For Lawler, 31, that next step is clear, and he\u2019s seen what it looks like on a team trending upward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember when I first got to Winnipeg. In 2018, we lost in the Western Final, then, fast forward another year, we win the Grey Cup,\u201d said Lawler, a two-time champion with the Bombers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all great teams,\u201d he continued, \u201cyou start to see the trajectory of where the team is headed. And I think our trajectory is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Progress isn\u2019t always linear, but with an elite offence and an intact veteran core that\u2019s already proven it can contend, the Black and Gold aren\u2019t just knocking on the door \u2013 they\u2019re built to break through it.<\/p>\n
2. FAMILIARITY FOR BO LEVI MITCHELL<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Ticats will go as far as Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a> takes them.<\/p>\n Under head coach and offensive coordinator Scott Milanovich, Mitchell has delivered the two most productive seasons of his career. In 2024, his first year under Milanovich, he set a career-high with 5,451 passing yards. He followed that up last season with a career-best 36 touchdown passes, including a league-leading 14 to Lawler.<\/p>\n \u201cThat chemistry is just going to grow this year,\u201d said Lawler.<\/p>\n With a third year in Milanovich\u2019s offence and a second alongside Lawler, Mitchell enters 2026 with a level of comfort that will translate to even greater efficiency. If that continuity produces another step forward, Mitchell won\u2019t just be a runner-up in the MOP race like the previous two seasons, he\u2019ll lead it.<\/p>\n 3. WYNTON MCMANIS MANNING THE MIDDLE Wynton McManis signed with the Ticats this off-season after his release from the Toronto Argonauts prior to becoming a free agent (CFL.ca)<\/p>\n Hamilton needed to fill the hole left by East Division Most Outstanding Rookie, Devin Veresuk<\/a>, who was released to pursue an opportunity in the NFL.<\/p>\n In comes middle linebacker Wynton McManis<\/a>, a three-time Grey Cup champion who posted 62 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble in just 13 games last season.<\/p>\n After allowing the most yards per game among playoff teams in 2025 and losing contributors in the secondary, the Tiger-Cats\u2019 defence needed a stabilizing presence. McManis brings exactly that, especially against the run where his impact is immediate. With him in Toronto\u2019s lineup last season, the Argonauts allowed 98.4 rushing yards per game, compared to 124.6 without him.<\/p>\n With that security blanket in the run game, edge rushers Julian Howsare<\/a> and Philip Ossai<\/a> can attack, forcing hurried decisions and creating turnover opportunities for a secondary that led the league with 27 interceptions in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that we are a very well put-together team,\u201d said McManis. \u201cWe\u2019ve been gelling well, so to me, the sky\u2019s the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n McManis is betting on himself and a Hamilton defence that has the pieces to add to the team\u2019s ceiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the 2026 season approaches, CFL.ca has a new series making the case for every team as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-604184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604184","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=604184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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