They won’t take on each other in a head-to-head battle, but if one of Montreal’s Tyrice Beverette and Saskatchewan’s A.J. Allen outshines the other, the outcome will have a lot to say about who wins the 112th Grey Cup game, this Sunday at Princess Auto Stadium, in Winnipeg.
As weak side linebackers, Beverette and Allen will each find themselves playing critical roles in stopping the opposition’s offence.
That’s something each has done all year long. They’ve noticed that in each other, too.
“He’s a hooper,” said Allen of Beverette, invoking a basketball-related term of respect. “He’s a really good football player. If you ask me, he was the best defensive player in the CFL this year.”
“He’s a great player,” offered Beverette of Allen. “When the (All-CFL) came out, I for sure thought he was gonna be the one (pick for weak side linebacker) for the West.”
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LB A.J. Allen spoke to the media in Winnipeg ahead of the 112th Grey Cup (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
Check the 2025 regular season numbers and you see two linebackers who wound up right beside each other, tied for sixth in the CFL in total defensive plays, with 109 each.
Even in categories where one beat the other, the numbers ended up being close.
Beverette, named an All-CFL linebacker for the second year in a row, got the better of Allen in interceptions and forced fumbles (4-3 in each category) and in sacks (7-4), while Allen, the Roughriders’ team nominee for Most Outstanding Canadian, finished ahead in knockdowns (5-3), tackles-for-loss (3-1) and in defensive tackles (87-83).
So. Not much to choose between the two.
Their teammates love them. In particular, the middle linebackers, working tightly together with them as they do.
“I think the main thing is that we see things the same way a lot,” said Saskatchewan’s All-CFL middle linebacker Jameer Thurman, explaining the comfort that he has in partnering with Allen, whether it be on the field or in the film room.
“His intelligence and smarts of the game is one of his biggest attributes,” Thurman added. “He’s taking his game to the next level every single week and it shows.”
In Montreal, middle linebacker Darnell Sankey has been working alongside Beverette for nearly three seasons, now, after Sankey joined the team midway though the 2023 campaign.
They’ve been hand-in-glove since.
“He’s good at everything he does,” gushed Sankey. “He can drop into the post. He can drop into the deep third. He can rush the passer, he can hit, he can tackle. He’s extremely athletic, so he can play multiple positions on our defence.”
“And I think that’s kind of what makes him great.”
The 30-year-old Beverette is confident in his ability no matter how the Als deploy him, just as Sankey said. Beverette did play safety in college, and in the defensive backfield in the pros, before moving up to the linebacker position with Montreal.
“I just bring a different dynamic to the game, whether it’s coming off the edge, whether it’s sitting in the middle of the field or playing in the post,” said Beverette, asked to put himself under a microscope.
“I feel like I can do more than just one thing, you know? More than just what the traditional linebacker can do.”
For his part, the 27-year-old Allen reacted to a request for self-analysis with broader strokes.
“I’m an opportunist, right? Not only am I taking opportunities that come to me, but I’m also trying to create situations, to create opportunities for me,” he said.
Allen’s coach, Corey Mace, painted a picture of a player who — in his first year as a starter — is bringing an even temperament and game-changing physicality to the position. That’s something any coach can appreciate.
“He doesn’t seem to panic,” said Mace. “Everything’s really patient in the way he plays.”
“He’s a physical force, and he’s got a knack for the football, whether it’s in the air or, you know, punching it out.”
LB Tyrice Beverette was one of the players available at Grey Cup Media Day in Winnipeg (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)
Both Beverette and Allen played the full slate of 18 regular season games in 2025, with Beverette completing his fourth straight season without missing a game.
It’s a marvel to Montreal head coach Jason Maas.
“I’ve seen him dislocate a finger, come off, get it put back in and go right back in,” said Maas. “That’s the kind of toughness he has and displays. I know he plays with things (injuries) and it doesn’t even matter to him.”
“He can do everything for us,” added Maas, “but more than anything, he’s there for us each and every week.”
Last week, in the Eastern Final, Beverette rang up six defensive tackles and another on special teams. In the Western Final, Allen had more modest numbers, with two tackles.
However, he sacked BC quarterback Nathan Rourke on a second-and-three from the Lions’ 43-yard line, with just 90 seconds to go, forcing a BC punt.
The Roughriders drove for the winning touchdown on the heels of that play.
“He’s making impact plays often,” said Allen of Beverette, “and that’s something that we are comparable with. I think I’m also a guy that’s around the football often making impact plays.”
He is. They are.
And on Sunday, both Tyrice Beverette and A.J. Allen will try to maybe make one more big play than their counterpart will.
One of them could very well tip the scales from loss to win.