{"id":123382,"date":"2025-09-06T03:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123382\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T03:35:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:35:49","slug":"the-nfl-is-back-here-are-5-canadians-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123382\/","title":{"rendered":"The NFL is back \u2014 here are 5 Canadians to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports’ daily email newsletter.\u00a0Stay up to speed on what’s happening in sports by subscribing here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A new NFL season kicks off tonight when the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles host the wayward Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

“America’s Team” (much like America itself) has the look of a fading empire, bound to the misguided whims of its elderly billionaire leader. Eighty-two-year-old Cowboys owner\/GM Jerry Jones committed his latest blunder last week by trading disgruntled star pass rusher Micah Parsons (one of a precious few bright spots on last year’s 7-10 team) to Green Bay for an\u00a0underwhelming return<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Eagles, who reportedly tried to acquire Parsons, remain among the top championship contenders after their ferocious defence dismantled Patrick Mahomes and company in a 40-22 Super Bowl blowout of Kansas City last February. On offence, Saquon Barkley is coming off an electric 2,000-rushing-yard season while quarterback Jalen Hurts will continue to run the “tush push” after NFL owners voted not to outlaw the nearly unstoppable short-yardage play that, somehow, only the Eagles have managed to master.<\/p>\n

Philly has a couple of Canadians on its roster in safety Sydney Brown, who’s being promoted to the starting lineup after playing more of a support role last season, and depth receiver John Metchie III, a former University of Alabama standout who spent his first two pro seasons with the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

Around the league,\u00a0more than 20 Canadians<\/a>\u00a0are on active rosters heading into Week 1. Here’s a look at five who could make an impact this season:<\/p>\n

Chase Brown (Cincinnati Bengals running back)<\/p>\n

The 2023 fifth-round draft pick began last season behind journeyman Zack Moss. But Sydney Brown’s twin brother soon became Cincy’s go-to ballcarrier and really ran with the opportunity after Moss went down with a season-ending injury. From Week 9 through 17, Brown ranked fifth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage and had five straight 100-plus yard games, endearing him to savvy fantasy football players who’d bet on him beating out Moss for the starting job.<\/p>\n

The Bengals’ offensive co-ordinator raved about Brown in training camp and said he’s re-designed the running game to better suit the Canadian’s skill set. So Brown\u00a0could be in for a big year<\/a>\u00a0as the clear lead back in one of the NFL’s most prolific offences, featuring quarterback Joe Burrow and the dynamite receiver tandem of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.<\/p>\n

Chuba Hubbard (Carolina Panthers running back)<\/p>\n

The 2021 fourth-rounder is also coming off a breakthrough season where he seized the lead-back role from an uninspiring veteran (Miles Sanders) and went on a statistical tear. Beginning in Week 3, when he piled up 169 total yards and a touchdown, Hubbard reached the 100-yard mark five times and scored 11 TDs while inking a four-year, $33-million US contract extension. His season ended in Week 15 due to a calf injury suffered during a monster game against Arizona where he rushed for 152 yards and a pair of TDs.<\/p>\n

Like Brown’s Bengals, Hubbard’s Panthers (5-12) missed the playoffs last season. But there’s hope for improvement if young QB Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, continues to get better.<\/p>\n

Joshua Palmer (Buffalo Bills wide receiver)<\/p>\n

Following his promising 72-catch sophomore season in 2022, Palmer had every opportunity to grab a bigger role with the receiver-needy Chargers over the past couple years, but he was unable to reach even 40 catches or 600 yards in either season. Still, the Bills must see something in the 6-foot-1 210-pounder from nearby Brampton, Ont., because they signed him to a three-year, $36-million deal to bolster their lacklustre receiving corps around MVP quarterback Josh Allen.<\/p>\n

Maybe Palmer’s versatility (he prides himself on being able to\u00a0“run the entire route tree”<\/a>\u00a0and line up anywhere on the field) will be a better fit in Buffalo’s egalitarian passing game. He’s also considered a strong blocker, which is key to getting on the field with the run-happy Bills.<\/p>\n

Buffalo also signed Canadian defensive lineman\/linebacker Michael Hoecht away from the Rams, but he’s suspended for the first six games after flunking a PED test.<\/p>\n

Jevon Holland (New York Giants safety)<\/p>\n

After four strong seasons with Miami\u00a0\u2014 highlighted by his wild\u00a099-yard pick-six<\/a>\u00a0off a failed Hail Mary against the Jets (who else?) on Black Friday 2023\u00a0\u2014 Holland cashed in with a three-year, $45M contract from the Giants.<\/p>\n

He’ll now be playing for head coach Brian Daboll, the former Bills offensive co-ordinator who was born in Welland, Ont., and alongside Canadian second-year tight end Theo Johnson, who earned an every-down role as a rookie and averaged over 11 yards per catch before a foot injury ended his season in December.<\/p>\n

Elic Ayomanor (Tennessee Titans receiver)<\/p>\n

The top Canadian off the board in this year’s draft, Ayomanor went in the fourth round to the NFL-worst Titans after accumulating close to 2,000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Stanford.
At nearly 6-foot-2 and 206 pounds, Ayomanor has the size and athleticism that NFL teams want, and he turned a lot of heads with one particular college performance against Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes in 2023. Roasting two-way superstar Travis Hunter on multiple plays, Ayomanor racked up 13 catches for 294 yards and three touchdowns in a 46-43 double-overtime win.<\/p>\n

The Canadian will now catch passes from No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward on a Tennessee team that has nowhere to go but up. And, after a strong training camp and pre-season, it appears he’s\u00a0earned a first-string spot<\/a>\u00a0alongside veteran receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett. The Ayomanor-Ward connection could be something to watch for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports’ daily email newsletter.\u00a0Stay up to speed on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-123382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}