Ready When Called: Ryan Baker’s Value Goes Beyond the Stat Sheet

Over the course of a career, over the course of a game, over the course of a football season, a lot of small things can add up to something significant, which is where the early stages of the Ticats’ 2026 seem to be headed.

Some of those things are overshadowed by the neon game-turning moments, and are often missed by the untrained eye, but there are many more of them in a game than there are highlight-reel plays. Put another way—as you’ve heard here before—it takes a whole village to raise a trophy. Teams which are winning, and the Ticats are winning, require a steady accumulation of reliable plays in all three phases of the game.

Which is where Ticats like Ryan Baker come in, and why his contract was extended on Monday to run through the 2027 season. The soft-spoken, genial middle linebacker personifies the absence of ‘I’ in teamwork.

“Ryan has earned this contract extension through his hard work, consistency and professionalism,” Ticats president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer says. “His character, experience and commitment have made him a well-respected member of our organization and an important part of what we’re continuing to build.”

All he has done here is…well, everything ever asked of him. After a stellar career at UBC, he was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 CFL Canadian draft as a depth player. He made the team’s practice roster and six weeks into the season was activated, mainly for special teams.

But there was a back story accompanying this: just hours before veterans reported to training camp, Canadian linebacker Jordan Williams, whom the Ticats had obtained in an off-season trade with the Argonauts, suddenly retired. The Cats filled the sudden gap in a variety of ways, but eventually Baker played in 13 games and was a starter in eight of them, making 42 tackles.

When fellow Canadian Devin Veresuk—now in the NFL—was drafted last year to play the middle, Baker returned to special teams, with some appearances on defence, and had 11 special teams tackles, fourth on the team.

With injuries hitting the club early in the season, once again Baker was called upon as a replacement starter and he’s responded with steady contributions, especially in the past two wins over Winnipeg and BC when he’s made 15 of his 16 defensive tackles, just three back of team leader and fellow backer Braxton Hill. Even in the season opener against Montréal, when he was credited with only one tackle—if there were assisted tackles as an official stat, he’d have logged a bunch—he was always around the ball. He did have the occasional misstep, but that’s the nature of the offence-wild CFL of 2026.

He has worked each off-season diligently to improve his game, and there’s been a definite uptick in his speed and muscularity, which is noticeable, even from the grandstands.

“I definitely think that’s true,” he said Monday. “I tip my cap to Marcellus (Bowman, the Ticats’ strength and conditioning coach) and I worked with (Marcellus’s predecessor) Steve Bodanis as well.”

“Working with those two guys has been huge for my development, and I definitely feel I’ve got faster, got stronger and am in overall better shape this year. One of our pillars on defence is run to the ball, so obviously the faster you can be, the easier it makes that; being able to fly around and make more plays just by being a split-second faster.”

As referred to earlier, a lot of small and usually unheralded plays are integral to every game, and some stem from the acquired intelligence of more pro experience. A couple of times in the Ticats’ two wins, he’s made secure tackles short of a first down and without the ball carrier being able to reach the sidelines, forcing both Winnipeg and BC to use an extra play to secure a first down and eating up extra clock to make late scoring drives too long for a comeback.

You want, and need, guys like that for a Sunday home date with Winnipeg, are winning, require a steady body of work from an on your team.

“The years I’ve been here I’ve been trying to do my best, be a coachable player and fill whatever role is needed,” Baker said. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that. It’s nice to know that they see something in me.”

“And I see something in this organization; I love playing here. The coaches, the fans, the players in the locker room, the front office, everything is very top-notch.

“I’m excited to be back next year. I’ll stay focused on this year, but it’s nice to know that I’ll be back.”