, the Cats released starting middle linebacker Kyle Wilson, who’d been with the club since 2020. That move has moved 23-year-old Devin Veresuk to the starting role and for this game—and perhaps well beyond—middle linebacker is a Canadian position which, if it works out, becomes the kind of roster-ratio-breaker the Ticats have been seeking. Sophomore Canuck Ryan Baker, who started 14 games last year, and CFL veteran Trevor Hoyte—both important special teams players—round out the depth chart at middle linebacker as the Ticats come off a bye week looking for their first win of the young season.
Greg Bell’s calf injury won’t permit him to play in Friday night’s Made in The Hammer game against the undefeated Montréal Alouettes at Hamilton Stadium, so rookie Treshaun Ward, who forced his way onto the team with two dominant performances in the pre-season, will share the running back duties with Canadian Johnny Augustine who took the majority of reps this week at practice.
The Ticats selected Veresuk out of his hometown University of Windsor Lancers with the No. 2 overall draft choice just two months ago and after spending some time at the Indianapolis Colts’ rookie mini-camp, he impressed from the moment he stepped on the training camp field at McMaster. His special teams tackle on Argos returner Janarion Grant in the first pre-season game was the stuff of legend.
His ascension to possible starter status was expected but not this early in his pro career.
“Obviously we love him,” explained head coach Scott Milanovich. “He’s got a great future. And he’s got to play. Is he going to make some mistakes? Absolutely. But he’s also going to make some plays. And we’ll live with a few mistakes as he’s kind of rounding out his game and really getting an understanding.”
Milanovich was saying that there’s no substitution for experience, at all positions really, but especially at one as influential as the middle man in the middle tier of the defensive formation.
On Sunday it will be exactly two months since Veresuk was drafted into the pros. Two days before that he will make his first start as a pro.
“It’s a little earlier than I thought it was going to be, but I’m ready to go,” Veresuk said after Thursday’s walk-through practice. “I’m excited. A little bit of nervous excitement, but I’ve been training my whole life for this moment, playing ball for 10 years.
“I feel like I’ve prepared myself through training camp, through pre-season and getting my feet wet, getting some reps in there (in the Ticats’ first two games), and really throughout this week.
“There’s going to be mistakes with everybody, and because I’m so young, it’s going to happen to me as well. Nobody can be perfect. But to me the biggest learning curve is just the speed of the game. Everybody’s just as big and as fast and as strong as me now. So, I’ve got to get used to that. And I feel like my reps in the first two games have definitely helped out with that.”
Veresuk already had arranged tickets for about 15 family and friends for this game but as of the end of Thursday’s practice, he hadn’t let his mother and father know that when they got here, he’d be the starter. He wanted to surprise them…but no chance of that now.
Although he’s said before that what he’d looked forward to in the CFL was the constant coaching, he’s already a solid tackler who moves well laterally with a ball carrier. Consistency in tackling has been a shortcoming with the Ticats and Veresuk said that even with his innate skill at it, he’s had to ramp up that part of his game.
“I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my play in the run game,” he recalls. “I struggled with that through university. I just need to improve my work in the pass game and I think already my eyes have improved greatly. Getting in the quarterback’s eyes to be able to read routes.”
He credits linebacking coach Elijah Sandweiss, who also works with special teams, with helping him a lot during post-practice film sessions.
Like Veresuk, Ward will be making his first start in a professional football game. He played for three big-time college football programs—Boston College, Kansas State and Florida State—so is accustomed to the pressure.
“I’m still getting used to the different rules, but I’m pretty solid where I’m at right now,” Ward said. “The only thing I need to get better on is probably the (pass) coverages. Knowing what the defensive backs are going to do.”
And, he acknowledged, knowing what Bo Levi Mitchell needs him to do, both on pass routes and in blocking against the pass rush.
There’ll be lots of that from Montréal defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe’s front seven which disguises rushes like they’re getting ready for a costume ball. The Als are skilled at not revealing their true formation until just before the snap: then they’ll stunt as if they’re blitzing through one gap in the line and quickly switch to pressure through another gap. It can be mentally and physically draining on an offence.
So it’s imperative for the Cats to make their own quick reads, then react and adjust. The Als lead the CFL with six interceptions, from six different players. That variety underscores their element of surprise and Hamilton has to counter that by establishing credibility in the run to increase their options, and force the defence to pause a little. And the line has to provide time for Mitchell to probe an excellent Montréal secondary which is very aggressive but because of that can be susceptible to the outside deep passes which Mitchell excels when he’s in rhythm.
“The big thing is you have to play with your eyes, you have to trust your eyes,” Mitchell said about combating Thorpe’s defensive strategies. “A big thing that he likes to do is try to mess with the quarterback’s eyes. He wants to bring a bunch of guys up to the line of scrimmage, drop guys off, have guys kind of crossing the ball behind.
“So, as a quarterback, as a receiver or in blocking, whatever it might be, you have to just trust your eyes and go out there and play football … make a read, make a play.”
The offence, which has scored only 16 combined points in the first halves of their opening two games, needs to get off to a much better start and convert promising drives into touchdowns. The Als have led after every quarter of every game this year, so it’d be to Hamilton’s advantage to sprint out to a lead.
On the other side of the ball, Montréal will be without injured starting quarterback Davis Alexander. Veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who in his long career is 6-5 against the Ticats, gets the start. He doesn’t have Alexander’s mobility and is rarely a threat to sprint outside the pocket, but he releases the ball quickly and has a head for the CFL game.
It’s necessary to get pressure on him early so he can’t make the straight drop-back passes he prefers and to cover aggressively against a talented receiving corps. The Alouettes will be without key receiver Austin Mack—which might help Hamilton better defend second-and-long, one of their major shortcomings in their opening two losses—but they have plenty of other pass-catching options, including Charleston Rambo, Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead. And there’s a lot of offensive IQ lodged in the Als’ combination of head coach Jason Maas and offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo.
The Alouettes have won their last seven meetings with the Ticats, one short of the record for this head-to-head matchup since it began in 1950. The Cats don’t want that mark to be equalled Friday night, especially on Hometown Heroes Night which celebrates the club, its relationship to the community, and Hamilton Stadium’s role as the city’s de facto town square.
But even with a couple of roster depletions the deep Als will be a hearty handful. They’ve won eight and tied one of their last 11 road games while the Ticats desperately need to re-establish the home field advantage which made Hamilton’s east end such an ugly place for opposing teams to visit for so long, before they had losing records at home the past two seasons.
If you’re a Ticat fan looking for a little statistical encouragement, the Ticats were 3-0 coming off a bye week last season and are 14-3 after a week off over their last 17 byes.
This will be the first home game as a minority owner for Marwan Hage who spent 10 years in black and gold as an all-star centre and beloved contributor to the wider community and he’s said that his primary objective is always to see his team win.
Friday’s not an absolute must-win situation but it’s not far off as the Ticats do not want to go 0-3 for a fourth year in a row. Life—particularly the next week of it—is always a lot rosier after a victory.
CATS CLAUSES: DE Julian Howsare, in his second stint with the Ticats, will play his 100th CFL game … Bo Levi Mitchell is looking to win his 100th game as a CFL starter and needs 337 passing yards to become the 11th quarterback to reach 40,000 career yards. Dating back to last season he has had four straight 300-plus-yard games … former McMaster Marauder Jakub Szott comes off the practice roster to add depth to the OL … Friday’s Alumnus of Distinction is Canadian Football Hall of Fame TE Tony Gabriel, who was a CFL all-star for the Cats in 1972 and ’74 and was on the last Hamilton team to win the Grey Cup at home … LB Ozzie Nicholas who was signed to the practice roster last week had 100 tackles last year for Duke, including nine in Duke’s first win over Florida State after 22 straight losses and had 104 tackles the season before for Princeton … the Ticats kicked off the 2025 Hearts in the Huddle program at McMaster Children’s hospital with a visit to young patients from WR Tim White and OT Jordan Murray. Players will make regular visits to the hospital… the last time Hamilton beat Montréal was July 28, 2022 … Als’ DL Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund, who grew up in Nova Scotia, has a sack in all three games so far … Montreal PK José Maltos has converted his last nine field goal attempts—including six against Ottawa—but only two have been longer than 32 yards … Als DT Dylan Wynn, a popular and very vocal Ticat when he was here from 2019-23, is on the Als’ one-game injury list … other former Cats with the Als include backup OG Jesse Gibbon, the Hamiltonian who played for Sherwood Secondary; star linebacker Tyrice Beverette, the reigning East Conference defensive player of the year, RB Sean Thomas-Erlington, who is off to a great start, plus head coach Jason Maas and offensive co-ordinator Anthony Calvillo, both of whom quarterbacked the Ticats, though it was 10 years apart.
