2018 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

The 2018 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 61st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 69th overall. The Tiger-Cats improved upon their 6–12 record from 2017 and clinched a playoff berth and home playoff date during their bye in week 17 following the Montreal Alouettes' loss to the Calgary Stampeders. After defeating the BC Lions in the East Semi-Final, the Tiger-Cats lost to the Ottawa Redblacks in the East Final. This was the third season under general manager Eric Tillman and first full season under head coach June Jones following his interim role the year before.

2018 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
General manager	Eric Tillman
Head coach	June Jones
Home field	Tim Hortons Field
Results
Record	8–10
Division place	2nd, East
Playoff finish	Lost East Final
Team MOP	Jeremiah Masoli
Team MOC	Ted Laurent
Team MOR	Darius Ciraco
Uniform

Offseason

Notable signings

During the offseason, the Tiger-Cats signed controversial free agent quarterback Johnny Manziel, who played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) before being released in 2015 for incidents on and off the field. The Manziel signing was part of a tumultuous negotiation process that lasted over a year.

CFL draft

The 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018. The Tiger-Cats held the first overall draft pick following a trade with the Montreal Alouettes and selected wide receiver Mark Chapman with that pick. This was the first time since the 2013 CFL Draft that they selected first overall. In total, the team had nine selections in the eight-round draft, including four picks in the first 15 selections after trading John Chick to the Edmonton Eskimos and Zach Collaros to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	1	Mark Chapman	WR	Central Michigan
1	6	Darius Ciraco	OL	Calgary
2	11	Jackson Bennett	DB	Ottawa
2	15	Brett Wade	DL	Calgary
4	31	Marcus Davis	WR	British Columbia
5	37	Justin Buren	WR	Simon Fraser
6	44	Michael Moore	LB	Queen's
8	62	Joel Van Pelt	DL	Calgary
8	66	Nicholas Parisotto	DB	Guelph

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
A	Bye
B	Fri, June 1	7:30 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	L 18–36	0–1	TSN	Tim Hortons Field	NA	Recap
C	Sat, June 9	12:00 p.m. EDT	@ Montreal Alouettes	W 30–15	1–1	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	12,325	Recap

Game summaries

Toronto

Preseason Week Two – Toronto at Hamilton

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Argonauts	10	16	7	3	36
Tiger-Cats	0	6	7	5	18

at Tim Hortons Field • Hamilton, Ontario

• Date: Friday, June 1, 2018
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EDT
• TV: TSN
• Source

Game information

First Quarter (8:01) Toronto FG: S. Waters 42-yard field goal Toronto 3–0 (2:11) Toronto TD: C. Worthy 3-yard pass from M. Bethel-Thompson, R. Pfeffer kick Toronto 10–0 Second Quarter (12:10) Toronto FG: S. Waters 33-yard field goal Toronto 13–0 (8:16) Hamilton TD: B. Banks 9-yard pass from J. Masoli, kick missed Toronto 13–6 (0:51) Toronto TD: B. Burks 54-yard pass from M. Bethel-Thompson, R. Pfeffer kick Toronto 20–6 (0:11) Toronto TD: M. Bethel-Thompson 1-yard rush, kick missed Toronto 26–6 Third Quarter (8:54) Toronto TD: J. Franklin 1-yard rush, S. Waters kick Toronto 33–6 (0:00) Hamilton TD: F. Williams 74-yard punt return, L. Hajrullahu kick Toronto 33–13 Fourth Quarter (10:56) Hamilton FG: L. Hajrullahu 54-yard field goal Toronto 33–16 (6:53) Toronto FG: S. Waters 32-yard field goal Toronto 36–16 (0:52) Hamilton SFTY: Team loss of 5 yards, safety Toronto 36–18 Top Passers TOR – McLeod Bethel-Thompson: 9/11, 122 yards, 2 TD HAM – Jeremiah Masoli: 8/13, 115 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Top Rushers TOR – Greg Morris: 7 carries, 25 yards HAM – Mercer Timmis: 10 carries, 56 yards Top Receiving TOR – Cole Watson: 3 receptions, 52 yards HAM – Brandon Banks: 4 receptions, 72 yards, 1 TD

At Montreal

Preseason Week Three – Hamilton at Montreal

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Tiger-Cats	0	7	6	17	30
Alouettes	13	1	0	1	15

at Tim Hortons Field • Hamilton, Ontario

• Date: Saturday, June 9, 2018
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
• TV: TSN/RDS
• Source

Regular season

Season Standings

East Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Ottawa Redblacks	18	11	7	0	22	464	420	6–2	W3	Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	18	8	10	0	16	513	456	4–4	L3	Details
Montreal Alouettes	18	5	13	0	10	345	512	4–4	W2	Details
Toronto Argonauts	18	4	14	0	8	369	560	2–6	L2	Details

Season Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
					Score	Record
1	1	Sat, June 16	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Calgary Stampeders	L 14–28	0–1	TSN/ESPN2	McMahon Stadium	23,717	Recap
2	2	Fri, June 22	10:00 p.m. EDT	@ Edmonton Eskimos	W 38–21	1–1	TSN	Commonwealth Stadium	31,334	Recap
3	3	Fri, June 29	7:00 p.m. EDT	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	W 31–17	2–1	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Tim Hortons Field	23,721	Recap
4	4	Thurs, July 5	9:00 p.m. EDT	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 13–18	2–2	TSN	Mosaic Stadium	30,594	Recap
5	Bye
6	5	Thurs, July 19	7:30 p.m. EDT	Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 20–31	2–3	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,346	Recap
7	6	Sat, July 28	4:00 p.m. EDT	Ottawa Redblacks	L 15–21	2–4	TSN/RDS2/ESPN2	Tim Hortons Field	23,381	Recap
8	7	Fri, Aug 3	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Montreal Alouettes	W 50–11	3–4	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Molson Stadium	18,576	Recap
9	8	Fri, Aug 10	8:30 p.m. EDT	@ Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 23–29	3–5	TSN/RDS	Investors Group Field	26,454	Recap
10	Bye
11	9	Thu, Aug 23	7:30 p.m. EDT	Edmonton Eskimos	W 25–24	4–5	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,281	Recap
12	10	Mon, Sept 3	6:30 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	W 42–28	5–5	TSN	Tim Hortons Field	24,221	Recap
13	11	Sat, Sept 8	1:00 p.m. EDT	@ Toronto Argonauts	W 36–25	6–5	TSN	BMO Field	15,702	Recap
14	12	Sat, Sept 15	4:00 p.m. EDT	Calgary Stampeders	L 28–43	6–6	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,428	Recap
15	13	Sat, Sept 22	10:00 p.m. EDT	@ BC Lions	L 32–35 (2OT)	6–7	TSN	BC Place	18,794	Recap
16	14	Sat, Sept 29	4:00 p.m. EDT	BC Lions	W 40–10	7–7	TSN	Tim Hortons Field	23,623	Recap
17	Bye
18	15	Fri, Oct 12	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Toronto Argonauts	W 34–20	8–7	TSN	BMO Field	14,184	Recap
19	16	Fri, Oct 19	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Ottawa Redblacks	L 31–35	8–8	TSN/RDS2	TD Place Stadium	23,534	Recap
20	17	Sat, Oct 27	4:00 p.m. EDT	Ottawa Redblacks	L 13–30	8–9	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,329	Recap
21	18	Sat, Nov 3	7:00 p.m. EDT	Montreal Alouettes	L 28–30	8–10	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,381	Recap

Post-season

Schedule

Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
East Semi-Final	Sun, Nov 11	1:00 p.m. EST	BC Lions	W 48–8	1–0	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Tim Hortons Field	23,911	Recap
East Final	Sun, Nov 18	1:00 p.m. EST	@ Ottawa Redblacks	L 27–46	1–1	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	TD Place Stadium	24,108	Recap

Team

Roster

Hamilton Tiger-Cats roster
Quarterbacks  9 Dane Evans  8 Jeremiah Masoli 18 Bryant Moniz Running backs 15 Alex Green 31 Sean Thomas Erlington 27 Mercer Timmis 28 John White IV Receivers 86 Bralon Addison 82 Justin Buren 81 Felix Faubert-Lussier 12 Mike Jones  3 Marquay McDaniel 14 Terrell Sinkfield, Jr. 17 Luke Tasker		Offensive linemen 60 Darius Ciraco 51 Mike Filer 52 Mathieu Girard 61 Ryker Mathews 63 Kelvin Palmer 57 Brandon Revenberg 63 Landon Rice Defensive linemen 94 Justin Capicciotti DE 95 Julian Howsare DE 97 Ted Laurent DT 93 Connor McGough DE 96 Jason Neill DT  5 Adrian Tracy DE 49 Nikita Whitlock DT/RB		Linebackers 33 Terrell Davis 11 Larry Dean 21 Simoni Lawrence 44 Curtis Newton 43 Lucas Wacha Defensive backs 29 Jackson Bennett 24 Delvin Breaux 26 Cariel Brooks 20 Mariel Cooper 35 Mike Daly  6 Josh Johnson 30 Jonathan Langa  4 Richard Leonard 22 Courtney Stephen  1 Don Unamba 37 Frankie Williams Special teams 47 Aaron Crawford LS 70 Lirim Hajrullahu P/K		1-Game injured list 16 Brandon Banks WR 58 Avery Jordan OL 59 Kay Okafor OL 25 Jumal Rolle DB 90 Brett Wade DT 53 Everton Williams OL 6-Game injured list  7 Shamawd Chambers WR 65 Brett Golding OL 19 John Green DB 13 Jalen Saunders WR 23 Nicholas Shortill LB 80 Terrence Toliver WR 92 Justin Vaughn DT 55 Jamaal Westerman DE  2 Chris Williams WR Practice squad 84 John Diarse WR 69 Isame Faciane OL 42 Dillon Grondin LB 85 Rashad Lawrence WR  0 D.J. May LB 36 Nicholas Parisotto DB 91 Bobby Richardson DT Italics indicate International player Roster updated 2018-11-17 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Roster, 6 one-game injured 9 six-game injured, 7 practice → More rosters

Coaching staff

Hamilton Tiger-Cats Staff
	Front office Caretaker – Bob Young Chief executive officer – Scott Mitchell President and Chief Operating Officer - Matt Afinec General manager – Eric Tillman Assistant gm/director of football operations – Shawn Burke Assistant gm/director of canadian scouting – Drew Allemang Consultant – Kent Austin Scouting coordinator – Rich Massaro Video co-ordinator – Matt Allemang Head coach Head coach – June Jones Assistant head coach – Orlondo Steinauer Offensive coaches Assistant Offensive Coordinator & Running Backs – Corey Grant Offensive line – Dennis McKnight Quarterbacks – Dan Morrison Assistant Wide Receivers & Offensive Quality Control – Jarryd Baines			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jerry Glanville Linebackers – Robert Lyles Defensive line – Dennis McPhee Defensive backs – William Fields Defensive assistant – Craig Butler Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Frank Gansz Jr. Special teams assistant – Craig Butler → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs